It's Official

Hero is a good citizen.

We have long known that Hero is a good ambassadog for retired greyhounds.

Now he has the official paperwork- he passed his Canine Good Citizen Test. See all the checks in the passed column ;-)
And yes, he did all the "sits".
This was his down/ stay. Hey, don't laugh, it did the job , he didn't move a muscle for the whole "stay".

Next challenge- Therapy dog training/ testing.

Lake Accotink

Lake Accotink- Fairfax Virginia

The guys got to play in the sand

and visit with the locals

Once a month they have a "dog day" pontoon boat ride for the hounds It was lots of fun
and the scenery was lovely

~

But an hour is a long time

So Hero ended up in the typical Greyhound position

Hint, Hint

It's a good news/ bad news kind of thing.

The good news is: This Saturday 5 more greyhounds are leaving the racetrack/ kennel in Florida, and coming to Virginia, to start the rest of their lives in their forever homes. (please keep them in your thoughts and prayers)

The bad news is that it is summer, and it is HOT. -But you knew that already.

Unfortunately, that means that VAGA can not use the regular dog hauler (it gets TOO hot), and thus only a VERY limited number of greyhounds can be transported via personal cars. This limited number does not include a foster for us.

We continue to troll the http://www.greyhoundpetsorlando.org/availablegreys.html

wondering which one might be our next guest....

We are hoping for a hugger.

You can't beat a greyhound hug ;-)

Ordinary Time

As those of you who have been raised Catholic already know- we are in ordinary time. Yup, that is exactly what the Roman Catholic Church calls it- "Ordinary Time". In other words- not Lent, Advent, Easter, Christmas, Pentecost, Corpus Christi, etc, etc., & so forth.
Just ordinary time.
And am I GLAD to be in Ordinary Time!
In the past 4 weeks we have had a 3 years old's birthday, a 9 year old's birthday, an elementary school graduation, and Father's Day, (all happy occasions to be sure). But that is a lot of party planning!

My kids summer vacation FINALLY officially starts this week.

There is a relatively new series on the Disney Channel entitled "Phineas and Ferb". It is about the summer antics/activities of two brothers, their older sister and their platypus (never mind). My point is-
Their theme song starts with:
There are 104 days of summer vacation
then school comes along just to end it
but the annual problem for our generation
is finding a good way to spend it
104????
Boy, are these people out of touch!
54 is more like it.
Summer vacation no longer starts with Memorial Day Weekend and school starts back LONG before Labor Day.
I've got to recover from the end of the year rush, get everyone healthy, and get on to enjoying this summer vacation/ ordinary time, before it's time to start shopping for back to school.

Virus Alert

No- not my computer- me. (and Genna, and Will, and now Doug too)

The symptoms do not include oinking or squealing

so, no- I don't really think it is H1-N1

But I do wish that our doctors weren't so tight fisted with the Tami-flu!

This one is just "scary" accurate

(I need to get me one of those brain back-up thingies)






Ok- warning this last one is way off topic- but it made me laugh

of course -maybe it was the cold meds....


Have a good weekend all

Around Town

Last week a neighbor of ours came over to let me know that she had spotted a brown bear behind her house, and that I should keep the kids and the dogs inside (and "keep an eye out because it could come back"). I thanked her for her concern and for letting me know-
( side note- there has been an "official" Brown Bear sighting in Clifton, Virginia on June 9,2009 so it is possible )

but in the back of my mind I have to admit I wondered...

or

The SAME day (I am not joking) another neighbor's son who was over playing with Mark said that his mom had seen a coyote that afternoon-

Now Please understand that we live in a VERY suburban area

so again I wonder

or

That evening Doug said that as he was pulling into our neighborhood he saw a fox. or

No- Just kidding Doug,- I do believe your fox sighting, especially since we have photographed them in our backyard several times before. And of course our neighbor's "coyote" could have been a grey fox because when googling grey fox images I actually came up with THIS one labeled "Yosemite Park Grey fox"-

with the the length of those legs I'm thinking coyote too- what do you think?.

And yes, I know that there are real deer in our neighborhood too- but I could not resist, after all every dog post needs at least one greyhound pic....

What State should I live in Quiz

To be honest with you I try not to give much credence to all the quizzes that are floating about the Internet. In fact, my husband just took one called "How long will your marriage last?" and it predicted 1 year, now that might seriously concern me if not for the fact that we will have been married 21 years next month :-)
So why bother taking this quiz?
Well, I have only lived in two states (New York and Virginia) my whole life, and it is not a very big secret that I have never felt that Virginia was a particularly good match for me.
So here is what the all knowing internet quiz claims:

You Should Live in North Carolina

If you don't want to live in North Carolina, you might also consider: Georgia Kansas Kentucky Missouri Nebraska

http://blogthings.com/whatstateshouldyouliveinquiz/

Fun and Games

This past weekend was Will's 3rd birthday.
The tradition in our household is that the birthday person gets to choose their birthday dinner- no holds barred.
Will's choice-No, not French Cuisine, not good old-fashioned American barbecue, not even our favorite Italian restaurant "Mama Mia's (cue Billy Joel's "Scene's from an Italian Restaurant"- I really love that song...)

Nope, Will's pick -Chuck E Cheese's.

Those of you who have furry, four legged, children may not have had the pleasure of dining at this establishment. Picture 100's of blaring video games, running/ screaming sugared up children, and cafeteria quality food (pizza, chicken wings, etc.).

Aren't you dying to go now?
Anyway- the kids LOOOVE it.
What's better than arming a three year old with a hammer and telling him to hit a video screen with it?

Arming him with a machine gun ?

Accident prone Alaina wins the prize- for kicking her flip flop sandal into the center of the soccer game cage.

They had to send maintenance to open it up and fetch Cinderella's slipper

I told you she won the prize- look at all those prize tickets...

Will sneeks a peak at his presents...

One of Will's gifts was a bubble gun-

The bubble's landed in the garden creating bubble plants

Happy Trails Maxine

Yesterday Maxine travelled all the way down to Chester, Virginia to do the equivalent of Greyhound speed dating :-)

We brought her halfway home ;-)- (we met Michelle Ridlon of http://ridlontails.blogspot.com/ in Fredericksburg, who then escorted her the rest of the way).

Her potential match is an experienced greyhound owner (who will give her lots of time and attention) and his 8 year old blue greyhound named Kate. We know that Maxine will enjoy having a big sister to help show her the ropes.

We hope that the meeting went well- and that it was love at first sight for all involved!

We will miss Maxine a lot, she really is a special little girl.

Attention VAGA : we have an empty cage waiting for it's next occupant...

Update: Maxine has been adopted. As has already posted in the comments, They loved her (and how could they not) and it is now official.

Signed , sealed, delivered- she's home.