Samson's Belated Birthday Wish

Doesn't he have the best smile ever?

If you want to see my guy's blog (well, him and his mommy, Inger, and his sister, Faith) go HERE to visit them.  

Attention all female fur friends age 1 to 20:  

PAW'S OFF! 

 HE'S MINE!  

And besides, he says my ears are the best!!

YOU CAN DO IT!

The 4th of July is usually jam-packed with good food and good fun.  The 2019 holiday did not disappoint.

The grandkids seem to be growing with leaps and bounds.  Both the older ones will be in middle school this year.  Where have the years gone!

I especially loved watching Summer and Jasper interact with one another.  Summer is 7 and Jasper is 6.  They 'teamed-up' against the older kids and stuck together like glue.

I love how the cousins get along.  It always makes for fun get-togethers.

To make things easy-peasy we ordered from Chick-Fe-Le and it was wonderful!

To top it off I just so happened to have a pie in the freezer from Schwan and it was oh-so-delish!

We had other food like shrimp, macaroni and potato salad, chips, melon etc.  All the really awesome picnic foods.  It was a great day!

Gracie is healing nicely from her knee injury from over a month ago.  We've been walking her and letting her do pretty much what she wants to do and the exercise has been beneficial I believe.   But here is the problem:  She has grown accustomed to being babied and lifted onto furniture and into bed at night...  She didn't like it at first, but now she doesn't want to do it any other way.

Me:  Gracie, go up the ramp.

Gracie:  Forget about it woman, that ramp is too hard for me.  Remember -- my bum knee.

Me:  I think you can do it tho.  You are so much stronger now.

Gracie:  No way, Jose'

And so.... as the story goes....  it was the day we opened the pool and in her excited state to watch us out of the bedroom window...    I walked into the house to find her on the bed!  How did she get up there, you ask?  You tell me.  Or rather...  Gracie, YOU tell me!

Gracie:  I did not climb that ramp.  I have a bad knee, remember?

Me:  You had to get up there some way.

Gracie:  *Shrugs shoulders* I'm as baffled as you are.

Me:  I think you can do the ramp now.

Gracie:  No, I can't

Me:  Yes, I think you can.

And so starts the regimen of treats trailing up the ramp.   She was fearful and the first time she fell.  We gave it another week and then tried again.  Amazing!  She did it!  A couple more days of that.  But she refused to go up without treats.  Time for TOUGH LOVE.

Gracie:  Lift me into bed please *yawn* I'm tired.  Ready to turn in.

Me:  Go up the ramp

Gracie:  Lift me up

Me:  Up the ramp!

Gracie:  No can do

Me:  Gracie!  I know you can do it.

Gary and I both get in bed and leave her on the floor to think about her options.  Climb the ramp or jump up on the bed.  The latter would not happen, tho she gave it a shot.

A whine.

A whimper.

Silence.

And then....  the pitter patter of little paws, up the ramp she goes.

Humiliation followed.  She'd been found out.

"Stop telling me congratulations!  So I made it up the ramp, so what?"

Forky

Cool theaters with heaps of junk food is where you want to be on hot summer days (when you're not in the pool of course).

If you have been to see Toy Story 4 you will understand the pictures of Forky.  If you haven't been...  well then, you will look at Forky and wonder...

The kids were delighted to participate in making their very own Forky.

I found this sign on the bathroom stall wall. Good ol' Dr. Seuss always knows the right things to say!

Jake shows off his Forky.

Marissa says, "Meet Forky".

Summer's Forky and Rissi's Forky seem to be getting along just fine.

We had to keep an eye on them.  They were looking for the trash.  *wink, wink*  Yea, you know what I'm talking about you Toy Story 4 people out there.

These grands are wild, crazy, amazing, and bums.  Yea, you heard me right.  They bummed all of my quarters off of me to get surprise toys in the above kid-magnet machines.  It was a fun day and a great way to kick off the start of summer.

Dear Diary,

Mom said, "Stop scratching your chin, stop biting your feet, stop licking the bed all night.  Gracie, you're bored!  You need a play date with Ellie!"  And so the annoying amazing Ellie came down to play and irritate me  smell my butt.  She peed and pooped in my yard and ate my food and drank my water and even tried to play with my toys.  Mom said, "maybe you need a walk, Gracie.  Maybe that's why you are bored." I was like - yea - I think you hit the nail on the head Mom!  And so we did the neighborhood walk.  Halfway through she's like, "Gracie you're tired."  And then she began pulling me down through the yard to go home.  I resisted and said, No...  the whole walk please!!  But she claimed to know best.  It was my limping that gave it away.  "Not ready yet," she said. Drag me, I said.  Just don't take me home yet.   So.  I got a half-a-walk and a visit with Thunderbolt Ellie and I didn't scratch or bite or lick quite as much last night.  I slept.  But today is a new day.  And ----  I'm bored.

Gracie.