Ebby and I have been staying indoors of late, because if it is not 90+ outside, it is pouring down rain. We hope everyone in the northern hemisphere is having a great summer 2009!
Hot Dog!
Delicious!
Dog Days Of Summer // Dogs On Thursday
Category Archives: Journal
Symbol Of Love
Talk about doing things backwards… I have had this wedding band for a few years now (replacement for my old one) and did not receive an engagement solitaire with the replacement band to make it a set. So, long story short, I sold some yellow gold I had here in the house (I only wear white gold or silver) to purchase the matching engagement ring and used the diamond from a solitaire pendant of my mother’s for the center stone.
So now I have my wedding band from my husband, my solitaire ring courtesy of my mother, and an heirloom piece to eventually pass on to my grandson. Isn’t it pretty?
Knitting news to come shortly, so stay tuned…Fair Winds…
Ebby’s Visit to Jacksonville, FL
We made it back from Jacksonville in one piece, rested and ready to get back to school and work. Ebby had a great time hanging out at the hotel most of the time, since most of Florida’s beaches are not dog friendly. Scott was able to read while watching the colorful beach characters and I made it to a couple of knit shops and scored a couple of skeins of Mini Mochi yarn for a pair of socks. The best part of the whole weekend was the dinner we enjoyed at Ruth’s Chris where we celebrated our anniversary. The menu consisted of seared Ahi Tuna, grilled Mahi Mahi, and yes, there was plenty of melt in your mouth steak! Of course we had to get a doggie bag or we would never have heard the last of it. So I will leave you with a few photos of Ebby enjoying her Ruth’s Chris steak. Enjoy! (she did)
Yum, Yum! Gimmie, Gimmie!!
Num, Num, Num!! Medium Well, Just Like I Like It!
Takin A Break
I thought this would be a fitting post for my Dogs on Thursday entry, so…
Apparently, Ebby has decided to take a long weekend and head for Jacksonville, FL. She is exhausted from watching all the chaos of finals week for her parents and needs a break. She will need a driver and some stimulating company, of course, so we have decided to go along for the ride. We are all looking forward to a little R&R and some different scenery. Photos to come…
National Polka Festival 2009
Things around here have been so crazy that I have been unable to post this years collection of images from the Polka Festival. Now that the mid-terms are over and the grandson has returned home I can finally turn my attention to more entertaining subjects. Ebby enjoyed the trip to Dallas.
Ebby and me at the Mississippi border.
Closeup of the Chihuahua with an attitude!
Ebby and me at the Louisiana Border
Ebby and me at the Texas border.
The trip back was another story. There were three of us, Me, Scott, and our three year old grandson William in the front cab of our little truck for the 14 hour trip back home. Ebby lived in my lap the entire ride back. All is well though. We made it home without incident, unless you count the first hour in the truck when William turned to me and basically lost all his orange juice he had taken in before we left. It was a mess, but we survived.
This year my dad and I competed in the King and Queen Dance again. There were 21 couples competing this year and we didn’t even make it past the first cut. We had fun though and the couple who won were far superior dancers and will represent the festival well in the year to come.
Pardon the No Smoking sign, the moment was right so the photo was taken.
It is so wonderful for a daughter to be able to dance with her father!
Are we having fun yet? or Will this song ever end?
My Daddy and Me!
All the contestants are positioned around the dance floor.
Here is the video of our 2009, meager attempt at stardom…
On Saturday, we went to the parade as usual, but the parade was a huge disappointment this year. Not only did it start about an hour late because of an inadvertently parked train across the intersection, but there were bands included in the floats that had absolutely NOTHING with Czech heritage, except perhaps that the members were residents of the greater Ennis area. These bands were beyond metal in flavor and there was not a polka to be found. Sad, really. If Ennis wants to do something to promote the Polka Festival in the future they might want to try updating the website and begin thinking “nationally” again. They are, after all, the National Polka Festival. Ok, rant is over… The best part of the parade for me was seeing Ebby all decked out in her costume. She is truly a Czech/Mex dog! Ha Ha
This is why the parade is late!!
Am I handsome or what?
Nana, William, Bryan (my son), Sara (his wife), and Ebby waiting for the parade
We will not be attending this festival next year (or probably for a few years to come), mainly because we want to go visit some other festivals in other parts of the country. Now that I have my supply of costumes, we can dance in style throughout Wisconsin, Nebraska, Minnesota, and Ohio, to name a few. Stay tuned here for updates on our adventures to a polka festival near you.
William Goes To The Beach
William has returned home to his parents in Colorado after spending a whirlwind week here in Alabama with us. We took him to the beach for the first time and he was pretty much terrified. He was much more enamored with the boats and the palm trees that he called “jungles”. Enjoy…
My Name is William
Hello everyone, my name is William and I am three years old. My Nana is super busy taking care of me this week, so I thought I would help her out and do some guest blogging. We had a great time at the National Polka Festival this year and when it was over Nana and Popo brought me back to their house in Alabama. So far, in two short days, I have managed to drive Da’s tractor, play on 2 awesome playgrounds, trek through the woods at the park, shoot Nana and Popo with water guns, play with Ebby and Blazer, go out for pizza and my favorite meal, chicken fries. We also managed to do lots of shopping, including a trip to Wal-Mart to pick up a shovel and pail set for my trip to the beach tomorrow. Just a side note here for mommy and daddy, potty training is going great and I think diapers are for babies… Here are a few photos of our busy past two days.
Hopefully, if I can find time, I will post again with photos of my sand castle building and ocean swimming adventure…stay tuned…
William
Everybody Dance // This Year’s Costume Trial Run
I finally reached a point in my semester work where I could take a short break and work on something fun. My wonderful and talented husband agreed to do a photo shoot of me in my costume for this year’s Polka Festival. Every year I get nervous when the festival draws near thinking that my costume will not fit. So far, it has all been for naught. Here are some photos from the fun we had out on the property yesterday. Enjoy.
Ebby Learns a New Trick // Such a Smart Chihuahua
While we were camping last week Ebby learned a new command. It always amazes me how fast she picks up new commands. Now we are working on ringing the bell to go outside. I will try to get video of that when she has it mastered. Until then, enjoy this very short clip of Ebby going house.
Timing Is Everything // Beachcombing Between Storms
Last weekend we were going to go to the beach, but the threat of tornadic activity and the torrential downpours kept us home and inside. This Thursday, we were able to make the trip, even with the threat of more rain. Our objective was to try out our new tent and enjoy the sand and surf. We thoroughly tested the tent and it withstood both the wind and rain well. We had never set up this tent before and we did have to set it up in the rain, not something I would recommend if you have never set up a tent before.
Our camping experience is pretty extensive and we were able to get it up with few issues. After we got settled in, we were talking about it and decided that it would be a great idea for couples who are thinking of getting married to go through setting up a tent together as part of their pre-marital counseling. Anyway, this tent is huge. We have always had backpacking tents, i.e. ones you can’t stand up in. So it was a refreshing change to be able to freely move around inside the tent.
Friday morning, the rain had ceased and it was quite cold before the sun came up. Ebby had no problems finding a warm place to await the sun’s arrival.
We packed up the beach stuff and headed for the beach on Friday morning. Ebby had a ball!
She was a little concerned by the waves, but soon got the hang of running on the beach with her mom and dad. She really loves to run and if you check out the bottom photo you can see that sometimes she even knows how to fly. Enjoy
