Awesome weekend

Although it already feels like it happened ages ago, I had an absolutely awesome weekend. Friday night Matt and I joined a bunch of City Hall folks in the Kennel Klub at a Huskies game ... delicious barbecue, great company, and the wonderful experience of getting hit by a rogue baseball! We had several minutes of sheer panic arriving home that night, as we saw a massive fire raging in the vicinity of our house. I wanted to scream thinking of my pups inside our house!!! I don't think I've ever felt so panicked and powerless in my life. Thank GOD we saw our house intact when we pulled in the driveway; the fire was a huge bonfire by some neighbors. Pups were alive and well, hyper excited to see us, and really happy that Mom spent all day Saturday with them!

We brought Carl Rove home with us on Friday night. Nope, not the guy from Washington ... but a cute, black "puppy" who belongs to friends Nina and Gus. He's nine months old, but like 65 pounds, and my dogs were both intimated by his desire to play (which is weird, cuz they've loved when he's visited before). Maybe it's because he wanted to play ALLLL night, even 'til 2:00 in the morning? I and the pups ended up having a sleepover in the family room so Matt could get some sleep.

Saturday was consumed with pups running, playing, exploring, and swimming, and with house projects, accompanied by my friend Erika! She was a huge help in rearranging guest room furniture, and she even assembled our dining table all by herself! I made lunch for us from the garden, always a thrill for me ... a chard, caramelized onion, and goat cheese frittata, with a mesclun salad. mmmmmmmmm!

The day just kept overflowing with great company. After their super intense day-long birthing class, Nina and Gus came over for dinner ... the first guests to eat at our new table. I feel so lucky to have them in Duluth. Nina was a close friend in the Cities, and now that she is living close again, my life is even better. PLUS she loves dogs AND they are expecting a baby too. After they left I relaxed on the couch, reading while listening to the howling wolves outside the window.

On Sunday Matt and his friend Kyle went to the air show in Duluth. I wimped out. Didn't feel like I had the energy for it. Instead, my mom and I planned a menu for our trip to Colorado, and planted my apple trees! After working up a sweat, and taking a dip in the pool, I got to tackle more house projects before the guys came home and we decided to take Kyle to that old Cloquet standby, Gordy's. All in all, a great weekend, very productive yet filled with family and friends.

This week promises to be super stressful at work. Thankfully it's just three days before we are off to Colorado! Wish me luck on all the last-minute trip preparations ...

The Pups Have a Hobby

Matt and I are chopped liver compared to this new hobby. They will spend hours a day watching rabbits out the window. What will we ever do when winter comes and the rabbits aren't there every day??

Here are a couple video clips showing all the excitement, complete with wagging tails, whining ... and gobs of drool on my window sill (grrr..).

4th at Jessie

Once again, the Reed family rented a cabin at Jessie Lake for a long 4th of July weekend. Only this year, instead of five people and two dogs, there were EIGHT people and THREE dogs! Craziness indeed.

But there was still blue skies ...


And boat rides ...


Fishing (and cleaning said fish) ...


Picnics ...


And lots of relaxing!


Hannah and Piper got "watching" time both outside and in (especially with Bonnie and Doug, who were willing to help them see out the window).


And Uncle Roger came for a visit! We went on a boat ride with Uncle Roger.


Where Hannah got to get belly scratches from Doug during the ride.


And even let Roger pet her ... for a few minutes.


Matt and I were really adventurous and decided to take BOTH dogs in a canoe -- neither of which had ever been in one before.


After a rocky start of Piper wanting to stick her paws in the water (who knows, maybe she even wanted to jump out) and play with the paddles, eventually she settled down and both dogs curled up in the canoe.


What darlings!

And at the end of the day, there was a comfy cabin to sleep in ...


Matt took wonderful photos. I especially love this shot of my dad. Check out the photos for some shots of Adam and girlfriend Angie, and for some great lake and bird shots!