Exhausted Puppies

It has been a long weekend for the furry babies. Elleigh has been a good big sister and played with her new baby brother. She isn't interested in sharing her food, and I don't blame her. So we strongly encourage each baby to eat out of their own bowls. But Elleigh is sharing her toys and seems to like playing tug with Lucas. She also has been trying to sneak the tiny puppy toys of Lucas and we have to stop her from chewing through them. Elleigh is also a trooper about going outside for potty every time Lucas goes out. Lucas and Mommy enjoy the company even if she doesn't have to go to the bathroom herself. Lucas attended his first puppy obedience class today. He as the smallest kid in his class, which was disappointing because we hoped that there would be another small dog puppy he could play with. Instead, there was Calvin (springer spaniel), Bubba (Bulldog) and Rosa (a curly water spaniel.) Lucas sat most of the class patiently beside me and looked as if he was already a well behaved pooch while his classmates barked, jumped around, and tripped over their big puppy feet. I think Lucas may have been tired in class today so I don't expect he will be so perfect next class session. Lucas is still able to make it through the night with just one potty break somewhere between 3-5:30 am. He seems to be going through a growth spurt right now. It's amazing how much he has grown in just the week that we've had him. While watching the NASCAR final race of the season tonight, Elleigh and Lucas tried to share the same exact space right in the corner of the sofa beside Daddy while he played on the computer. It wasn't that long ago that Elleigh use to lay on top of Austin and they'd sleep together. Elleigh has definitely taken on the big dog role now that she is on the bottom of the dog pile.

Beloved Austin

Michael and I took Austin to be put to sleep late this afternoon. Since being diagnosed with his brain tumor in August, Austin had done pretty well with medication. He had a few seizures and had a slow decline in coordination and sight, but seemed to be enjoying life right up until this last week. He had one 24 hour period where he had two seizures earlier in the week, and by the end of the week Austin had very poor coordination and could no longer be left alone. He needed assistance walking around, going up and down the stairs, and it became clear that he may no longer be enjoying his life. It was a very sad thing to do, but we feel a little relieved that Austin isn't suffering now. We are hoping that Austin is already racing around doggy heaven with little Bradeigh.

It's Autumn

The leaves had barely started to change when I left to go to Hawaii, and on the return flight home, it was obvious that fall was here when we looked down and saw all of the color change. And then with the drop in temperature down to the 60's on Sunday, and having to break out the jeans and sweatshirts, I was left craving apples. I bought some grocery store apples on Monday night, but they just didn't fill the niche. So I took a detour on the way home from work tonight and bought apples from the orchard- and pumpkin ice cream. And I came home and made an apple pie from my Mom's recipe, with my faithful cooking assistants Elleigh and Austin. Austin is an apple connoisseur, so he was delighted that I bought a few different kinds of apples to put in the pie. I didn't do anything fancy with the crust, in fact, I didn't even make it from scratch. But the pie tasted wonderful anyway.

We're Home!

We survived the flight home and Michael's Dad (Grandpa Abberton) was waiting in Manchester to pick us up. We arrived just before noon, having advanced ahead 6 hours with the time zones, and not having been to sleep Friday night. The house was in one piece and, thankfully, Grandpa Abberton mowed the lawn.
We headed out to pick up the four legged children almost immediately, because we really missed them. Miss Elleigh May apparently was exhausted from her stay at pet sitter Susan's house. The little doggy gang staying with Susan had visited the new dog park in Concord frequently. And Susan said Elleigh was a sweet girl. Here's a photograph of Elleigh in her new Hawaiian shirt and the Hawaiian print collar/bandanna that we got for her in Hawaii. You can see she will probably have a permanent scar on her nose from her pre-vacation digger. And she can barely keep her eyes open in this photo. Elleigh has been extra snugly since we have had her home. She also has been trying to catch up on her sleep, passing out any time she can.

Austin didn't seem too overly excited to see us, as he really loves hanging out at "the farm" with his Grandpa Abberton. But he did enjoy the pineapple flavored dog biscuits we brought home for him.

Michael and I were exhausted too. Once we got the kids home, we watched an hour of The Office off the DVR. By 7 pm, we were in bed and slept the whole night through until 8 am this morning. Hopefully, that will be all we need to "catch up" on sleep. Michael has to return to work tomorrow, but I do have one more day to recuperate before heading back to work.

Hawaii!!

Michael and I sat on the couch tonight with our dueling laptops, Elleigh May supervising, and searched the travel websites for the best airfares we could find to Hawaii.

Our tickets are purchased!

Michael is heading out to Hawaii this coming Monday, September 17th, the day after the Nextel NASCAR race in Loudon, NH. He is going to be working on a pump in a landfill for work. (I wish my job sucked like that.) Michael needs to be at the Manchester airport in time for his 6:00 am flight on Monday morning. Yikes!

The plan is that I will fly out to Hawaii on Thursday, September 27th, as Michael's work project is concluding. We are then going to spend an additional week on the Oahu Island as vacation. Yippee! Neither of us has had a week off from work since August 2006. We will both head back on the same flight, starting in the afternoon on Friday, October 5th out of Honolulu and we will arrive in Manchester, NH just after noon on Saturday, October 6th.

Elleigh is aware that something is up since she has been extra cute and cuddly this evening. She will go and kennel at Susan's house for the week we are both gone, and Austin will go and stay with his Grandpa and Grandma at "the farm."

I better keep going through the Hawaii travel guide book I bought way back when Michael first thought he would be sent to Hawaii for work.