Vacation

Many thanks for your wishes and prayers for my cousin. And for Maggie's continued good health! We all appreciate your kind words.

We were up in Maine last week, and it was an action-packed vacation! The dude and I went up on Saturday, and dropped Stella off at Fetch 'n Fun. I know it seems ridiculous to drive a dog seven hours only to drop her off at "Playcare for Dogs" but John is the most amazing man. He is so calm and so are the dogs in his care. Stella comes home a better dog. And you know we're always trying to help Stella bring out her inner good dog. (As I write this she is still sacked out, exhausted from her vacation.) But we weren't without pooches. My sister and Jersey brought their three dogs. This is the new dog, Alfie--who looks a lot like her old dog Belle--sitting on Rey, the calmest, most lovable pit mix you'll ever meet. It was quite a squeeze getting two humans and three dogs on that couch!

On Sunday we went to my grandmother's party. On Monday we got up early to go fishing. My cousin and the girls, including Lala's "summer friend," joined the five of us. (Mom stayed home; she sprained her ankle at step aerobics.) Everyone caught something except my dad and me. Some of us even ate it for dinner--bluefish and cunner fish, a very tasty local fish. On Tuesday it rained in the morning, so we planned to go to the movies. We saw Hit and Run, a cute little indie. Unfortunately, the weather cleared up in the afternoon, and we missed a pretty good beach day.

On Wednesday, we went to the OTB to see my dad's horse's leg--he only owns a fraction of the horse--run at Saratoga.  Slot Play came in second in a really fast race. A good finish.

Thursday we headed over to the shooting range to help the dude get ready for his citizenship test. Jersey captioned this photo, "My BIL, otherwise known as 'English Bob' after this display of straight up, bad ass marksmanship." He's a rather good shot it turns out.
It was a good beach day, so the whole crew headed over after lunch. The dude patiently dug (another) hole for Yayo. (For a kid, she can be a very demanding task master.)

Friday was supposed to be the best day of the week with a forecast in the 90s with a day full of sunshine. Jersey, Sissy, the dude and I headed over to the beach after breakfast at the Maine Diner, but the weatherman must have been high when he put that forecast together. We gamely sat out for two hours waiting for things to improve, but ended up packing it in and going home to pack. We had to pick up Stella mighty early on Saturday, so she got a chance to visit her grandparents and aunt and uncle.

I'm glad we came home with two days to recuperate. We slept late (Stella too) and just chilled and watched the tennis. Everyone needs a vacation from their vacation!