Twin Lakes Resort

Recently, the Bingham's invited us to spend Mother's day with them at Shirlee's parent's resort at Twin Lakes in Bridgeport, Ca. Todd needed some help with some plumbing that was damaged by an avalanche over the winter so in exchange for Brent's help we got to stay at the resort in a housekeeping cabin for free.

Madison and Hanna both had soccer on Saturday morning so Hanna slept over at our house and the rest of the crew headed to the lake. After soccer we made the 2 hour drive up there. I can not begin to explain how beautiful and peaceful it is up there.

We brought along our dogs and so did the other families so we had a total of 3 big dogs and one mini-dog. They had a blast playing together and everyone got along - not even one fight!

The first order of business was to take lunch up to Todd and Bret who had been working on the plumbing all morning. We packed it up, with a couple of beers and headed up the hill. The "hill" was a bit more than we expected but turned out to be a great work out with fantastic views. This was Bella's first hike and she did amazing. I fully expected we would have to carry her most of the way but she wanted to run with the big dogs. Turns out, she loves to hike!

Saturday night we made Carne Asada tacos, had some wine, and roasted marshmallows. It was a brisk but pretty night. Some deer came down on the lawn but we were not able to get any shots of them because it was too dark.

On Sunday, while Brent helped Todd fix the water pipe the rest of us went on a hike at upper Twin lake/Mono Village. Our goal was to see the lake at the top of Horsetail Falls but the girls pooped out on us and we still had to make it back to camp.

Madison also learned to drive the Kubota around the grounds of the resort, she was obsessed.

The weekend flew by and Madison had not yet learned to fish so she talked Todd into teaching her before we all headed back to the big city. She did not catch anything but really enjoyed trying.

The only bummer about the weekend was it was way to short, none of us wanted to leave and all of us can't wait to go back. . .

Thank you Bingham Family for the wonderful weekend.

Bella's 1st Walk

Last Sunday morning the weather was gorgeous the birds were singing, so I decided to take the dogs on a much needed a walk. Madison helped me get them ready and we headed out the door. Because Bella is a mini-dog she can't be walked by her neck she needs a harness.

Of course her harness is pink!

She did very well on her walk, she kept a good pace trying to keep up with Chili-dog. We went on Chili's usual route which is pretty far for a little girl. When she got tired she would stop and jump to be picked up and carried for a bit and was panting.

She is just over 14 weeks old now and weighs about 3 pounds. We can only tell that she has grown because some of her shirts don't fit anymore.

The Adventures of Bella

It has been a few weeks now and things sure have been exciting. The first day she was left alone in her area while we were at work/school she managed to escape by chewing through the baby gate.

Brent got some Plexi-glass and had to modify the gate so she could not get out. It turned out pretty nice she can still see out but can't chew it.

Chili-dog is doing a bit better with her. He is very patient when she steals his toys, lays on his bed, and most recently - drinks his water. I love the expression on her face in this picture.

She is working on her potty training but has a very small bladder so we are up at least twice a night letting her out. I am still coming home at lunch spending time with her which is pretty fun. Lately the weather has been nice enough to take her out in the yard for the hour.

I got her this sweater for St. Patrick's day and to keep her warm. She shivers if it is below 70. The sweater had different colored balls on the back which she chewed off in the first 30 minutes. Evidently she thought they made her look like a clown.

We took her to a party at the Moser's last night. We rode our beach cruisers over and I put her in the basket. She tried to jump several times, guess we need to work on that one. She was a hit at the party. Sugar, the Moser's chihuahua was not happy to see her at first but by the end of the night they were buds.

Stay tuned for more updates...

Levi Comes to Visit

No, not Leipheimer Levi the dog. My dad was in the hospital for about a week (he is ok now) so we had the pleasure of dog sitting for him. Levi is about a year and a half old Chesapeake Bay Retriever and Pit Bull mix. His personality is so gentile and sweet and he fancies himself a lap dog.

As you can see in this picture above, he climbed up the back of the couch to get to me to sit in my lap. His body is so solid you can not even push him off of you.

Chili is a pretty good host for the most part. When Levi arrived he was a bit snippy with him trying to show him who was boss.

It is funny because Levi is still a puppy and Chili is finally not a puppy so typically when we have puppy friends over he drives them insane by mauling them and always wanting to play. This time, he was the one being driven insane.

Chili shared his bed, and his favorite toy with Levi - sort of. Levi was making this skull squeak and when he finally dropped it and came to sit in my lap Chili picked it up, brought it over to him squeaked it, growled and then walked away as if to say "hey pal, this is MY toy".

Dad got out of the hospital on Wednesday afternoon and came to get Levi on Thursday while we were at work. We were sad to see him go but happy that dad is ok and back home.

Maggie is a Lover not a Fighter....

Our cousin Robin somehow ended up with a standard poodle. The poodle's owner had died and she was being bounced from house to house so Robin took her in. Her name is Maggie but we call her Magnadoodle.

This is a picture of Robin I just found while looking for a pic of Maggie, I posted this because the have the same look on their face! OMG that is just funny!

Chili dog is a lover, he just wants to make friends where ever he goes. Maggie is a sweet dog, but is super protective of her toys. When she and Chili met for the first time they did fine as long as they were in the back yard far far away from Maggie's HUGE box of toys.

About a week or so ago Chili-dog got a package in the mail from his friend Maggie. Maggie only lives in Reno but with all of our schedules, Robin mails stuff to us.

Here is Chili getting the present out of the box...

And here is what it was, a super cool skull and cross bone toy for him to carry around. It also squeaks. He tried so hard to take it outside but we would not let him.

Here is what the card said on the inside. How freaking cute is that?