Why you should wear two pairs of shorts on the dog walk

So yesterday morning we all went for the dogwalk together. I-man, THe Husband, Maggs, and myself. After we had made one circle around the woods it was clear that Maggs needed less commotion in order to get her business done. So, The Husband and The Boy went back home. When Maggs was ready she and I made our way across the bridge and up the stairs. Then I felt a very sharp stinging pain in my right thumb. Then I felt it on my right leg..in at least two place. OUCH. Then I looked down and noticed about 10 bees (or hornets?) IN STINGING POSITION on my shorts! Yikes! I acted VERY quickly and pulled the shorts off, left them on the trail, and ran home! Good thing I was wearing another pair of shorts underneath! Another reason to keep that silly 80's (or was it 90's) style going....
All in all I came out of that incident with 4 bee stings. Maggs was untouched and fortunately I-man didn't get stung either as they had gone home another way. I sent The Husband back over to retrieve my shorts awhile later. He didn't find a nest. I really must have looked pretty funny yanking those shorts off and running home!

Our new neighbors

VERY tired.....

First trip to the zoo and I forgot my camera!!!!!!!!

I can't believe that I forgot my camera! We took I-man to the zoo for the first time. Well, he's been there twice before but this is the first time he's gone where he GETS IT. Did I mention that I forgot my camera? His highlight list: 1) THE PRAIRIE DOGS (got him laughing when they dug in their holes) 2) The young bobcat (splashed us when he was going after some toys in the pool) 3) The goats in the petting farm (DOOOGGGGIIIIEEESSS).

We also took him for his first trip to Bonnie Doon. No camera AGAIN. And they don't even have a website. It's an ice cream place that hasn't changed since it opened. They still have drive-in. We went inside and I-man REALLY wanted to use his spoon to dish out some of his dad's banana shake. He is still a bit sloppy with the spoon, so there was a lot of banana shake on his face and on the table.

Garden Help

Dogwalk Wednesday

Boy in the front pack, Dog on the leash. We went the other direction today. There was a group of kids gathering for what seemed like a day camp day. As I walked down the stairs I note stuffed animals scattered in trees, paths, fences, etc. They must have been organizing some kind of game. The boy had to climb around the cabin stairs and that was fun. On our way back we noticed a stuffed white owl smack dab in the middle of a poison ivy patch on the side of the trail! Is it mean that I chuckled...just a little bit?

Weekend

Had a thrilling trip to Kokomo and back on Friday. The Boy threw up. So we stopped at Discount Tires, cleaned up and turned around to go back home. Six hours in the car. He fell asleep 2 miles from home. Fun was had by all.

Tuesday DOGWALK

Brought to you by I-man:
As you can see by the drawing, he rode the whole way in the backpack! It was a fairly quick walk and we didn't even get bothered by mosquitoes. It was cool today, so we both had sweatshirts on. Maggs said she didn't need one.

Broom for the boy

Had to get a broom for the boy. He likes to help when we sweep. This was the only one I could find. Phew...thank goodness the broom advertised "Little boys like to sweep too" or I might not have bought it.

Trouble with the hired help

Turns out the nanny doesn't change diapers and doesn't do 2am call.

And the nanny job goes to.......

AAPH!!!!!!!! (OTA...Aunty Hovis). Ok, so the excuse to come here is to look for bike helmets, but The Husband convinced her that instead of going to Indy for the helmet today she should come here instead! With the promise of good whiskey, hanging with I-man, AND going along to get his first ice cream cone certainly helped seal the deal.

Friday DOGWALK

Maggs dressed up today for the walk, as you can see. She is sporting her ND bandana! The neighbor dogs are saying "HI" in the 2nd picture. It might be hard to see, but they are sporting their summer haircuts!
I-man rode in the front pack most of the walk today. Here we are covering him up to protect from any mosquitoes! It was a pretty quick walk. Once around and not too much pokiness by anyone! After we got home I noticed I had put I-man's shoes on the wrong feet! Good thing he didn't want to walk too much today!

Dog Walk: Itchy & Scratchy Edition

by Guest Contributor: The Dad.

This may be my last fill-in post given the chilly reaction to my efforts on the dog walk.

The dog walk today was a challenge. We went to our standard spot -- The Res -- at the appointed time, and Maggie did her thing as one would hope. However, the mosquitoes are starting to come out in force. Ike and I spent a lot of the walk discussing the relative itchiness of Poison Ivy v. Mosq. Bites. Given evidence collected on the walk, I argued that the bug bites were worse for the first 20 minutes, but the PI had staying power.

One of the big differences between when Moose and I take Ike for a dog walk is that he generally likes to just hang out and ride in my arms the whole time. He doesn't even feel the need to have hold of the leash most of the time. I'm not sure why that is. Today, as you can see from the picture, he had to take a short little walk, but he quickly wanted back up in my arms. (Note, too, that Dad didn't even dress him funny today.)

When we got back to the house, Ike had to do a bit of yard work. You can see how nicely Moose's gardening is coming together in the front of the house. We recently reclaimed the part on the far right, converting it from the omnipresent vinca to grass. Moose says she's surprised she's advocating planting grass anywhere, but that's how pervasive the darned vinca/perriwinkle is.



In the course of Ike's yardwork we came across a moose. This one comes via Aunt S and has settled into the garden well.

After that we had to take a ride in the wagon, which got a smile from the boy....

Tuesday and Wednesday dogwalk

....done by The Husband. No pictures, no story....he took The Boy on Tuesday and said it was uneventful. Today he only took Maggs. How can I be married to such a boring guy?

Monday walk

We got off to another late start since someone went back to sleep and slept till almost 10! This is why it was Dogwalk in Pajamas, part II. We spent a good part of the time in the meadow. Maggs was pokey. Here is a pic of the leash contraption

Friday DOGWALK....wet

Yes, today it is raining. But the dog MUST be walked. We had a bit of a slow morning...someone was wide awake at 5am so we were up playing from 5-6am then went back to bed till 9:30....The DOGWALK did not get going until 10:56. We were dressed in shorts and t-shirts...then we opened the door. It was cool and rainy. So, a sweatshirt was added and kid moved from backpack to sling. Not too many photos taken today because of the rain..but here are a few.
The poppies are blooming in the center planter and the false solomon's seal is blooming in the yard.Walk was peaceful. The Boy was pretty sleeping and we listened to the rain falling on the leaves. He didn't even ask to get down to walk. Good thing...it was wet! Arrival back home: 11:22am

Thursday Dog Walk...Guest Writer: The Dad

The dog walk was done today by me, The Dad.

Our buddy Gladys (aka, Michael...don't ask) was in town today, which meant that the Boy was distracted and not totally into the dog walk. For those that don't know, we have a two leash contraption set up because the Boy usually feels like he has to hold the leash, and we want to have a bit more control over Mags than he can provide. Well, today, Dad ended up with both leashes, as the Boy just wasn't into that today. All in all, the walk was really pretty boring. I carried the little guy and both leashes, Mags did what she was supposed to, and we all came home. Now, don't get me wrong -- he was terribly cute during the whole thing, but it was a relatively uneventful walk.

When we got back, we said goodbye to Gladys. He was off to ride his bike to Chicago...through Hammond, East Chicago, and all that. I'm not sure that exactly sounds like fun to me. I tried to get the little guy to say "Bye, bye" for Gladys, but to no avail. (I did manage to get him to say "okay" today...or at least his version of it.)

Well, since I didn't take any pictures on the walk, here's one of the Boy in his glasses from today.

Plant Quiz!!

Please enter your guesses!







This one with the pink flowers, I'm just looking for a family...because I don't really know what this is exactlyyy

Wednesday DOGWALK

10:06 am. I said to the boy "Go get your shoes, it's time for THE DOGWALK!". He walked from the family room to the kitchen and grabbed one shoe. Someone slept in late this morning because he woke up during the middle of the night wide awake calling for THE DOGGY. So, we decided that THE DOGWALK could be done in our pajamas! Yeah! Here we are getting ready to go.

He got to ride in the sling for most of the way. We took lots of pictures today because I'm updating the website for the organization that manages the woods and facilities. We needed new pictures of the buildings. We also had to stop and walk around at one of the little cabins in the woods and play with the rocks by the firepit.

It is hot today and Maggs decided it was too hot for her while we were playing at the cabin. So she went to hid under the porch. Can you see her here?

Finally, we had to have some fun playing with the dirt on the trail.

Here we are...at the end of the walk. A successful, fun morning! Perhaps we should all learn a lesson here...it's more fun to spend the morning in your PJs!!!!!

Tuesday dogwalk...

9:12 The boy grabs his shoes from the basket and brings them to me so I will help him put them on. Time for THE DOGWALK! Welcome to a new feature on SDMOOSE. I hope to bring you reports from our dogwalks a few times a week. But will these reports be interesting enough to keep you reading? Stay tuned!


Here we are at the END of the walk. As you can see, someone insisted that the wagon go along today.

First we had to stop and talk to the neighbor on our way to the woods. She was putting about 4 packages in her mailbox "return to sender". Her 92 year-old mother apparently orders many things from the mail! Maggie loves our neighbor (treats) and The Boy is finally smiling at her. Today he played the fun trick of throwing something out of the wagon multiple times so she would pick it up for him. I thought MY kid wouldn't do that trick! Then he wanted out of the wagon and took off exploring down the road. So, I said goodbye to the neighbor and chased him down.

This is the first time the wagon has been "invited" along on the walk! It worked ok, in that the boy rode in it about 1/2 way. It slowed us down a bit and I think it maybe threw Maggs off a bit as she didn't do her thing that she is supposed to do on the dogwalk! Darn dog. The Boy yelled "DOGGY" a few times on the walk. Another first. Arrival home: 9:59. Time to get going to Ava's for another walk....it's going to be hot here today.