Lets Play Ball Mama

I was headed to the back of the yard to lay in my hammock.  I love my hammock.

Well this day, Cooper had different plans for my reason for going outside.  I was to play ball with him in stead.

He won.  Well... we both did.  First I played ball with Cooper.  Then I laid in my hammock.  That's a good compromise, right?

The Huddle Of Shade

When we're somewhere in direct sun and can't get out of it Cooper really suffers.  He needs to get out of the sun or he over heats and pants like crazy.

Look here at these pictures.  He's in the shade!  We all huddle around him to block the sun from his hot little body.  We love him so much that we think of things like THIS to keep him healthy.  

He also gets ice water to drink.  I freeze half of his bottle and fill the rest with water so he has a block of ice to keep the water he's drinking ICE COLD and I offer it any time I think he would drink more.  

It's important to me to take care of this little guy.  

Veteran's Ride

Here are some random pictures taken of the recent Veteran's ride to the Iraq Moving Wall.  

Some were taken by me while riding...

Some were taken by a photographer and sent to me...

This one was posted on FB.

Jesse is the second bike back on the right

It was a wonderful police escorted ride.  They did a wonderful job at blocking intersections and keeping the ride safely moving.  

Iraq Moving Wall

This weekend we celebrated Memorial Day by participating in a veteran's ride to visit the Iraq Moving Wall.  

This is an annual police escorted ride.  There had to be well over 300 bikes.

To see all the names that are painted on the sections of that wall is humbling.  To listen to the veterans speak is even more humbling.  

I'm a proud American who will celebrate Memorial Day this year in a thankful way.   

Blue

Cooper is so good.  Here he is, getting another blue doo.  I think this time he actually fell asleep while the color was setting.  

He's fine through the color part... 

He enjoys the part where he has to lay in my lap to let the color set...  

Tolerates when I wash the color out... 

Well behaved through showering the rest of his body... 

Patient while I hold him while he drips dry into a towel for a few minutes... 

and EXPLODES when I put him down.  

He dries off on a towel on the floor and runs around the house like a crazy boy.  He feels so good after his shower.  I love it because he's clean and he smells wonderful.  It's always a great bonus for his blue-doo to be freshly colored and bright.  

Under The Trees

Jesse and I decided to run errands on our bikes one weekend day recently.  It was a beautiful day.  I had to run into the mall to pick up a couple of gifts I had ordered the day before.  

When I came out I couldn't find Jesse and Cooper so I texted Jesse.  He told me he was under a tree and directed me to where.  He was close by but because he was laying on the ground I didn't see him.  

Cooper was enjoying himself too.  Most of the time if I leave him with Jesse he spends all his time waiting for me to get back, but this time he was facing the other direction with his nose in the air.  He didn't even act excited that I had come back.  He just put his nose back to the breeze and resumed sniffing.  

I couldn't resist laying down with them for about 15 minutes.  These are the times you don't walk away from.  And you don't call an end to them till you've had a good taste.

Cooper's Teeth

Cooper is almost 6 years old now.  He used to keep his teeth in fairly good condition by chewing raw beef bones.  He stopped doing that about a year ago and now we're faced with having to get his teeth cleaned.  It will be expensive for us and unpleasant for him, but it has to be done.  We'll probably consider it sooner than later.  As you can see, they really aren't good now.  

After we get this teeth done, we will have to brush his teeth every day to keep this from happening again.  Wish me luck on that one.  I'll let you know how it works out.

Our Biker Buddies In Maine

These are my best girls from Maine doing what they love to do because of Cooper's influence.  I owe my friendship with Lisa to our love or our dogs and motorcycling.  

When I met Lisa I had Cooper with me.  We talked about getting her dog Buffy on her bike.  

From there we worked out all the training and the safe riding crate to get Buffy on the bike.  

Look at them now.  My best girls in Maine.  We're so close now that we spend weekends together any time we can and we talk EVERY DAY.  

We love you Buffy and Lisa.  Keep the rubber side down!

My Hammock Is UP!!!

Remember how much I loved my hammock when I lived in my apartment?  Well I LOVE it even MORE NOW!  Look at all the beautiful things I can look at.  

I get the soft breeze.  Nice shade almost all day.  A fenced in yard so Cooper can go where he pleases while I'm relaxing.  

It's wonderfully serene, and the best part is ... NO ONE even knows I'm there.  It's like hiding in plain sight.  Cooper sometimes gives me away when Jesse gets home because he's so excited to see Daddy.  He jumps down from laying on the hammock with me and goes running to greet him.

I don't think I will ever get tired of this spot.

Video Games with Lucas and Kyra

My grand son Lucas was playing a video game and Kyra, my grand daughter, was rooting him on.  I think he was trying to drive a monster truck or something.

Cooper had been visiting with my mother on the other end of the couch until he decided to check out the activity on this side of the couch.

I wish I could have gotten better pictures of them.  The interaction was really funny.  Cooper couldn't care less about obstructing Lucas' view of the game he was trying to play.  

He just stomps over them like he's the only kid in the room.  

Maybe I should tell him he's not a kid.

Interruptions!

Sometimes when I'm trying to post my little stories for you to read, this is who interrupts me.  Its kind of funny if you think about it.

What better to write about on a blog about a dog, than that dog interrupting my blogging?  

Pictures of the blog dog interrupting the blogging.

Candid Camera

This is what we look like when we hang around the house or on any typical weekend morning.  We relax.  This is what Cooper LOVES.  He sits right between me and Jesse and TOTALLY relaxes.  We all love to begin our day like this.  

You wonder who took this picture?  Well, on the other end of the sofa... LISA was there with her IPhone.  She's good like that.  When we run out of pictures, she's always there with her camera.  I just wish we lived closer.

Random House Warming Pictures

Here are some random pictures from our house warming weekend.  

We enjoyed visits from some of our favorite people. 

Cooper and Buffy were perfectly well behaved with everyone. 

They greeted people appropriately. 

They stayed out of the way if they needed to. 

I don't remember having to correct either one of them. 

It was such a great weekend.   A special thanks to LISA SIMMONS (Buffy's Mom) for helping me make it all happen AND to JESSE (Cooper's Daddy) for working so hard to make the house and yard look so great.  XOX to you BOTH!