A Collection

I really haven’t brought my “real” camera out this summer nearly as much as I would have liked, but here is a collection of some camera phone photos collected over the past month.

 

We had Maggie stay with us for a few days, and when she arrived, we thought *maybe* Mags was in need of a bath. Maggie evidently does not like the bath much at all, so not only did it take some work to get her in the bath tub, but once she got in, she wasn’t too happy about it.  What was really cute though was that Cayenne stayed in there with her and gave her some kisses and kept her company.

    

They also watched the bird feeder together much of the day (watching for squirrels) and both share a dislike of storms, so they spent time together in Nina’s room when some thunder was rolling in.  Even though they are different in many ways, they are good buddies and they get along well together.   

 

Nina and her friend started coming to my Friday Body Flow class towards the end of the summer.  It was fun to have them, and I wish school didn’t interfere with them continuing to attend, but it was nice while it lasted.  Lyla started back to soccer towards the middle of August and had a fun 3v3 tournament one weekend and a full team tournament the next weekend.  It’s good to get back to watching some soccer again.

    

  

Cayenne continues to live her best life every day, but I do think (aside from hot walks) she loves the summer.  With the girls home, she’s always got plenty of attention most days, and let’s be honest, aside from food, attention is a “must need” to survive.

   

Mark and I also did sneak out for a date night when we had an unseasonably nice summer evening.  The weather was comfortable and nice, and it was a beautiful evening to be out.

  

Then just as soon as it started, summer came to a close.  The girls had their first day of school this week - both at Independence High School.  Lyla got to find her way around the school at the open house a couple days before school started, then on Thursday, they had their first day.

Lyla did great adjusting to the change at high school.  She found her way to classes, made friends, and survived the stressful lunch routine.  She’s off to a good start!  Nina had her final two days of Behind the Wheel before school this week, and on Friday she passed her driving test, so she was super happy about that!

  

We celebrated the start of school and the drivers test with dinner out at our favorite pizza place on Friday.  These milestone just keep coming along quicker and quicker.  Days, weeks, months, and years are just going at such a fast pace right now.  We’re enjoying the time we have in this phase right now, and even though we didn’t do as much this summer as we did last summer, it still flew by.  Hoping for a great year ahead for the girls!

Cayenne Turns 9

Our best girl and the sweetest Simpson turned nine on July 4th.  It’s hard to believe she’s already nine as she still acts like a puppy much of the time.  As is tradition, she had a special pancake.  Normally made with chicken jerky treats, this one had Lil’ Smokie bits, so I think it was extra exciting.  She could barely contain herself while we were trying to wait for it to cool a bit.  If there’s one thing that has stayed true about Cayenne for her whole life, it’s her love of food.  She’d be a 300lb Vizsla if we let her!

   

She enjoyed her pancake, opened some presents, and got plenty of love from the family on her special day.

  

Her favorite activities include hiking with the family, swimming, exploring new places, playing chase, and perhaps her favorite...

  

…stalking this little guy.  

After pirating food from our bird feeder, he hides under the grill cover before making a quick exit off either side of the deck.  Cayenne watches intently for him from the deck door and tries to flush him out from under the cover.  He’s crafty and manages to make a quick run for it while she’s at the other side of the grill, so I think he’s in no danger of getting caught, but she’s obsessed with him.

  

Cayenne can definitely be high maintenance at times, she’s very vocal, and she can be quite stubbon when she doesn’t want to do something, but she is so sweet, so loving, gets along well with almost anybody/any dog, and I’d say she’s such a great dog, but I’m sure she’d take offense to that because she may not realize she’s a dog.  She’s way more human than she is dog, but we love her.

Hungry Mother Vacation

We tried something different for a family vacation this year and booked a week in a house at Hungry Mother State Park in the far southwestern portion of Virginia.  The house was a cute little 3 bedroom place that was surrounded on water by all sides, naming it Hungry Mother Island.  On most days, the water going around the house is rather mild, but it rained all day on the first full day we were there, and the water was rushing!   Despite the rain on the first day, we were all outside quite a bit - the girls stick racing and skipping rocks, and Mark and I took a rainy walk around the lake just to check things out.  

 

Once the rain stopped, we got out for a quick bike ride to see what was around, the girls checked out “the beach” and Mark tried a little fishing while the girls carved more sticks for racing and rafting.  

  

 

 

Thankfully the weather during the rest of the week was good, so on our 2nd full day, we did a really cool hike to Molly’s Knob that had great views of the surrounding area.

  

 

While the girls slept in in the mornings, Mark and I did some great moutain biking.  There is a trail that goes around the lake that we could easily ride to from our house, so that was a lot of fun for us.

  

We also visited the beach, did a float trip at a local river, did another hike at Clyburn’s Ridge, paddle boated, kayaked, and got a lot of time at the fire pit.

 

Mark was clearly in his element here - outdoor grilling while tending a fire.  

  

  

Hungry Mother State Park is in the small town of Marion, VA, so we went into town one evening for dinner.  Marion has a very small town feel, and while I don’t think we’re built to be in that environment for the long term, it was definitely nice to visit and experience something completely different than what we’re used to on vacation.