Home, Sweet Home

We just arrived back home after an amazing long weekend vacation with family in Ohio. Dear friends, I want to write to you, of course, about my trip, but I'm afraid that will have to wait until I catch up on my rest.

When we first got home, I checked out the house to make sure all was as it should be, then Momma and Dadda went to get some lunch. See, even after 12 total hours of naps in the car since yesterday, and a good night's rest when we stopped at a hotel halfway back from Ohio, I'm still one tired puppy today. When my parents got home from lunch, this is how they found me.

I didn't even lift my head when they opened my crate! Just moved a paw aside to get some belly rubs.

Vacation is awesome, but there's no sleep like at home. Sweet dreams until next time...

Things in Common

This week my Missouri friends sent me some very sweet drawings and stories about their best friends. Some of them even have best doggy friends!

I had so much fun reading about their friends, I was thinking about what they wrote. One thing that stands out to me is that lots of us have things in common with our friends and family. That's one of the best things about the people that we love, right? We are a lot like each other, and we like to do lots of the same things.

I know that's one of the best things about me and my momma. I always say we're just alike, and even now that she's pregnant, we still have lots of things in common!

See her belly? There's a baby in there. But I won't let that make us too different. Now that Momma's pregnant, we're both a little porky. She said she has to gain weight to make room for my little sister, and I say I have to gain weight too so that she feels good about her bigger-than-normal belly.

Also now that she's pregnant, Momma sleeps with a body pillow on her side. I like that idea, so when I fall asleep around a toy or a foot, I use it as my own body pillow.

Finally, now that she's pregnant my Momma and I have a new thing in common: she can't bike like she used to, so now our favorite exercise is to walk to the beach!

On Friendship

Dear Friends in Room 25 -

I'm so glad to hear from you again! I was happy to find out that you are learning about gardens. I'm an expert helper in my mom's garden, chewing the sticks that we find and chasing the water from the hose!

I hope that you had a fun weekend; I know I did. On Friday, I went to school. Most of my friends live in my neighborhood, go to my school, or play at my park, and that's how I know them. Friends in Room 25, I bet you have different friends at school and at home, too. That's what it's like for me.

I don't have a cell phone or a digital camera of my own, so I don't have too many pictures of my school friends. Here's one of me and my classmates from my certificate when I passed some of my first exams, though!

I like this photo because I think it makes it look like I'm the lead singer in a puppy band.

Most of the friends I make hang out at the park with me. I have a few photos of those friends, like this one of me with one of my oldest friends: Murphy.

I like Murphy a lot because he lets me make up the rules to all of our games.

At the park with my friends, we run a lot and sometimes paw at our ears and the ground. My best friends are the dogs who are tough enough to wrestle or play tug with me, but I know not every puppy likes to do that, so I choose those friends carefully.

Even when I was little, I made friends with lots of bigger dogs...

...and now that I'm big, I still like to hang out with little bitty dogs, too.

It's fun for us little dogs to jump up on the benches and say we're big.

I have some people friends too, of course. Most of my neighborhood friends are people, and what I love most is when my friends come over to my house. Lots of times they even bring food! Here I am with my friend Alex when she came to visit our old house, before we moved:

And now I'm getting really excited for my little sister to be born in September. I heard that having a sibling is like having a permanent friend, right? I'm going to teach her how to play, and to be smart and strong like me.

Summer School

Last year I wrote a post called 'Summer School,' because I was taking a class at puppy school. It was hard work, but I got to have a lot of fun, too.

This year I'll be studying again - my family has a lot to do to get ready for my little sister to arrive, and my task is to learn better manners when I'm walking on my leash.

But my summer studies aren't why I wanted to write a new 'Summer School' post this year. I'm calling this post 'Summer School' in honor of my new friends in Room 25 at in Missouri!

Dear friends, I heard you were reading my blog, and I got your letter!

I love playing in the mud!! Don't let my white paws fool you - I like digging in the dirt, jumping in mud puddles, and rolling in anything that doesn't smell too good. That includes mud, worms, even dirty laundry. There's only one thing I don't like about playing in smelly, dirty things like mud.

Can you guess what it is?

Yep. Bath time.

I know, I said I like water, but bath time is totally different! Sure, I get treats when I get a bath, but I also have to let Dad get me all soapy and then dry me off. It's a bummer. At least in the summer I can rinse off in the pool sometimes and don't always have to get a bath. Thank goodness for the swimming pool!

So, friends in Room 25, I hope that you are having a fun summer! What are you going to study? I'll keep you updated while I learn my manners and take time for some vacations as well. I hope you'll write back to me sometimes about your adventures, too!

Summertime, and the Livin' Is Easy

I love the summer for lots of reasons, and one of the biggest reasons is this:

I love water!!!

Here I am on a recent trip to the beach with my momma. We love living close enough to walk to the water, and we like to walk there at low tide when there are lots of salty smells to explore and rocks to climb. I have to stay on my leash, though, so I don't get to do a lot of swimming at the beach.

I save that for the park!

Or, well, I guess you'd have to call what I do more like "splashing" than "swimming." 

Splashing, and sometimes just relaxing. When it's really hot, I have to jump into the pool every few minutes just to cool off.

And in the summertime, I love the water so much, I even love the rain!

Here I am investigating the sewer drain across the street from us, with water rushing in from the pouring rain. Momma let me lean out and splash around a little bit before we cleared some debris from the grate so that it could do its job better.

 Then Momma tried to get my picture standing squarely in this deep puddle, but... first I shook the rain off... then I hopped out!

What about you? Do you like the water? Even stomping through rain puddles?