Happy Howl-o-Ween!

I am not a fan of dressing up, but if you ask my moms, they will say I do it so well. Howl-o-ween is a time where everyone gets dressed up in silly costumes and goes door to door "begging" for candy. Some people actually call it Beggar's night as little humans go door to door for a few hours in the night and look to fill their pillow cases with sweet, delectable little morsels of food. I myself do not thoroughly enjoy Howl-o-ween, except for the fact that the word "howl" is part of the bigger wood. The costumes scare me and the constant doorbell ringing makes Muffin bark for two straight hours (not that is any different from a normal night). Anyway, to keep us calm and prevent us from being scared, Moms take us out and leave candy for all the little minions to take. When we come home, there is no candy left which is good because who knows where their grimy little mits have been. +

While I do not particularly enjoy Howl-o-ween, moms to make Muffin and I dress up occasionally. I have provided some examples below with my thoughts.

Here I am as the Red Baron. You can't really see it, but my eyes are closed underneath the Doggles. For whatever reason, mom could not stop laughing and actually started crying. Muffin did not like these on me and tried to rip them off my head.

Here is Muffin as the Easter Muffin. I honestly have no idea how moms was able to get those ears on her and she just didn't rip them off. She is probably holding her in a death grip and two seconds after this picture was taken, the ears were destroyed.

 

 This is just cruel. Again mom was laughing uncontrollably, but as you can see, I was very uncomfortable.

  

 Here I am as Mickey Mads, just taken the other day.

 I want to wish you all a Happy and Safe Howl-O-Ween as I pose with my pumpkin and until next time, Good Day!

Last Swims

This is the time of year where I say goodbye to the lakes. It is a ritual I have done since I was a wee pup, so basically I have done this ritual my whole life. It has been a few weeks since I have had swims because the moms had to go to Florida for work and then we went to Acadia for my most awesomest adventure. Each year, I know the swims will come to an end when the leaves start to fall of the trees and this weekend, there were lots of leaves on the ground. So I know, that soon, there will be no more swims at the lakes until we come back in April.

The process of saying good bye to the lakes is quite tedious. First, I must do my usual routine which involves Muffin getting up at some ungodly hour to do her business. Every morning she does this I try to weasel my way into staying in bed. This usually includes ranger crawling up the bed to some hard cuddling. This does not work and I am forced to go outside with Muffin to do business. I amuse the moms and get off the deck after some coaxing and go and do my business but, I am still tired and want to go back to bet. I eventually convince Muffin to stop barking and come in and she usually sleeps for another hour. Next, Muffin gets up again because she is ready to start the day. I am not sure why she just cannot stay in bed because, by this time, I am the small spoon and am very comfy. Begrudgingly I get up and start to get excited for my last swims of the year.

Normally, moms would put my swim jingle and picky collar on, but those were left in one of the bags from Acadia back at the homes. So the moms need to improvise and make a harness out of our leash. After the moms make their morning coffee, we proceed to walk to the lakes with large orange chuckit and my buoy. With all the leaves on the ground, I know this swim could be the last one. I brace myself for the cooler water as not all my winter furs have come in. Moms tell me that this swim will be good for me cause I am starting to stink... I am not sure what that means. Anyway, like all other swims, moms toss my buoy into the lakes and I swim after it. By now, the lake level is very low (another indication that there are few, if any swims left) so I can practically walk out to my buoy. I don't walk though, that would be an insult to the last swims if I were to walk.

I swim and retrieve and swim and retrieve and this is how I say goodbye to the lakes. You see, there is no goodbye to the lakes because I know, I will see the lakes again in April after the snow is gone. I will again brace myself for the chill of the lake waters and swim and retrieve and swim and retrieve. Though I will miss my lakes and the swims, my next favorite friend will hold me over... SNOWS! Until the spring lakes, Good Day!

ACADIA

So it has been a while since I last blogged, but that is because my Moms were planning a large meeting for work. However, I knew once they returned from Florida, that my bestest adventure would begin!

My moms began discussing going to Acadia for several years now, and finally they decided to make it happen. From 10/3-10/7 we would be going up to Mid Coast Maine to camp and hike. Muffin and I had been training for several months getting into tip top shape and our moms were buying gear, lots of gear (they both admit to having a gear problem) to make sure we had everything we needed to stay in the great outdoors for a few days. I, myself, was not sure about this cloth house thing and Muffin was concerned about her knee while hiking. So we were prepared with harnesses, first aid kits, plenty of water and cameras to document our trip. We were ready for anything, well, almost anything.

Then the unthinkable happened. Those damn politicians in Washington couldn't come to a stupid decision on something ridiculous, so they just shut down! That's right, they shutdown the government which included all non-essential employees who work at National Parks. Well, Acadia is a National Park. OH NO! My Acadia trip is ruined just days away from my biggest adventure of all time, I thought. My moms had planned to stay in Blackwoods Campgound which was in the park, but due to the shutdown people had 48 hours to vacate the premises. What about my cloth house? Where were we to stay? OH NO Moms! Thankfully, the good people at Koa Oceanside Campground had plenty of tent sites available so we were able to secure a site there! Hooray! The US Government won't stop us!

Once we got there (it was a long car ride) OH MY DOG! The smells of the woods and the oceans was wonderful! Being outside with my Moms all day, was even more wonderful! Walking around to new places was hugely wonderful! Sleeping in the cloth house was totally awesome and snuggly (I had my own sleeping bag!)!! And, the most wonderful thing at Acadia... HIKING!!!

 

The first day we did a figure 8 loop around upper and lower Hadlock Ponds. This hike was not too difficult for Muffin or I and was about a 5 mile round trip. It was wonderful to walk through the woods with my moms and muffin and follow the trails that wind through the woods. Though I could not swim in either pond (it is a public water supply), I did illegally dip my toes and Muffin got quite a large drink.

The next day, we did a different type of hike that was a long the road. I must admit that this hike was boring as there were no rocks to climb and it felt like we were being stalked by a taxi. Anyway, Moms went into town for a few hours to get lunch and Muffin and I slept in the car. Then to my surprise, Moms took us out of the car and we got to walk in downtown Bar Harbor! Not only that, but Moms were even able to take us into stores!!! I didn't want to blow this opportunity, so I made sure I was a good girl. Lots of people came up to pet me, which was nice, but it was a great time being in downtown with my moms (except for the fact that I was afraid of the BIG horseys). I even got to sit on a park bench!

The last day was my favorite day. Since the park was closed, Moms couldn't access all the trails, but they found a good one called Beech Mtn. Now being named Beech Mtn., I thought that there was going to be a beach and a buoy and a swim at the top. So I proceeded to sprint up 0.4 miles to the tippy top of the mountain. My mom kept saying that I was going to give her a heart attack, but she kept up with my speedy pace since I was so excited! There were rocks to climb, views to see and lots of people at the top to pet me! I was such a good hiker that Moms now call me a PH (professional hiker) and they have promised me that we will hike more. Muffin also did really good hiking even though she was slower than me.

So that was my big Acadia Adventure! Moms have promised that we go back again since there was so much of the park we did not see because it was closed! I had a great time and can't wait to go again. Until next time, Good Day!