Loving the Sun

Everyone is loving the sun in this household. Especially the dogs!

Sunday Hike

I think Joe and I are planning to make hiking on Sundays a regular thing. It's been so nice and a great way to get us (and Ava!) some exercise.

Today we chose to hike up to a tower in Sleeping Giant State Park. The park and trail were packed and we met a ton of fellow dog owners.

On the way up.

The tower at the top.

Inside the tower.

Top level of the tower.

View from the top.

Picnic lunch of Subway sandwiches.

It was a great day and now we are sitting at home enjoying the afternoon. Ava and Jack are passed out, I'm blogging (duh) and Joe is watching the PGA Masters Tournament. Life is good.

I did have to give up my engagement ring today, though. Read about that here.

Hope everyone else is having a great Sunday!

Ava's Weight Gain

About a month ago, we took Ava into the vet for a check-up and the doctor said that she really needs to get some weight off. He said her being overweight on those spindly little legs of hers was going to cause problems - like make it even easier for her to break a leg. At that point she was 11.0 pounds. She should be around 9.8.

So, for the last month, we've cut down her food, cut down her treats, and taken her for walks every day. We took longer walks a few of those days and I even took her on a hike! I was sure I was doing everything I could, and she would be losing weight.

Yesterday I had her weighed again.

11.5 pounds!!

Yes, she has GAINED another half a pound!! WTH??

It has me scared because I'm thinking that this medication she is on isn't going to let her lose weight. It's going to keep putting weight on her until she becomes a pig on stilts. Which is a funny image, I know, but it's definitely scary.

Anyone have any advice or thoughts on losing weight while on prednisone? Either from a human or canine perspective, I'll take all the advice I can. Thanks!

Financial Peace University

As a lot of you know, Joe and I have put ourselves on a money management program put together by financial guru Dave Ramsey and found in his book The Total Money Makeover. Last night we had the opportunity to attend, for free, the first class in a series of classes called "Financial Peace University".

Silly me actually though Dave Ramsey might be there. haha. I thought he might be traveling all over the country, meeting fans and speaking to them about financial freedom. And then I showed up to the church this class was held at, saw the 10 people who actually showed up, and realized Dave gets paid thousands of dollars for appearances and I wasn't seeing him today. haha

It was still a great class, though. The faciliator was a follower of Dave's (started with $250,000 of debt, and will be debt free (including his home) in five years) and basically chatted with us a few minutes and then started a DVD. I guess this "Financial Peace University" is a series of DVDs of Dave speaking. It was a good speach and Joe and I walked away from it proud of ourselves for doing this for our future. But because we've already read the book, and the classes just follow the books, there is no need for us to attend the classes.

Anyway, that was our big Thursday night. :)

I'll leave you with a photo of the little one, just because I tend to hate blog posts without at least one photo. It's officially Spring people, and Ava and I couldn't be happier!

Easter Hike

Joe and I took the dogs on an awesome hike up to Castle Craig today for Easter. We had never been up there before and it was definitely a steep hike, but not a long one. We had a snack at the top, and then had lunch in the park when we got back down. It was a VERY nice day.

Trailhead.

This was a little structure about half-way to the top. I was already tired by this point, and Joe was joking that this was the castle. We could turn around now.

We of course took the hardest, rockiest trail up.

Ava hiked the whole way by herself! I was so proud!

We made it!

Snack time. (Ava was pretty tired!)

And lunch at the bottom.

Ava: "Home now for a nap?"

Luckily for Ava, we did come home and take a nice nap.

We saw a lot of families in the park, taking pictures of their little ones in the daffodils. We miss you, family! Hope you are having a great Easter!

Oh That Puppy Face...

Jackson got his summer haircut!

And just in time, too, since it's 70 degrees today and it's supposed to be 80 degrees the rest of the weekend.

Before:

After:

(And Ava insisting she always be the center of attention).

Usually Joe and I call him our "little brown bear" when he gets cut because he ends up looking like a bear cub. But this groomer left some longer hair on his ears and left his tail fluffy, so really he looks like a puppy now.

I think he looks cute this way. What do you think?