Every Weim has a Story

Today during our evening walk, we ran into a lady who stopped us to say hello to Tahoe and Ashley. She told us that she used to have a weimaraner named Chelsea.  Chelsea lived to be 13 years old.  She was a great dog that loved to be around people. (Weims are known for always needing to be social and around people). I could tell by the way the lady looked at Tahoe and Ashley, and talked about Chelsea, that she had loved her dog very much and that she had a lot of great memories. Weimaraners really are extraordinary dogs.

Ashley & Babu

Tahoe is a little under-the-weather. It seems that Brian fed him too much pork and spam last night. Poor Tahoe's tummy! His stomach must have been doing somersaults because he threw up during the walk. He seemed a bit better after that but I'll have to make sure that Brian doesn't slip him any more treats from the dinner table for a little while. (Bad Brian!)

Ashley and Tahoe

Ashley at point - she sees a squirrel!

Walking, walking, & more walking

I can't believe that it's been an entire week since I last updated this blog. I'm sorry - I've been pretty busy enjoying the summer weather... running, biking, walking Tahoe and Ashley, etc. Not much to update you on. Although, today Babu and I were on a mission... to walk the entire Bull Run - Occoquan Trail.

Babu and I have hiked portions of this trail in the past. Today was about hiking from Fountainhead Park (letter E on the map) to Bull Run Regional Park (letter A on the map) back to where my car was parked near Rt. 28 (letter B on the map). In total, we walked 20.5 miles. We thought about bringing Tahoe and Ashley along but we knew that we would eventually have to drag Ashley and carry Tahoe so we decided against it. Instead, the pups got a walk around the neighborhood when we got home.

I hope that you had a fun adventure this weekend too - here are a few pics from our hike:

Babu at mile marker 1

Pet rock pile

Less than 3 miles to Bull Run Regional Park!

Babu at mile marker 18 - we made it!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all you dads out there! What are you doing special for dad today?

A special breakfast treat for Babu

We're having a little celebration here later today. Until then, I'm sure that Tahoe and Ashley will give Babu lots of sloppy kisses, especially once he has glaze from this doughnut stuck in his beard. So... Happy Father's Day -- and special wishes to our dads Babu and Appa.

Pancakes & Summer Fun

This morning I decided to make pancakes for breakfast for Brian and Babu. They must have been good because they ate them all. As they were eating, there were two fur-bodies, acting cute and eyeballing the last pancake - hoping for a bite.

Pretty please....!

Last Thursday, Babu and I took a trip to the batting cages. We had gone to the batting cages once before, several months ago. We weren't very good then - I think that both of us had expected to be better at hitting the baseballs. So, we wanted to go back to see if it was a fluke or if we had improved. I think these pictures speak for themselves...

Babu preparing for a pitch

Look at that form!

We progressed... from Very Slow...

To... Slow!

Honestly, I think that we would both agree that we improved. I know that I hit more balls this time. I also formed a blood blister on my hand - eew!

We also played a game of miniature golf. Babu won by three strokes. He may have won the game but, at least I wasn't the one who hit my ball in the water.

Babu on the course

Nice day to...

Today was a nice day to... smell the hydrangeas!

Ashley with blue hydrangeas

 
Babu and I took Tahoe and Ashley out for a walk at 5:30pm. Along the way, we passed several beautiful hydrangea bushes. We also saw a family of geese at the lake - a momma goose, a papa goose, and three little goslings.

Mr. & Mrs. Goose with babies

Ashley looking on

Brian headed to New York City this morning for work. Here is a picture that he took in Manhattan this afternoon.

The Big Apple

Little Miss Toadlegs

Yesterday evening, we took Tahoe and Ashley out for a walk around the lake and through the woods. It was 8:30pm and showers had just passed through the area and cooled things off a bit. It was starting to get dark and I had a difficult time seeing what was ahead of me on the black asphalt trail. Tahoe and Ashley had a bit of an advantage as they're always looking down and sniffing at the ground. As we entered the woods, I began to hear a familiar croak... remember when I wrote about the frog pond?

Well, it appears that all of the toads in my neighborhood get together at night and congregate on the trail in the woods and the nearby park.  It's like they're having a little toad convention. As we walked, all I could see were hundreds of these little "black spots" that would quickly move away as we approached. Tahoe doesn't like the toads. I think he once squished one with his nose and it made his nose itchy - he didn't like the squishy texture or smell. Ashley, on the other hand, likes toads.

Last night though, I learned that Ashley doesn't like toads... she LOVES toads. She loves them so much, she wants to collect them all in her belly! Yep, Miss Ashley ate a toad. In fact, I think she ate two toads. It was dark and hard to see but both times it happened a "black spot" jumped in front of Ashley and then it vanished. I believe that the "black spots" went into Ashley's mouth because soon after she was foamy at the mouth and she would shake her head a few times, as if trying to help herself swallow something that was still moving.

Then, today I came across this old story from NPR. I think I'll be avoiding the woods at dusk for a while... don't want Ashley to turn into a drug addict.

Dog vs. Toad

Happy Saturday

Happy Saturday!

Saturday morning flowers

This morning I went for a run around 8:00am. It was cool (76 degrees) but the humidity was 70% - yuck! After only 10 min of running I was sweating like a pig - lovely image, I know. After the run, I returned home, showered, made myself breakfast, and fired up my laptop.  As I was in the kitchen, preparing a pitcher of iced tea, I looked over at my breakfast and saw Ashley - eyeballing me and my breakfast. Unfortunately for her, I had already consumed my breakfast sausage.

Ashley sneaking up on my breakfast

Scorching Heat

This week has been a hot one - too hot to blog, in fact. (O.k., so it hasn't been too hot to blog but temps. have made me and the pups tired.)  Yesterday, temperatures reach up to 101 degrees! As a result, I have been walking Tahoe and Ashley in the evening (after 8:00 p.m.) when it's cooler. The sun has been setting around 8:45pm so there is still some light during our jaunts around the lake and neighborhood.

Today we walked by the lake and gave Ashley another opportunity for an off-leash walk.

Ashley off-leash

The sun setting over the lake

Ashley was good... up until she noticed the geese close to shore. She ran off the trail and down into the water. Silly girl!

Geese in the lake

 

 

Ashley on the trail of geese

Ashley emerging from the water

In the end, Ashley finally made her way back up to the trail and into her "daddy's" arms.

Come to daddy!

A Stroll Around Old Town

Today, Brian and I took Tahoe and Ashley to Old Town Alexandria.  It was another perfect day - weather wise - and we had a great time walking by the water and past the shops and restaurants. We walked through crowds of people and past several dogs... both Tahoe and Ashley were pretty well-behaved. As we walked, we were stopped several times by people wanting to know what kind of dogs they were (including one heavily inebriated fella). "Why good sir" I responded, "they're weimaraners of course!"

Ashley riding in the car, on the way to Old Town

Walking by the water

Tahoe by the dock, in front of the Cherry Blossom

Ashley noticing how "bike friendly" Old Town is

Tahoe hoping to find a treat in the harp lady's basket

Brian and Ashley resting in the park

Sleepy dogs in the car ride home

Nodding off

The Pool is Open

Well, Tahoe and Ashley agree that it's officially summer (almost)! Today on our walk, we passed a swimming pool that was busy with swimmers and pool patrons.

Tahoe daydreaming of swimming

Ashley - ready to keep on walking

Tahoe and Ashley will have to wait patiently until Labor Day to take a swim in the pool. (Labor Day, aka last day of the pool season, is when the pool welcomes it's four-legged friends to jump in and take a swim).  Until then, Tahoe and Ashley will have to settle with occasional swims in the lake.

Perfect weather

Today was a beautiful day! Thanks to yesterday's rain and a cold front this morning, the humidity was low and the sun was shining this afternoon - perfect weather for walking Tahoe and Ashley.

I realize that it's been a while since I've taken pictures while walking the dogs on a weekday. This is partly due to the fact that the weather is warmer and I'm not walking around with a jacket that has pockets to help me carry my camera. (My hands are always full when walking Tahoe and Ashley. First, there's Tahoe and Ashley - they're a handful in and of themselves! Then there are the bags for picking up poopies and the full poopie bags that I have to carry around once I've picked up after Tahoe and Ashley. So, carrying a camera to document our walks is not always that easy.)

Maybe I'll get a doggy pack for Ashley - so she can help me carry my belongings while were walking.

An afternoon by the lake

Ashley with the wind in her ears

Ashley on the trail

Happy Tahoe