I Got Skills...kind of

We played a little b-ball today. The boys played some D. I did some rebounding. Parker, well Parker tried to dribble. 

Shades

Parker and I were playing with Brian's broken sunglasses; one of the lenses comes out so Parker was having fun popping it in and out.  I put the lens up to my eye like a monocle and Parker spent the next 15 minutes trying to get that lens to "stick" to my eye, his eye, his belly, the dogs, etc.  I didn't snap any pictures of the lens sticking, but got some cute shots of Parker wearing the sunglasses.

Can you guess what happened after I took this picture?

Yummy!

Thank goodness Fred Meyer has fruit samples in the produce section.  It was the only way I could stop Parker from trying to eat a red pepper like it was an apple!

Parker's First Camping Trip

A yurting we did go! Last weekend we packed up and headed to Grayland Beach State Park for the annual glass float hunt.

Parker came down with a cold and croup...again, but we decided to go camping any way. We sleep in a comfy yurt w/ heat and we were camping with friends with trailers so keeping P warm and dry wouldn't be a problem.

Turns out I tried to keep him too warm and he got overheated the first night. After cooling him down we wrapped him in a blanket and took a walk in the cold air to help clear his cough.  When we got back to the yurt, I commented that we must have let in a huge moth, which was now flying around the ceiling.  Brian thought it was too big to be a bug, switched on the light and yelled BAT!!!!!

To appreciate this story you have to understand Brian hates is scared shitless of bats.

I threw a blanket over Parker and ran to the door.  Brian was standing in front of the door telling me to get out. I told him I was trying to, but he was blocking the door! After scrambling out of the yurt I stood holding Parker, waiting for Brian to get rid of the bat. Brian was standing at least 20 feet from the yurt and after watching him duck every time the bat flew near the door, I decided to try and find some back up. I did not witness the demise of the bat, but according to witnesses, Chuck can swing a broom like Sammy Sosa.

Back in our bat-free yurt, we went to bed assuming Parker was too sick and we would have to head home in the morning.  Instead we were greeted with this happy, snot covered, fever-free cutie.

Snotty nose + rubbing face on sheets all night = this gem

What a difference a day makes!  Lethargic to peppy in 12 hours.

Puddles!

Notice the blue sky in the background!

And the ever present rain clouds

Saw this idea on Pinterest using bare feet. 
Here's our WA interpretation w/ rain boots!

Parker kept picking up pieces of grass and trying to replant them

We had some crazy weather. Rain, hail and snow on the drive down.
Blue sky for most of Saturday and hail and snow on Sunday morning. 

Guess I can stop cutting up P's apples.  He tried to eat the whole thing!

Finally tall enough to reach the pedals, but the helmet was another story

Even with the slightly rainy weather and our bat problem, I would say this was a successful camping trip!

These Boots Are Made For Walkin'

Splish Splash

Parker has a new open top sippy cup.  He hasn't quite mastered it yet.

Let Me In!

Parker is obsessed with trying to get into the laundry room.  He likes to watch the clothes spin around in the washer and tries to play with the mop and broom.  I told him he couldn't go in and he decided to try to unlock the door himself.

Mom is this the right key?

Hey, I got this mom!

Cheap Fixes

Parker received an Aquadoodle for his birthday. The water pen lasted 2 weeks then Turner decided it was delicious.  I searched for a replacement and discovered a new water pen was $14! F that! Then I was in the man den one day and came across a foam paintbrush and viola! .15 paintbrush solved the problem, suck it Magnadoodle!

From time to time we go to a local indoor playground and Parker's favorite activity is the moon dough sandbox.  You can buy moon dough in stores, but buying enough to fill a container would probably set you back $40.  So I jumped on Pinterest, found this recipe and in less than 15 minutes, made a toddler very, very happy.

Security Upgrades

Ike has taken it upon himself to beef up security around our house. He recently installed the Bone Lock 3000. Basically when someone (me) tries to open the front door Ike gets excited and drops his bone, creating an instant door stop. To disengage the Bone Lock 3000 you must shout, loud enough for the neighbors to hear, "Ike where's your bone! Get your bone!" until he picks it up. I just wish he would stop using it when my arms are full of groceries!

Whole Lot of Shakin' Going On

The good news is Turner can detect seizures.  The bad news is he detects his own seizures.  He has had at least three seizures.  The first two he lost the ability to control some, but not all of his legs and it lasted for a few minutes.  It never occur to us that they were seizures, I thought his hips locked and he was showing symptoms of hip dysplasia. As it turns out those were petit mal seizures.  The one he had last night was a grand mal with shaking and lasted about five minutes.  Thanks to over breeding, epilepsy is prevalent in breeds like labs and his newish flea/worm medicine (which I just bought a years worth!) can increase seizure frequency in epileptic dogs.  So far three seizures in 2.5 years is nothing to worry about, in fact the vet said he could have petit mals every day with no ill effects.  When he begins having five or more seizures a year, then we need to start him on medication to control his epilepsy.

Here is a video of another chocolate lab having a seizure (there are A LOT of YouTube videos of labs having seizures) so you can see what his first two seizures looked like. 

And yes, Brian was right...we should have purchased pet insurance years ago!

Hey Big Talker!

It appears Parker has officially broken his vow of silence!  He has been incoherently babbling up a storm the past few weeks and has started repeating some words.  I shot, what I thought, would be a cute video of Parker repeating some words.  But after watching the video I realized Turner and his giant tongue pretty much drown out Parker!  Yup, that background noise is Turner trying to drain the water bowl.