The name of this post is a tribute to my Great Grandmother Miller. Whenever someone would ask her how old she was, she would always say, "I'm 29 and holding." Maddux told me she was a great lady. I sure wish I could have met her.
Mommy got lots of presents today, and Mamaw, Papaw, and Daddy took her to lunch. They also stopped to pick up lots of goodies at a bakery on the way home, and once again, they did not bring us anything. I don't know what a cute little dog has to do to get a piece of banana cream tart.
Mommy had a great day, and she was really glad that Mamaw and Papaw got to spend it with us. You may notice in the picture below that we are giggling. Instead of saying "cheese", Daddy would say "woof" really loud to get us to look at the camera. Mommy, Mamaw, and Papaw couldn't stop laughing at how funny Daddy sounded.
Well, the past few days have been rather uneventful, which is why Bella and I have made no posts. Just kidding...as we said in our last post on Christmas, we headed for the Florida beach for some much needed rest and relaxation. I'll warn you now that there is a lot to report so this will be a long post.
We got up EARLY the day after Christmas to drive down to Fort Meyers Beach, and we spent about 12 hours in the car. Bella slept about 11 of the 12 hours, and occasionally she would wake up out of a sound sleep to howl as loud as she could, which scared the crap out of the entire car. She does this all the time. We have no idea why she does this, but she does...she's a complex dog. Me, I stayed awake most of the trip. I want to be sure that I don't miss a thing.
The trip was relatively uneventful until about 2 miles from the condo...that is when Mamaw heard the car making a noise. Fortunately, we made it to Mr. & Mrs. Houston's condo. They have a dog named Dixie, and as you can see from the picture, Bella wanted to play with Dixie's toys. Since she is a little destructive with her own toys, we thought it best to put them up. I'm sure glad I don't have such a destructive nature. ;)
We loved to look out the window of the condo and bark at everything.
Thursday morning, Mamaw and Papaw had to take the van to a car dealership to get it looked at. It turns out the fuel pump went bad, and they had to fly the part in from Orlando, but they were able to get it fixed by Saturday. It's a good thing we had it checked out because the van was sure to break down on the long trip home.
After Mamaw and Papaw got back, we packed our bags and Bella and I headed to the beach for our first visit to the ocean. Mommy, Daddy, and Mamaw (Papaw went to buy bait for fishing) made the 15 minute walk over to the beach. We had to walk across this big bridge, and we got a great view of the ocean and the boats. Once we got to the beach, we found our spot and put out our beach towels. Of course we made friends right away. We had lots of people stop to talk to us, pet us, and tell us how cute we were. We took several pictures and walked down the beach, but we only saw one other dog...this should have been our first clue. Once we got back to our beach towels, Mommy caught a glimpse of a bug on Bella. She picked her up to have a look at her underbelly, and there they were - SAND FLEAS!! We had a total of 20 minutes at the beach, and that was enough for us. We stuffed everything back in our bags and headed back to the condo as fast as possible. Unbeknownst to me and Bella, we were headed straight for the bathtub.
As soon as we walked in the door, we were both put in the tub and had water dumped on us as the tub filled with water. We did confirm one thing during this fiasco...Bella can swim! Because I'm taller than her, it took more water for me to get covered, and by this time, Bella was neck deep in it thinking Mommy and Daddy were trying to drown her. She was dog paddling to save her life. It was hilarious! Finally, after about an hour, we were flea-free and clean...for now (this is what the literary world calls foreshadowing).
Before Mommy found us crawling with bugs, here are some pictures of us at the beach.
I bet you think this was the most excitement we had that day. Well, you would be wrong. After we were rid of the fleas, Papaw took Mamaw, Mommy, and Daddy out fishing. Before they fished they rode around in the boat, and they saw 3 sting rays and a really big seahorse. When they got to the first fishing spot, the water was a little choppy so everyone needed to be extra careful while they were standing and fishing. Can you sense something about to happen? Yep, you guessed it...after about 20 minutes of fishing, everyone heard the thud. When they looked to the back of the boat, they saw Daddy sitting half way out of the boat on the motor with his fishing rod still in his hand. Fortunately, he did not hurt his back where he had the surgery, and he didn't fall in the water. He did bruise his back and the back of his leg, but other than that he was okay. Mommy said if she hadn't been so scared that he broke his back, she would have taken a picture for the blog.
After they got Daddy back in the boat, they made him move to the front of the boat and sit down in the seat. Once the fishing resumed, Papaw caught a catfish right away, and then a little fish called a Cigar. Mommy caught a couple of those Cigar fish, and Daddy caught a cigar, and some kind of puffer fish.
They decided to move fishing holes to see if they could catch some Sheepshead, and of course, Papaw caught one right off the bat. Then, Daddy caught a couple of Pinfish, a Florida Pompano, several Mangrove Snapper, and a Sheepshead. Mommy and Mamaw couldn't catch a Sheepshead to save their lives, but they sure did feed them a lot of bait trying. Before they headed back to the condo, they saw a huge hawk and some porpoises swimming around the boat. It was good day for wildlife!
Friday, everyone (except me and Bella) drove over to Sanibel Island to do some shopping. They went to an outdoor mall that had a lot of parrots outside that would say "Hello". There was a woman there that gave one of the birds her keys, and she almost didn't get them back.
On the way back from Sanibel, they decided to stop and get ice cream at a place called Love Boat. All they talked about was how good the ice cream tasted. I sure wish they had brought us some to sample. Then, they left to go fishing AGAIN. To be our vacation, Bella and I spent a lot of time in the condo.
On the second fishing trip, I'm glad to report that no one fell out of the boat (although Daddy disputes that he actually fell "out" of the boat), and the fishing was pretty good. Mommy and Daddy both caught a couple of those puffer fish at the first fishing hole. Then, they moved on to the Sheepshead hole, again. They didn't catch any Sheepshead, but they caught a lot of Mangrove Snapper, who also got most of their bait. Papaw caught a Grouper, and Mamaw and Papaw caught Mangrove Snapper at the exact same time.
Once Papaw showed Mommy how to hold her rod and set her hook, she caught a bunch of Mangrove Snapper. She skunked Daddy! Although Daddy did manage to catch another Pinfish (Mommy kept calling them Pin Heads by mistake).
While they were fishing, they saw the porpoises again, and this time Mommy was able to get them on video.
After they got back from fishing, Bella and I got to go on a boat ride. We put on our life jackets and headed out for the open sea (okay maybe it's not the open sea, but it sure feels like it to two little dogs). While we played on the boat, Papaw fished, and caught several Ladyfish. Bella even helped Mamaw drive the boat while Papaw fished.
Oh, while we were sitting there, we saw a boat come flying down the no-wake zone and then he ran aground. Fortunately for the driver, he was able to get off land without a tow. I'm telling you...there's never a dull moment on vacation.
The boat ride was fun, but I think Bella and I agree...we prefer our paws on land.
Saturday...only one more day at the beach. When we got up, we took a car ride to downtown to drive down the coast and see Mr. Houston's brother's house on the beach. It sure was nice to be out of the condo. Once we got back, we were outside for a little while picking limes and oranges from Mr. Houston's fruit trees to bring home. After the fruit was picked, wouldn't you know...Bella and I get left again! Everyone else went over to Mr. & Mrs. Smith's house to take a ride on their Fountain boat. Mommy said they were very nice, and they even took them on long boat ride out to Cabbage Key, which is where Jimmy Buffet wrote Cheeseburger in Paradise, and of course they serve the best cheeseburgers. Daddy said the place was very pretty, and you can only get there by boat. They even saw a turtle walking around while they ate their lunch. It would have been great to see, but I don't think Bella and I could stand the 30 minute boat ride. I would show you some pictures, but Mommy AND Mamaw forgot their cameras. Can you believe Mommy would go anywhere without her camera?!
After they got back to the condo, we had lots of cleaning to do since we were headed home the next morning. While everyone was cleaning up, Bella was annoying me as usual. Some things don't change...not even on vacation.
Once the cleaning was done, Mommy sat down with Bella in her lap, and that's when she noticed them - MORE SAND FLEAS!!! I bet you can guess what happened next - MORE BATHS!!! After about an hour, we were flea-free again. Daddy thinks we got them out in the yard while we were picking fruit. I sure hope whoever is getting that fruit really appreciates it.
It's now Sunday and we were on the road back to Atlanta bright and early this morning. Bella and I both slept most of the way this time. This vacationing is tiring! Unfortunately for me, Bella got a few licks of Mamaw's vanilla malt while I was napping (this is why I try to stay awake). We also saw a deer driving a car on the way home. Well, kind of...there was a truck pulling a car that had a deer head in the driver's seat with the seat belt on. It looked just like the deer was driving. Bella also did her infamous howling routine several times, which caused everyone in the car to jump every time she did it. I swear I don't know what is wrong with that girl.
We were very happy that the van made it back without incident, and we are all glad to be home (although technically Mamaw and Papaw won't be home until tomorrow).
We want to send out a huge thank you to Mamaw and Papaw for taking us down to Fort Meyers and showing us a great time. We also want to thank Mr. & Mrs. Houston and their dog Dixie for letting us stay in their home. Last but certainly not least, we want to thank Mr. & Mrs. Smith for taking everyone on a great boat ride to Cabbage Key.
We all had a great time (except for the fleas and baths). Well, I'm exhausted so I'm heading to bed. I have to get my rest since it's Mommy's birthday tomorrow. Mamaw and Papaw are spending the night tonight so they can celebrate with us, too. Be sure to check the blog tomorrow for Mommy's birthday post.
This was my first Christmas, and I must say that I was a little skeptical about a big guy dressed in a red suit flying around town with a bunch of reindeer dropping off gifts, but not anymore!
Take a look at all the gifts Maddux and I got. Not all of them are from Santa...some of them are from our family.
Maddux and I had a great Christmas! I can't wait to do this again next year. We got so many new toys I think we'll give all our old ones away. Hmmmm, Maddux says he's not sure he'll agree to that since most of the old toys are his. Maybe he's right...the more toys the better.
We better get to bed because we are getting up really early to go to the beach. We'll post all about it when we get back in a few days. I hope I see a seahorse.
Well, It's Christmas Eve, and Maddux and I are anxiously awaiting the arrival of Santa Paws. It's been a whirl wind of activity since last Wednesday. Maddux and I woke up early thinking we would be driving to Mamaw and Papaw's house, but unfortunately, we had to make a stop at the groomer first. It wasn't too bad I guess...Ms. Angie gave us both a new toy for Christmas. I, of course, got a Christmas bow (which I hate having in my hair) and Maddux got a Christmas bandanna. Here are few pictures that Mommy took in the car on the way to Knoxville. Daddy kept telling her she was going to blind him with the flash while he was driving. As you can guess, she completely ignored him and took the pictures anyway.
You'll notice in the pictures that Maddux is helping Daddy drive, and I'm sacked out in Mommy's lap. From the angle she took the picture of me, I look like I have big pointy elf ears. What's up with that!?
We finally got to Mamaw and Papaw's house, and the first thing I did, after I went to potty of course, is to get under Mamaw's tree and check out all the presents.
The next morning my hair was a mess so Mommy took by bow out, and my hair was sticking up everywhere. Papaw walked by and said it looked like I stuck my paw in a light socket. It may be hard to tell in the picture, but I did have a severe case of bed head.
Mommy even takes pictures of us when we are asleep. I'm sure Maddux is dreaming of ways to get rid of me, and my picture is NOT of my most flattering side.
Sassy has this great big bean bag, and I love to play on it. Mommy snapped my picture while I was rolling around on it. You'll notice that I have my "Santa Baby" shirt on. I'm trying to score a few brownie points with the big guy since my behavior has been a little suspect at times (it's Sunday and I only have a couple more days!). Maybe he'll bring me my very own bean bag.
But, we still have one more stop to make. We are headed over to Nana's house to have an early Christmas with Uncle Bryon, Auntie Tina, and Cousin Sam. Little Sam is ready for Christmas. He crawled right into the room with Nana's tree and picked out his presents.
Sam had a great time playing with me and Maddux. He kept calling us something that sounded like "car". He's so funny! Sam even let Maddux give him kisses.
We even managed to get a picture with the WHOLE family. It took Daddy several minutes to figure out how to work the timer on our camera, but Auntie Tina didn't seem to have any trouble. I guess it's true...girls ARE smarter than boys.
