Abbie's first horse show

Abbie attended her first horse show in July of 1994 at Brownland Farm in Franklin, Tennessee.

Right from the beginning, Abbie loved being a horse show dog.  She loved working in the mobile shop...

and hanging out with all the other horse show dogs.

Ron's dog Elmo was her favorite.  He was older, slower and grumpier than Abbie, but he was very tolerant of her puppy antics. 

Margaret Campbell's Jackson was another one of Abbie's BFF's.

Beautiful Abbie.

Summer 1994

Life is good

July 2011

Beutel hee hee

And you said it couldn't be done...

July 2011

Darcy says

"Empty dog biscuit boxes make me mad...

Really, really, really mad!"

July 2011

Everyone's doing it!

Pony hee hee.

Ryan hee hee.

July 2011

Incorrigible

July 2011

Drowning

James likes to pretend he's drowning.  

He gets himself into position and waits until someone is looking.

Then he starts splashing and yelling.  He can be quite convincing, and I can't seem to make him realize this is not a good thing.

I was sure to warn Kristin and Nate before we got to Belleview Park.  I didn't want either one of them to be traumatized by one of James' fake near death experiences.

It didn't occur to me to warn Darcy.  She was completely taken in by James' act.

Poor diggie!  I think she wanted me to jump in and save him! 

P.S. It's stunts like this that explain why I didn't believe James was really hurt after he fell off the monkey bars...

July 2011

Belleview Park (before the fall)

It's become a summer time tradition--every year the kids and I go to Belleview Park with Kristin and Nate.  

This year we also took Darcy.  She is not a natural water dog...

and spent most of the first hour trying to climb her way out of the stream.

It took a lot of encouragement...

and patience... 

from everyone...

to convince her that the stream was really ok.

Still, I think this is her favorite way to cross the water! 

She was more than happy to hang out on the blanket with me...

while the kids explored the tunnels... 

and cliffs on the east side of the park. 

Oh, that Darcy--she's always the center of attention! 

Of course, the whole day didn't revolve around the dog. 

There are so many fun things to do at this park.

It's no wonder...

that we go back year after year!

Heading home, tired and broken, but happy nonetheless!

July 2011

Broken!

I suppose this was inevitable.

Yesterday monkey boy fell off the monkey bars, and today it was determined that he has a buckle fracture on the end of his left radius.  James is enormously pleased with his injury and can not wait to get his cast tomorrow.

July 2011

Solidarity

James was worried that the dogs were feeling self conscious about their teeth, so he decided to show them that sometimes he has an underbite, too.

Child hee hee.

July 2011

They say they're cleaning...

but I don't believe them.

July 2011

7.11.11

Today is 7-11 day.

To celebrate the date, 7-11 stores are giving away free seven point eleven ounce slurpees all day. 

Of course if you're really lucky you might find a 7-11 that's giving away a slightly larger size.  

I think we've been to every 7-11 in a five mile radius! 

July 2011

Toofers

Both of our dogs have underbites.  Darcy's doesn't look so bad because she has nice, clean teeth.

Poor Maggie has yucky old dog teeth.

Doggie hee hee. 

July 2011

Monsoon season

We got a little rain this evening.

It was all fun and games...

until the power went out! 

We lit lots of candles...

and enjoyed a scrumpdilicious meal that didn't require cooking. 

The kids thought that was a lot of fun, but I'd rather not do it again anytime soon.

July 2011