PineLand: This is our story...

Baynanza, Bon Jovi and FrankenLUKE!!

2010-04-30T18:49:00.002-04:00

And part 3 of 3 commences....

Everyone has gone back home and its just me and the hounds again....

back to our quiet little life...

Our first weekend wasn't so quiet though!!

I started off my weekend with Baynanza 2010!!

This is my second year participating in Baynanza. Baynanza is a county-wide bayside clean up! There are over two dozen locations around the county that you can sign up for. Then you just show up on clean up day, grab your trash bags and do your little part to clean up the beautiful South Florida coast line! It's a fun event and a good opportunity to give back.

(and get a free t-shirt)

Over 8,000 people volunteered this year!!

Last year I was all by my lonesome but this year my friend Jackie volunteered her time too

and we had a blast! We signed up to clean one of the islands in the bay

so we got a boat ride out of the deal!

We got to the island and were just floored with the amount of trash!

But we just dug in and started trash pickin'!

Here is a nice pic of the Miami skyline behind my growing bag of trash....

Picking up trash is hard work! So we did make sure to take time to cool our footsies in the bay!

After a long hot morning, our chariot arrived to take us back to the mainland.

Our good deed was done for the day!

After a day of doing good works, I rewarded myself with a BON JOVI CONCERT!!

Our seats were actually behind the stage....

...but the view was incredible! I have never been so close to a concert stage! We were only 25 rows back and had a great view! We could see his facial expressions!! very cool!! All these pics were taken with my iPhone which makes it look like we were farther back than we were and a little grainy.

The concert was AWESOME! Bon Jovi still has it after all these years! He played all the favorite hits: Livin' on a prayer, You give love a bad name, Wanted, I'll be there for you... plus some of his new stuff that is just as good!

In between my adventures, my poor little greyhound Luke found a way to garner some attention for himself... in the most horrific way...

So off to the vet I go AGAIN! The vet even made comment that it's really nice for her to see me so often but not really nice for me! (or my pocket book!) I left him at the vet for a few stitches and when I picked him up... he had turned into FRANKENLUKE!

22 staples and 6 stitches under the staples.

Whatever he ran into in the yard or house, had actually punctured through to his chest cavity. (I could see his lungs, it was gross.) The vet stitched up the cavity hole and the muscle that was cut through, then stapled everything together on the outside.

Like most males when they are sick, Luke turned into a puddle. He wouldn't lie down, rest or relax unless his head was in my lap. And as a good momma, I let him be babied.

To make sure he didn't bust a staple or another dog didn't help him remove them, he was grounded and sentenced to his own little corner of the house when I was away.

He made it through two weeks of healing and got his staples out today. He healed up real nice and will have a pretty little battle scar to show off to the ladies with tales of how that pit bull in Miami tried to attack his pack and he fought it off.

The Parting Shots:

We had a huge storm here and it flipped over some of the patio furniture! Luckily there was no dogs lying on those beds when it fell!!

Sandy investigates the creature that has taken over her beds...

Jasmine, Sharks and Key West, oh my!

2010-04-18T22:25:00.001-04:00

Here is part 2 of 3 of my April adventures!

After our week with the kids, we sent them on their way and Kevin stayed on for another week.

So what would any couple do with a week alone in Miami? Go to Key West of course!

Although its only 120 miles from Miami, Key West can take up to 4-5 hours to drive there. This is due to the mostly two lane roads and 35 mph speed limit.

Fortunately, its a beautiful drive with lots of incredible scenery to keep you moving along.

If you've ever seen the movie True Lies, you know what I'm talking about...

We heard Key West is a dog friendly town so we decided to test it out with our best behaved and mindful hound, Jasmine. On the way down, she refused to be regulated to the back seat, so she somehow made her way to the front.

Since the weather was going to be perfect, we decided to do the camping thing.

Using our MWR privileges, we set up camp on the Key West Naval Air Station.

They have AMAZING campsites all with an awesome view of the Gulf of Mexico.

(and you can have 2 dogs per campsite)

Jasmine hung out on her bed for awhile just taking in everything

and laughing at us trying to put up our tent.

Then she got hot and took a dip in the Gulf of Mexico.

Turns out that Key West is INDEED a VERY dog friendly town. Almost every bar and restaurant allows dogs as well as shops, museums and even the Aquarium!!

We took advantage of all of them and of course, Jasmine drew lots of crowds!

The trip to the Aquarium had to be the best. It was weird going to an aquarium with a dog but apparently in Key West it is an everyday event. It was even weirder when they said watch your dog around the shark tank. huh?

The Key West Aquarium is a small aquarium but one of the neatest ones I have ever been too.

Here is Jasmine and I checking out a huge hermit crab from the touch tank!

Jasmine has never seen turtles before

and was just amazed by these creatures splashing around.

She was also captivated by the eel's and fish swimming in the tanks....

hhhhmmmmmm..... what's in this tank?

OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD!!!

(now we know what they ment by watch your dog around the shark tank!)

Outside they had huge tanks with more sea creatures.

One of the tanks held two huge sharks that we got to see being fed.

Jasmine was just glad to be safely behind Kevin and the fence.

One of the coolest things in the Aquarium was this turtle. He had been rescued from the local waters because a motorboat had slashed up his shell so bad he was dying. The Aquarium took him in and nursed him back to health. However, he developed A LOT of scar tissue in the rear of his shell. Scar tissue apparently is very buoyant. So now you have a turtle with a bubble butt that can't sink!! As you can see, he has learned to swim a little differently than normal...

After the Aquarium, we all were a little hungry and so we headed over the Blue Heaven restaurant for some lunch. Super dog friendly like everywhere else.

They are also rooster friendly.

After filling our tummies, we headed out to find the infamous mile marker zero.

And so here we are....

Me at the beginning...

and Kevin at the end....

We ended our time in Key West by drinking Mai Tai's of course, out of pineapples!

The Parting Shot:

We had a great two weeks together but its never enough time. BUT WAIT!! There is a light at the end of the tunnel! For those of you who don't know, I will be moving back to VA in July and will finally be living with my husband! woohoo!!

Spring Break 2010!!!

2010-04-11T22:14:00.004-04:00

I have been pretty busy over the last month so I am doing a 3 part post!!!!

So here goes Part 1:

My step-son Travis and my nephew Brandon came down to Miami for their Spring Break!! (oh yea, my husband came down too!) We had a great week and did a lot of activities around sunny Miami!

The pool was perfect and ready for the first pool party of spring after an unusually cold winter.

We of course headed to South Beach and on the way there the boys made a sign.....

(boys will be boys.....)

The Miami-Dade County Fair was in town so we went to check it out.

This "county" fair was almost bigger than the Virginia STATE Fair!!

The fair had a circus and I took this pic of a shadow on the tent wall of the tight rope walker....

I think fairs are are a great place for a date!

The Zoo is always a must and they had their giant insect exhibit going on. It was composed of robotic insects made to represent real insects magnified 1000's of times! Very cool.

There were some fun faceboards outside the exhibit,

so Brandon and I had some fun with them.....

A trip to the Zoo wouldn't be complete without a visit to the old silverback.

and today he was a little thirsty....

This is the coolest part of the Zoo.

Who knew kangaroos liked to roach too?

We rented a trike for the day and the boys enjoyed goofing off....

We enjoyed being driven around!

We got lucky and had two pro sports team playing during the week

so we took the boys to a couple games.

In downtown Miami we say the HEAT play and the boys that it was cool. They won with seconds to spare so it was a pretty exciting game!

We took in the Miami lights while we were there...

Next, we headed up north a little to Broward County to watch the Florida Panthers play!

We had awesome seats right down by the glass! Lots of action, fights and bloody ice!

The boys found ice hockey much more exciting than basketball!

Our trip ended with a relaxing trip through the Everglades. We headed in to the farthest, most southern ranger station and rented a couple canoes and kayaks.

We paddled up a river to a huge lake and then back to the Ranger Station.

Along the way we saw some pretty cool things......

Like Mangrove tree's...

.....and a MANATEE!!!

They are so big!

This one was having a nice lunch of moss and algae that was hanging off the mangrove trees.

Afterwards, he swam right under our canoes!

I still can't believe how close we were!

Watching the manatee eat made us hungry

so we stopped at this dock we saw and had lunch.

On the way back, we came across the reptiles we had been looking for!!

It was weird being in the SAME water with an alligator!

We were only like 20 feet away from this one and he was following us with his eyes!

We saw about 3 more but this one was the closest!!

It was a great week and it was sad to see the boys leave.

(I really need to invest in a wireless shutter release so I can get all of us in the shots!)

The Parting Shot:

I can't have a post without at least one greyhound shot!

Here is Luke relaxing on the couch...

Florida Panthers loose their tails and so does Sandy!!

2010-03-18T23:29:00.010-04:00

I went to the Florida Panthers vs. Washington Capitols game this past week

and it was AWESOME!

I was torn between which team to root for as they are both home teams! Caps won 7-3 and it was a great game. (although there were NO fights!! How boring)

Our tickets were in the Lexus Club level seating with leather seats and a private bath!

(as we are all high class and all)

After the Panthers lost their tails, Sandy ended up losing hers.

(or at least some of it anyway)

Like I wrote in my previous post,

Sandy's tail got caught in the van door and basically snapped in half.

I was hoping it would heal on its own with merely a crooked tail, but alas,

it was too far gone. As you will see in the below pictures, the bone was protruding and, due to the thinness of the tail, there really wasn't any way to push it back in to heal.

So the vet had to chop off about half her tail.

She is recovering nicely but is a little worried the other dogs will make fun of her and call her names like "shorty" and "nubs."

The Parting Shot:

One last long-tailed wag from Sandy......

Let the Sunshine in.....

2010-03-14T23:20:00.009-04:00

It's been a cold, cold, winter in south Florida but we have been getting out a little. The warm weather is upon us and we are looking forward to more outside adventures!!

Before Kevin left, after New Years, we took the hounds for a some nice day trips to the Keys.

At Marathon Key (which is about halfway to Key West) we had a nice sunset romp on the beach. Marathon Key is the only dog friendly beach in the Keys. We only took Jasmine and Strut on this trip as we had a great restaurant we wanted to check out and didn't want to overwhelm the restaurant with 4 dogs on our first trip! We found out later we need not worry as this restaurant was a VERY pet friendly place! Apparently ANY type of pet is welcome from dogs to ferrets!

Strut and Jasmine both enjoyed their romp on the beach and Jasmine even tested her limits in the ocean.....almost too much...

Our next trip was to Key Biscayne where the dog received lots of attention as always...

We also babysat for a friend and the hounds did good with the little one hangin' around....

My, what big teeth you have....

But she really loved Jasmine's soft fur...

The last thing we did before Kevin left was see the greyhound races. We had never been before and decsided we needed to go at least once to see the full cycle of the racing greyhound. It was tough to watch those SKINNY hounds knowing their fate but you can tell the just loved to run!

Look quick, do you see them?

Well Kevin went back to VA and it was just me and the hounds again...

So I shaved my head.... again....(no more blond)

and then I went to the PRO BOWL!!

I also checked another item off of my Miami Bucket List by heading to a Florida Panthers Hockey Game!

We've had a couple injuries.

Jasmine tore the webbing in between one of her back paws and I came home to a pretty pattern of red footprints all over the white tile floor...

And then just yesterday...... Sandy broke her tail!!!

We had just got out of the van at the greyhound kennel and as I was shutting the door, Sandy wags her tail right into it. Oh did she scream! :(

I had to open the door to get it out!

Her poor tail just snapped in half with the bone sticking out and everything. It was gross.

Luckily we were at the kennel when it happened so our adoption kennel manager was able to fix her up and save me about $500 in emergency vet bills on a Sunday!

She is doing fine now but will probably have a crooked tail when its all done.

We shall see...

Speaking of the kennel... Here is a typical day in the play yard....sleeping.

The Parting Shot:

Sunset in Marathon Key

Feliz Navidad, des de Miami!

2009-12-29T10:54:00.017-05:00

We had another warm and sunny Christmas in Miami!

Since the weather was in the 80's, we had a Christmas Eve pool party!

We had several friends over for a evening of good food and good dogs!

Our friends Jackie and Mike adopted their first greyhound and of course brought her to the party! She is a sweet, black and white girl named Leah!

Of course she fit right in with our hounds!

We set up the Wii which is always good for some entertainment!

There were some youngsters at the party that just loved the hounds and

of course they loved the attention!

This was Leah's first time around small children and she did great!

Luke got into the Christmas Spirit by wearing his Santa hat...

One of the little kids was fascinated with the dog door and kept himself occupied by using it as his own personal entryway!

On Christmas morning we all had huge breakfast before digging into presents and stockings. The hounds dug into theirs as usual.

After a HUGE breakfast and stuffing themselves with treats, the hounds fell asleep where they lay, surrounded by their spoils....

Later on they shifted around and

Luke and Jasmine had some snuggle time in front of the tree...

Later that afternoon, we went to the Zoo to watch the Chimpanzees and Gorillas

open their presents! It was hilarious!

We only caught the tail end of the Chimpanzees.

They were giving a huge snowman stuffed with treats that they happily tore apart!

The gorillas, on the other hand, were the most entertaining! There were given wrapped boxes stuffed with fruit, nuts and raisins!

Here are the zookeepers getting ready to toss out the gifts!

The zoo keepers tossed them in and the gorillas started grabbing for them!

It was really funny watching them fight to be the first one to the presents!

But in the end, the big daddy Silverback won most of the spoils!

After the treats were all gone, the gorillas started playing with the boxes.

"hhhmmmm....what do I do now?"

"I know! I'll rip it off like King Kong!"

It was a wonderful Christmas with my husband being home and celebrating with friends!

I hope everyone had just as wonderful holiday!

The Parting Shot:

Strut relaxing in front of the tree....

It was just one short year ago....

2009-12-06T21:29:00.008-05:00

.... that Strut was the oldest dog in the kennel....

.... that Strut watched family after family walk by his kennel... without stopping..

It was just one short year ago.....

... that Strut came to live with me....

They say he was never chosen cuz he was just too big...

They say he was never chosen cuz he didn't like cats....

They say he was never chosen cuz after 8 years, he was just too old.....

I say he was never chosen cuz he was waiting for me...

(since we share the same birthday and all)

And he was waiting for Sandy,

and Luke....

and Jasmine just needed another hound to run with....

Strut adjusted quickly to his new home...

And he even warmed up to Kevin after awhile...

All in all, I think he is enjoying his new life...

So hears to my boy Strut..

(thanks for waiting for me)

Family, friends and food, OH MY!

2009-11-30T21:40:00.011-05:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

I had a full house for Thanksgiving this year!

My wonderful husband was in town for the week along with his three teenage boys.

As boys tend to do, they just fought all week.....

They took turns in Kevin's sparring suit called a FIST SUIT....

Then it was Dad's turn to get in the suit..

Then they moved from land to sea and had a rousing good game of NOODLE WARS!!!

On Thanksgiving Day we had some friends over for dinner and the hounds, of course, enjoyed the constant attention.

Luke found a friend as always...

FYI: Our friends here, Jackie and Mike,

will be adopting their first greyhound this weekend!!!!

YAY!!!

We had planned on eating outside on the patio but, alas, the 3 o'clock sun was a shinin' right into the patio and no one wanted to be in the direct line of fire.

(It's a hard life in Miami)

After dinner and dessert, we had a nice round of night swimming.

Complete with heated pool....

(check out the steam coming off the pool..aaahhhh...)

And after all was said and done, Strut ended up with the hambone.

Kevin got a wild hair and decided to bleach his hair blond.

(I guess it is true when they say that husbands and wives

eventually start to look like each other)

Here is me, Jasmine and Luke

enjoying some quiet time by the pool...

Even Sandy got some me time in during the week....

While the boys were here, we took them to the zoo which is all decked out for Christmas.

The Elephants were very active that day

and were enjoying playing in their pool with their ball...

The monkeys put on a good show for us too...

We even got an x-rated show by the Howler Monkey.

A great father and son shot...

...aaawwww...

The Parting Shot:

I love this picture of Luke in front of the Christmas Tree.

I gave it a light antique finish and I think it reflects him well...

Lovin' Life in the 305!!

2009-11-13T20:02:00.017-05:00

Ok so here is my famous "catch up on the last 6 months" post.

So what have we been doing?

(Besides LOVING MIAMI!)

We've been chillin' in baby pools....

Hangin' out in the photo booth....

Chillin' with our favorite Dalmation/Whippet mix....

Eyeballin' momma....

Went fishin' with my daddy....

FINALLY had my tattoo masterpiece finished!

This is our boat sailing off into the sunset on the high seas.

It is inspired by a Thomas Kincaid painting called "Perseverance"

We moved into an AWESOME new house, just down the street from the old one.

LOTS of yard to run in and a very nice pool!!!

A very nice pool that Jasmine just LOVES to lounge around in....

Crouching tiger, lazy greyhound....

My family came to visit and help with the move...

The dogs always love it when the boys come to visit....

Kevin came home from Iraq!

YAY!!!

I shaved my head....

Sandy started to cockroach again....

she must love Miami as much as I do!!

A grasshopper escaped from the nearby zoo.....

and hopped by for a visit...

I upgraded my iPhone to the 3GS!

(sooooo worth it!!)

(Kevin got my "old" 3G)

My little baby sister got married!!!

They grow up so fast!

She got married in the Shenendoah Valley at the Fort Lewis Lodge, it was just beautiful.

And her photographer was just incredible.

You can check out more pics on the photographers website.

(just scroll down to Melissa and John)

The 3 sisters after the wedding...

Went to the VA State Fair with Kevin....

Sandy has had a rough few months...

FIRST:

She busted her leg up in running into a tree in the yard.... yuck!

(she's all healed up now)

SECOND:

She had 18 teeth pulled! 18!!

We have been fighting tooth decay ever since we got her and have pulled a few teeth over the last 2 years but just couldn't fight it anymore. Her breath was really starting to clear a room! So we just had them all taken out and she is almost a different dog!

More energy and spunk than ever!

Although she did not have much spunk after her surgery!

She was so out of it she couldn't even reel her tounge back in...

...my poor baby girl. :(

Strut also had 5 teeth pulled out but he faired much better....

(after 8 years in the kennel its amazing all he lost was 5!!)

Finally made my first trip to Key West just in time for Fantasy Fest.

Celebrating 30 years of debauchery.

crazy times, crazy times.

*Warning* Authentic Fantasy Fest Pics to follow**

This is all body paint!

And this brings us up to date with my latest adventure....

Last night I went to my first NBA game!!

Go Miami Heat!!

Here is Shaquille O'neal getting ready to shoot a foul shot.

Even from our nosebleed seats this guy was just HUGE!

So that's it in a BIG nutshell....

hhhhmmmmm....I wonder if I will keep up with it this time....

* *

\__/

Baynanza 2009

2009-04-19T01:00:00.007-04:00

Baynanza is the annual Biscayne Bay cleanup day hosted by Miami-Dade County that coincides with Earth Day. Over 8,000 volunteers came out to cleanup the shores of South Florida's beautiful coast line. This was obviously my first year and I loved it! It was very gratifying to get out there and do something that had an immediate impact on the environment. And of course I got the cool t-shirt shown above. (which was the winner of a local high school design contest) Each volunteer was given 2 bags and an certain area to concentrate on. Imagine, 8,000 people filling 2 bags each... that's a lot of trash that is off our shores!! There were 29 different sites to sign up for so there was something close to everyone.

I signed up for the Black Point Marina site. Here they are getting everybody assembled.

Since I was by myself, I got paired up with a Cub Scout group. yippie. Actually they did pretty good and I was impressed they picked up trash almost the whole time.

Here are some shots I took along the way. All this pics were taken with my iphone so please excuse the quality.

Me and my trash bag....

The reward for it all was making it all the way to the end of Black Point and enjoying the awesome view!

Here is a little cub scout that was following me...

I liked how this last picture came out. It really symbolizes what the day was about.

Trash and nature.

I'm addicted to Facebook!!!!

2009-04-13T20:59:00.011-04:00

So my sister made me join facebook. I resisted for awhile but finally gave in.

OMG!!!

That Facebook thing is amazing! I can't believe the people I have been able to reconnect with! There is so many things to occupy your time on there! It's crazy. But it is also a great way to keep connected with multiple people across the country all at the same time. I can see why it's so popular and why the guy who created it is a millionaire.

I have been trucking along here in Miami and the weather is heating up fast!

I LOVE IT! Bring on the heat!!!!

The dogs are getting their own pool this weekend and I am sure they will be lounging around in it all summer.

On April Fool's Day I dyed my hair pink, donned a temporary tattoo on my forearm for all to see and went to work. The purpose was to of course freak my boss out and it worked!! Haha!

after the pink wore off it was time for a little trim. After experimenting with the longer locks, I just had to go back to the length I love!

Other than that, I havent really done much over the last few weeks

but here are a few random pics:

My ice maker went all iRobot on me and built its own ice sculptures in the freezer. scary:

Sandy Chillin' under the table.....

AHA! PROOF!!

(and Luke swore on 3 Bibles that he couldn't sit)

Strut enjoying the big pile ol' beds while the covers are in the wash....

My 4 babies chillin' at the greyhound kennel....

Yes, I crammed my 2 biggest dogs in the back seat of my little car!

Poor Luke, always forced to do Jasmine's bidding....

Here are a few pics I took when Kevin was home...

Kevin bought this fighting training thing called a FIST SUIT. He was mailing it out to himself in Iraq to train but of course we had to try it out first! It was fun beating up Kevin!!!

And for my parting shot....

I love this picture! Sandy is so sweet and just loves to snuggle.

They all miss Kevin as much as I do....

Punta Cana

2009-03-22T18:58:00.017-04:00

My hubby came home for a brief vacation from his 1 year tour in Iraq and we headed south to the Dominican Republic. We dropped the dogs off at the sitters and booked a week at an all-inclusive resort in Punta Cana.

Never having been to an all-inclusive we weren't sure what to expect but we had a blast. All-inclusive is the way to go! You pay for everything up front (including alcohol) and its all you can eat and drink! You never have to worry about walking around with ID or money, just your room key and a smile! The resort was absolutely beautiful! Here are a few shots:

Our adventure was a little rocky as our resort had overbooked itself and had to send us to another resort because they did not have any rooms left. The other resort was NOT to our satisfaction but I won't bore you with those details here. We were allowed to spend the days at the original (very nice resort pictured above) and went to the crappy resort to spend the night. The whole situation kinda sucked but we made the best of it and had a great time just being together for the short time that we had.

The pools were amazing and the beaches were beautiful. There were swim up bars and all kinds of water sports like kayaking, snorkeling and sailing (all included of course)!

Food and alcohol were available anytime of day from 7am till 3am! It was a great way to spend a week!

Here is the swim up bar and a pic of us at it. Behind us you can see the water falling off the roof of the bar. It was very cool.

We did one off-resort excursion that was of course an additional charge. It was a 3 hour tour... a 3 hour tour. Just kidding. It was 3 hours but we weren't on a boat, we were on 4 wheelers! It was so awesome! We got to see the "real" DR and ride through the countryside, down to the most beautiful beach I had ever seen and then off to the caves where I got to swim in a crystal clear cavern!!

(taken with my iphone)

Here is that awesome beach. It is totally deserted and made the resort beaches look like the ghetto!

The next stop was a super cool cave. The water was soooo warm I couldn't believe it! It was also crystal clear and VERY deep! Kevin declined to take a dip which was OK because he was able to take some good pics!

The weather was perfect the whole time with just a few small showers that are typical of Caribbean weather.

Here are some random cool shots:

The airport was very unique as it was an open air structure with thatched roofs! And it was cooled by these big ass fans!!

No, really! They really were BIG ASS FANS!!!

We arrived back in the States, picked up the dogs and had a couple more days together before Kevin had to go back. Since it was a weekend, I took Kevin up to show him the kennel where I spend a lot of my time. (see previous post)

Well, Kevin is back to Iraq and the dogs and I are adjusting to life without Kevin again. = (

Blondes do have more fun!!

2009-03-07T21:05:00.002-05:00

In anticipation of my husband coming home for vacation, I dyed my hair blond!!!

I used to dye it all the time years ago and ever since Kevin saw one of my old pictures, he has always wanted me to dye it blond again. This is a surprise to him and I know he will LOVE IT!

I went through a few ackward stages to get to the right color.

First it was RED:

Then is was kinda yellowish:

But with a little proffessional help, I got it just right!

Here is me having a little fun with my new hair!

Greyhound Adventures!

2009-02-22T16:13:00.001-05:00

We have been busy with greyhound events so I thought I would use this blog to chronicle some of them and show off our adoption kennel! This post will be a bit long but worth the read!

As most of you know, I volunteer on the weekends at the Friends of Greyhounds Adoption Kennel. Our kennel is located on the same compound where they house all the active racing greyhounds..... about 3,000 on any given day! Our kennel can hold about 50 hounds and we are always full. (and there is always HUNDREDS more on the waiting list.) While we get most of our dogs from the racing kennels, we will also take in greyhounds that have been found and turned into shelters. When someone rescues a dog from us, they are actually saving 2 lives, the one they rescued and the one that gets to take its place in the kennel.

Here is the housing area:

The kennel is set up just like the racing kennels with girls up top and boys on the bottom. They get turned out 4 times a day and fed twice a day. Our turnout lasts 20-30 mins each time while a typical racing kennel turnout is only 10-15 mins. Our hounds also get fed dry kibble with their raw meat to start the transition to how they will be fed in their forever home.

The turnout area is set up just like the racing kennels, covered in sand with girls going to one side and the boys to the other. They are muzzled to keep them safe as they can get a bit rowdy with each other!

Overall our kennel is very well taken care of. The compound has to put so much money toward adoption and we are lucky to be there and be the sole beneficiary of that. Since our kennel is the only one the public sees, the compound makes sure it looks good. They put more care into keeping the sand deep, the walls painted and the crates in good order. While the compound provides the building, we rely heavily on donations for food, cleaning supplies, treats, toys, etc. We have local vet that gives a great price on spays and neuters enabling us to have a low adoption price of $175.

We also have a show area where we take individual dogs for adopters to have some one on one time with and pick the dog right for them. We highly encourage anyone who already has a dog to bring that dog with them and use this area to see how their current dogs pairs up with their new greyhound sibling.

We don't do fostering here as we have a open house every Saturday and Sunday that allows anyone to stop by and adopt. If the dogs are in foster homes then they are not available for showing to the public. And we just don't have the resources to run the kennel and a full scale fostering program. All our volunteers are needed on the weekends to work the kennel and participate in any events we may have a booth at.

For open house, we have a great play area that the volunteers can bring their hounds too. This allows the volunteers to be free to assist in the kennel and with potential volunteers. It also allows the hounds to socialize with the other hounds.

The play area:

A kennel truck taking some hounds off to the races:

The great thing about the play area is it located right alongside the main road which is a great advertisiment for passerbys to see the dogs and stop by.

We are also lucky enough to have a seperate office in which to run all the operations. This office space is a great spot to first greet potential adopters and talk a little greyhound talk before we show them the hounds in the kennel. There is always a handful of greyhounds in the office so they get to see how a "settled" greyhound will act vice the excitiable kennel hounds they will see later.

Here is our office:

The office also has a seperate room that can be used for one on one visits if the outside show area is in use and its a great place to host parties and other greyhound events. Here is the birthday party for the co-founder of Friends of Greyhounds, Jerry.

Our adoption process is pretty simple. When someone stops by the open house they can pick out their dog and then fill out the application right there. It's reviewed on the spot and if everything seems ok, we set up the delivery. We do the home visit the day we bring the dog. If the home visit goes fine, the hound stays in his new forever home and we head back to the kennel to get the empty crate ready for the next lucky one.

It can be very difficult working in the kennel. You have to look at all of those sad, skinny faces every day and want to take them all home. (which is how I ended up with a 4th one!) They all have a story, some more heartbreaking than others. The hardest stories are the ones that have been returned. To have been in a home and then have to go back to the kennel life must be tough. Those are the ones we try to comfort the most with little blankets and toys. We have a few that have been returned due to foreclosures and there is nothing more heartbreaking than watching a grown man break down into uncontrollable sobs having to return his greyhound of 3 years because the only housing he could rent would not allow dogs. We have dogs ranging from as young as 17 months to as old as 7 years old. Of course the old ones and the black ones always hang around the longest so we do our best to promote those as we can.

We also try to get booths at local events to help spread the word. Recently we have done several art shows and the largest event was the Renaissance Festival. The Renaissance Festival alone has generated almost 10 adoptions!

Here we are at the South Miami Art Show. It was a street vendor venue with LOTS of foot traffic! We had lots of visitors!

The Renaissance Festival lasted 5 weekends and our volunteers stepped up to the plate and we were able to have our booth open EVERY weekend!!! The sheer amount of interest and adoptions this event has generated so far makes this a definite yearly event!

Last year Friends of Greyhounds adopted out 175 hounds to forever homes! Not bad for an organization that started out in the garage of its founders just over 5 years ago! Michelle and Jerry and the Friends of Greyhound volunteers have found forever homes to over 700 lucky hounds!!

A visit from the Northern Lands and Strut reaches the beach!

2009-01-30T20:44:00.024-05:00

My best friend from high school came down to visit with her two kids to get away from the icy cold and to catch some of the nice South Florida sunshine. The hounds did pretty good with all the commotion in our normally quite house. Even though Sandy tried to keep her head buried till it was all over...

Miami has an incredible zoo. If you ever come to Miami, you have to check out the Miami Metro Zoo. It is one of the best Zoo's in the country. You can get so close to the animals and the new Amazon and Beyond Exhibit is VERY cool.

SO... we went to the zoo and we saw....

A sad, red elephant....

Alligators swim in the water...

Something with 6ft long curly horns...

A gorilla butt....

The Miami Zoo is very interactive. One of the highlights is being able to pet and feed the Giraffes. Very cool.

Then we tried to pawn the kids off as baby birds, but momma bird was not fooled and alas we had to take them back.

The next day we headed over to Key Biscayne to Bill Bags State Park. This was a great park with an awesome lighthouse and a great beach.

Then this raccoon showed up and tried to get in the garbage.

One thing I love so much about greyhounds is their gentle nature and obedience. How many other breed of large dogs would walk calmly by the side of a 4 year old?

On their last day here, we headed down to the Keys for some fun on the beach. Marathon Key is dog friendly so I brought Strut along for his first trip to the beach! He loved the water and got his first lesson on salt water!

We had a great day at the beach! Strut is a very trusting dog and will go anywhere I go!

My visitors also enjoyed their day in the Keys!

And while all of you Northerners were enjoying this:

(that's my nephew in the pic)

We were enjoying this!

Merry Christmas from Miami!

2009-01-18T22:23:00.011-05:00

Here is one more catch up and then we are rolling on with LIVE TV! I've had several people ask about how my Christmas was so (after my MAC being in the shop for a few days due to some bad RAM issues) here it goes....

It was about 80 degrees on Christmas Day. It was a little weird not to have a cold Christmas but at the same time it was nice to be wearing shorts and chillin' by the pool on a day off from work!

Just like in the cold climates, people down here also decorate their houses with Christmas lights galore. You still see snowmen, icicles, snow globes, Santa and all the other traditional Christmas lights, however, we add our own local flare to the season. Here is the oasis in front of my house that I decorated. I meant to take pictures of other lights in the neighborhood but never got around to it.

I didn't do an all out house decorating. Instead, I just decorated the breakfast bar in the kitchen with a small tree, stockings and a few other items.

Christmas morning came and the dogs dug into their stockings.

Strut pushed past the stuffie and went straight to the good stuff

Sandy took hers up onto the couch so she wouldn't be bothered. And like Strut, she ditched the stuffie for the goodies in the bottom.

Jasmine however, went straight for the new skunk stuffie!

This was by far their favorite toy of Christmas.... they killed the squeaker shortly after this pic was taken so I had to operate.

so that was my quiet little Christmas.

Life..... fast forwarded...

2009-01-12T00:43:00.021-05:00

OK, so we are still alive and have had A LOT of life changes over the past 4 months. So, without further ado... here it is... life, fast forwarded...

******

Got a new job in Miami, WOOHOO!!

******

Husband had to go back to Iraq (for a year), BOOHOO!!

*****

So when the time came, I loaded up the dogs and moved from the Great Commonwealth of Virginia to SUNNY FLORIDA!!!

My little sister helped me make the move since my husband was unavailable. We took 3 days to drive down and of course had to stop at all the cool places...

and saw some cool (strange) things...

******

Moved into the new house (which is NOT a sailboat)

The hounds got used to soaking up the Florida sun real quick.

*******

Went to the beach...

Had Thanksgiving on the patio by the pool......

since it was 82 degrees and all...

******
Got a MAC!

(so I could get back to blogging!)

******

....Found a new greyhound group and kennel to volunteer at...

Friends of Greyhounds

AND THEN.........

Got another greyhound!!!!!!!

Hi! My name is Strut!!

Strut is a 7 yr old brindle male. He raced for 4 years, was a kennel pet for

1 yr until the racing kennel was shut down, Then he came over to Friends of Greyhounds where he has been the last 2 years. He is a large, old male that is not cat friendly so he has been hard to place.

I say he has just been waiting for me!

We even share the same birthday!

He moved right into the pack like had been there all along. Luke accepted him without any issues and Sandy just loves him!

Our pack is complete.

and that is the past 4 months.

Yes, we are still alive!

2008-12-28T00:40:00.002-05:00

I will be back to bloggin' soon. Stay tuned for 4 months of updates!!!

The crazy life of dogs...

2008-06-03T19:20:00.015-04:00

So I came home from work one day and took the hounds out for a great walk, fed them a great dinner and then I took off to the gym while they rested from their long day of resting. I was gone for exactly ONE hour... and this is what I came home too....

Yes, that is my purse, COMPLETELY emptied on the floor! They managed to get the purse, then UNZIP it and then proceed to dump the entire contents out onto the floor AND pull cards from my wallet! thankfully they didn't really chew anything or eat my money. crazy dogs.

Here Jasmine stands with her "what? me?" look.

I took the dogs to a big park over the weekend and we did some trail hiking. We came upon a little swamp and the girls just HAD to get in and cool off. At first I was worried about snapping turtles and leeches but they didn't mind so I figured if there were any they would know soon enough! Here they are chilling in the black smelly mud.... afterwards they were taken to Muddy Paws Dog Wash and immediately cleaned!

Here are just a few random dog shots

" I should have been a Calvin Klein model."

" I'm gonna pump you up!"

"It's MY monkey! No, it's MY monkey."

"See? Told ya it was MY monkey!"

Ooops! We did it again....

2008-04-30T18:31:00.002-04:00

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, we have MOVED again!

Kevin went overseas for some work which now left me with the dogs full time on the boat. Kevin usually kept them during the week since he was so close to work and could come home and walk them at lunch and stuff. Now that he was gone, and the dogs would be with me, I knew it would be tough to commute 1 1/2 hours one way to Annapolis and then have to get home and take care of the dogs, feed them, feed me, workout and be in bed at a decent hour. I did that when we lived in Fredericksburg and it almost made me bonkers!!!! The dogs got fat, I got fat and they developed separation anxiety because they were at home alone for 13 hours a day. I never had any energy, I was eating terribly and felt like I was walking around like a zombie all week.

I couldn't do that to them, or me, again so I broke down and got an apartment close to work!

I can now come home for lunch and the dogs love the extra attention in the evenings that they would not have gotten! I also love not commuting and getting 3 hours of my life back everyday!

So here are our new digs....

Very sparse I know, but it is only temporary so I only brought the bare minimum out of storage. I don't even have a TV!

Here are the hounds getting used to their FOURTH home in the past year! They have been so good with our hectic life and have adjusted so well to everything! We are so lucky to have such great dogs like Luke, Sandy, and Jasmine!

I think their favorite part it getting there favorite couch back!

Not bad for an apartment but we all miss the boat!!

There is nothing like the peace and serenity that comes with living on the water.

The dogs miss their freedom of roaming from boat to boat, getting leftover bones from the weekend grillers and playing with all the other boat dogs. Now they are stuck on a little patch of grass outside the apartment with unfriendly neighbors and dogs. Besides, this place is a mansion compared to what we have been used to!! Good thing this is only for 3 months!

For those of you that do not know, I accepted a job transfer and am moving to Miami in Aug!!! Woohoo!!

We can't wait!!

....and the adventures of Luke, Sandy and Jasmine continue....

Love all... Serve all....

2008-04-22T19:11:00.001-04:00

Jasmine, Luke and Sandy are volunteer blood donors. They have saved the lives of a dozen dogs already! Plus, as regular blood donors, they are automatically qualified for a blood transfusion should they need it. They also get free exams, free blood work and lots of yummy treats!

In case you didn't know, most greyhounds have a universal blood "type" that can be given to all dogs. Greyhound blood is very sought after! When the kids give blood, it is immediately dispatched all across the country to dogs in need. Just like human blood, dog blood can be given whole or broken down in to several components for whatever purpose is needed. The hounds can give blood every 5 weeks if required. we usually go about every 6 or 7 but will go in if there is a shortage or need. The blood blank loves that we have 3 greyhounds giving at one time!

I thought I would document a typical blood donation here for those that are curious, are thinking about it or just don't know anything about the procedure. The whole process actually only takes about 10-15 mins per dog. Some blood banks will even come to you if you set up a time for a large group at your house or something!

During the very first visit, the vet will take blood samples to type your dog and just generally get the dog familiar with the procedure. Since this is a volunteer thing, the dog must agree to lay calmly in the position required. They will not restrain a dog or give them any sedation meds to calm them. You will see the pics below of the vet assistant laying with the hounds and "holding them down." He is not restraining them at all, he is merely making sure they are still as possible for the procedure. if at any time the dog would start to resist and try to get up off the table, they would stop the procedure. Jasmine, Luke and Sandy all did wonderful in laying still throughout the procedure and doing whatever the vet asked of them. It was really great to see! The vet loves greyhounds as they are usually the easiest to deal with!

Here is Luke, Sandy and Jasmine demonstrating a typical donation session:

The vet will bring the dog in to the donation room and try to get the dog as comfortable as possible. She will give treats, pet them, etc, until she feels they are comfortable.

Once they are comfortable, the vet and the assistant will pick the dog up and place them on the donation table. This is the point where the start to judge if the dog is agreeable to the procedure.

If there is no struggle at this point, they will continue. The assistant then lays down with the dog to ensure they stay in position. When he lays his legs across the dog, they wait a few mins to see if there is any resistance. If the dog appears calm and still, they will continue.

The vet then shaves a little spot on the neck, sanitizes it with alcohol and inserts the needle.

The blood then flows in the same type of bag as in human blood donation. They usually take one unit of blood depending on weight. Jasmine is so tiny they only take 1/2 unit from her but Luke and Sandy are able to give a full unit.

Your dog can see you the whole time if you need them too. Luke and Sandy appeared to do fine when I was out of sight, but Jasmine started to whine. So for her I stayed right in front of her so she could see me. That is why I don't have many pictures of her. =)

After the procedure, they carefully take the dogs off the table and wrap their neck just in case there is any lingering bleeding. They also get lots more treats!!

Here they all are with the vet after their donation! The vet will explain any concerns and what to watch for over the next few hours. No hard running or other strenuous activity. I always laugh at the because I have never seen my dogs do anything remotely strenuous!

That's all there is to it! We are usually in and out within an hour! The hounds do great every time and I am proud of how good they are through it all!

For anyone considering blood donation with their dog I would HIGHLY recommend it! Blood donation is a great way to help other dogs and one day it could be your dog that is in need! Its quick, simple and virtually painless for the dogs. And they get a free exam each visit and free blood work once or twice a year! (depending on the bank) Ask your veterinarian for the blood bank nearest to you!!

This little piggy went to the market.....

2008-04-13T18:36:00.000-04:00

So I found these horribly disgusting things online and just knew I had to let the hounds try them.... PIGS FEET!! One full pigs foot, individually wrapped, freeze dried with bones and all. They grossed me out! You can still see the little toes! So I bought 3 and waited for them to arrive. Luke would have nothing to do with them but Sandy and Jasmine gave them 4 paws up!

Here are their reactions:

Sandy gave it a good sniff......

.......then a little lick.......

.....and then started to chow down! She had that thing destroyed within minutes!

Jasmine on the other hand, took one sniff.....

.....and dove right in! She had hers destroyed within SECONDS!!

A sure sign sometin's tasty!

Nose lickin' good!

If you think your hounds may like a pigs foot or two... just remember they make one crazy mess and the knuckle bones from the toes can end up in places you wouldn't imagine. All in all they were not a bad treat but not one to be had often......

A day in the life of a salty dog....

2008-03-22T14:47:00.023-04:00

The hounds have adjusted perfectly to marina life! They are relaxed on the boat and are comfortable walking around the marina. Everyone who walks by our boat at the dock is amazed to see them get on and off the boat! and everyone always stops and ask to see the sea hounds! They have made us lots of friends!

Here are a few pics of an average salty dog day:

AROUND THE MARINA

Sandy and Jasmine love to play together! Here they are posing pretty for a picture...

then they get back to business!

The hounds are no strangers to boats of all shapes and sizes.... they are just big playgrounds! It's amazing to see them run under and around them like running an obstacle course....kinda scary sometimes....

They've even made a few friends! Here is their best bud Scupper. He lives on boat just a few boats down from us and they play together all the time! Scupper has to walk by our boat to get to his and he always stops to see if our kids are home!

AROUND THE BOAT

Ever wonder how they get on and off the boat? Here is Sandy and Luke demonstrating their technique!

Jasmine chillin' out top deck.....

....and chillin' out on the dock. She LOVES to be outside soaking up the rays or just watching the world go by!

Sandy in her favorite place on the boat...

and here she is sitting oh so pretty in the cockpit!!

Greyhounds gone wild!!

(My hump, my hump, my lovely lady lumps......)

Some snuggle time with Kevin.....

Some snuggle time with each other!

Here is one of my favorite pics of Sandy...

I think this really embodies everything she is as a greyhound...

'Twas a dark and snowy night....

2008-02-21T21:55:00.011-05:00

Annapolis got about 4 inches of snow in yesterday's snow storm! Snow is rough for a boat, as you basically have all this water just sitting on top of your boat! Places that have never leaked before my develop leaks as the snow just hangs around and melts.

But it sure is pretty.....

Here is what things looked like come morning......

my parting shot before I left for work......

Colonial Williamsburg

2008-02-16T20:59:00.000-05:00

We spent a couple weekends in Colonial Williamsburg. One weekend had great weather and the other was a little snowy but we had a great time either way!

The dogs got to meet horses for the first time. The horses were super excited to meet the dogs but the hounds were a bit more sceptical.

We took the hounds for a nice walk in the colonial village but didn't really get too much walking in as people stopped us every few feet to talk about the hounds and pet them. If you own a greyhound, you know how it is!! The hounds of course loved the attention! I didn't get any pics as I was too busy talking greyhounds.

Here are a couple pics of the hounds in the snow. The hotel we stayed at was off the road and had a huge courtyard for them to run around in! It was great!

How low can you go?

2008-02-14T21:06:00.000-05:00

We had a couple days of a record breaking LOW, LOW tide. We were so far below the dock we had to lift the dogs almost over our heads to get them up on the dock! To give you an idea, standing on the deck of our boat, the top of the dock was level with my shoulders!!! I literally had to CRAWL up onto the dock!

Luckily, our boat has a full keel which runs the entire length under our boat so we just stuck right in the mud on the bottom without tipping over. Some other boats did not fare so well.....

Christmas on the Water

2008-02-12T21:29:00.002-05:00

Wow, its been awhile! My camera broke and life took over. I got a great new camera for Christmas and I am back in action! I now have a Nikon D40 and it is incredible! I have been looking to take my photography to the next level and this will help get me there. Got a new computer which entailed getting new photo software and I think I have it all figured out now!
I'm going to start with Christmas and catch up to the present throughout the week.....

Kevin and I spent Christmas on our boat! It was great being home for Christmas after two years overseas....it was also our first Christmas together! I even put up some festivities!

Of course there were stockings for the puppies!

(yes I realize my stocking is the biggest but hey, I've had it since I was a kid!)

Here is our little fiber optic Christmas Tree! It was perfect for the boat!

Here are the pups digging into their stockings filled with bones, stuffies and chicken strips! Sandy and Jasmine dug right in....but Luke, as always, needed a little help....

We saw this sailboat in our marina...they really went all out!

We spent Christmas Eve at my mother's house with my grandmother, sisters and newphews. It was a great time and we had a huge feast!

My mother misses her sweet greyhounds! She even let them on the couch for a little snuggling and nap time!

Raindrops keep fallin' on my head....

2007-10-27T21:31:00.000-04:00

What a wet 4 days!! 4 days of straight HEAVY rain! We found EVERY leak in the boat!!! Which is actually a good thing! All boats leak. From the top down, the all leak.... its only when the leaks come from the bottom up that you have to worry!!!

Due to the driving rains and the cooler weather approaching, we decided it was time to fully enclose the cockpit. So we pulled out the pieces and put her together. Tada!

Now we can still sit in the cockpit and enjoy our dinner or a bottle...er...glass of wine while watching the sunset. We can listen to the raindrops and watch the snow fall all while staying dry and warm!

Speaking of staying warm... with the cooler temperatures, we were able to test out our heating system. Boy does it work good!!! It got so hot we had to turn it off! So it was on and off, on and off, on and off..... even the hounds felt the ups and downs....

First they were cold....

Then they were hot.....

And of course they HATED having to go out in the rain to do their business... Here is Jasmine looking as pitiful as ever... giving Luke the evil eye to finish his business so she can go back inside....

For the parting shot.....

Our grand entry way.... looking so fresh and clean from all the rain....

A Happy Birthday Day!

2007-10-15T20:28:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday, Kevin!!

Kevin turned 47 years young on Saturday.... we had my mother watch the dogs and we enjoyed a nice long weekend of sleeping in and being lazy. We missed those silly mutts terribly but it was nice to be responsibility free for a couple days! I made him his favorite dinner on Friday, breakfast in bed on Saturday and then took him to Sakura Japanese Steakhouse Saturday night.

Kevin is such a wonderful man, husband and friend. I count my lucky stars every day that I found him!!

Here are a few of my favorite pics of Kevin.
Kayaking down a jungle river in Kauai, Hawaii.....

Just looking cute.....

Training the troops in Iraq....

Holding a baby gator in the Florida Everglades at the Gator Farm....

Taken just moments before our wedding.... = ]

Just being silly......
Happy Beach, St. Maarten...on our honeymoon....

Fishin' in Fredericksburg......

On patrol in Iraq... (actually we were sightseeing)

He's so handsome....

Ships Log...

2007-10-09T20:03:00.000-04:00

It was a great day so we took the boat out for a nice easy romp around the bay....

Here I am at the helm....

...while Kevin plays around with his dinghy...

Sandy chillin' out with Kevin in the cockpit.....

Sandy looking at me wondering when I am going to put down that camera and fix her breakfast....

Our sunset view every night.......

Luke on the deck... enjoying the sunset
(actually he's eyeing the King Fisher flying around)

We had a REALLY high tide one night. The boat was so far off the dock it was over my hips! I had to put a little step over the side just so I could climb up!!

Our home at night.... resting quietly in her slip with the water gently lapping at her sides....

Paging, Dr. Pine....Paging Dr. Pine.....

2007-10-02T19:24:00.000-04:00

We had our first boating accident.

Poor Luke still has not learned that we need to remove the hatch at the top of the ramp before he can get out. He still forgets that he is a simple dog and cannot walk through walls.

So... it went down like this....

We come back from the store and push back the top part of the hatch to say hello to the doggies. Before we can remove the rest of the hatch.... Luke comes bounding up the ramp and

wham!

Head first into the hatch! Ouch! But that wasn't the bad part! After running snout first into hatch, he then almost tumbles off the ramp onto the floor... but his back haunch got caught on a small shelf... (which has since then been removed) This kept him from tumbling off but it did rip a nice hole in his skin.... (see below)

Kevin is a paramedic and has saved us many trips to the emergency room for us and the vet for the dogs... So, Dr. Pine once again dove into his medical bag to fix up poor old Luke....

After a good wound cleansing and a few stitches, Luke was all patched up....

We put one of Kevin's shirts around him for extra measure to keep him from licking...

(doesn't he look so pitiful?)

Jasmine even jumped up on the bed to snuggle with him during the procedure...she is such a sweet heart.....

And here is the patient.... all doped up sleeping off the drugs.....

It was actually a little cool that night in the boat so all the hounds were wrapped up tight!

Here is Sandy... all snuggled up in her favorite corner!

And last but not least... here is Jasmine doing her ET impersonation....

Ocean City "Sunfest"

2007-09-26T19:16:00.001-04:00

We went up to Ocean City last weekend to visit my dad. It was also the weekend of their annual Sunfest celebration. Sunfest is a great event to visit. Lots of vendors, food and good fun! Below is the kite show that was going when we arrived.... it was so neat! Those are all kites, no balloons!

We of course took the hounds. We found us a good dog friendly hotel. That's my sister, Kevin and my sister's boyfriend John. (and of course the hounds)

We got up early on Sunday to watch the sunrise and give the dogs a taste of the beach.

This was their first honest to goodness real ocean water beach! We actually had some surprising results!

The first surprise was that Sandy LOVED it! Once we showed her that the waves wouldn't hurt her, she just got right in!

Here's a great pic of her watching the sunrise........

Jasmine on the other hand.... our water dog would have NOTHING to do with that water that kept chasing her.....

And Luke... well.... no surprise there.....

The kids did enjoy the nice soft sand in their toes..... and the seagulls drove them crazy!!

They even made a friend......

Internet Access and Beach Bums....

2007-09-15T14:56:00.000-04:00

HOORAY FOR VERIZON!

So we signed up for that wireless PC broadband service from Verizon.... now our Mango is connected to the WWW!!! It is so nice to have Internet service in the comfort of our own boat. We get great reception even inside! It was getting pretty tiresome going to McDonald's and Starbucks to get connected! and then spending 2 hours there doing everything we needed to do! We do EVERYTHING online so we have felt so lost... for so long.... BUT LOST WE ARE NO MORE!!! I love technology!

Now for the Beach Bums!!!

We are lucky in the fact that there is a dog park and dog BEACH just minutes from the boat. We have taken the kids to the dog park quite often but we finally ventured down to the dog beach.... and oh my my! It was like a bunch of kids playing down there!! All the dogs were just running and splashing and chasing each other and swimming! It was really awesome to see!

(my lens got smudged and I did not have anything to clean it with so bear with me on the foggy pics!)

Jasmine jumped right in, of course. She LOVES the water!

And it wasn't too long before she made some friends and started a game of tag with the little white dog. She chased this little white dog the whole time and that little dog loved it! Jasmine loves playing with little dogs! and she plays so nice and gentle with them! It's really cute to watch.

Sandy wasn't so sure about this whole, open water beach thing.

Wha? Did you see that? It was an Alligator!! Alligator's eat greyhounds you know!

She finally calmed down and decided to go for a swim...

She even laid down for a bit....

Luke wasn't so sure about this beach thing either.... He just stood and took in his surroundings for awhile....

....but being the loner and adventurer he is... he went off on his own walkabout through the bush...

While on his walkabout, he got too close to the edge of the marsh..... slip slided down a mud hill and plop! into the water! Now this was his first time ever being totally immersed in water! Kevin had been following him to make sure he did not wander too far and was happy to see that Luke came up swimming! Luke was pretty panicked at first! but then you could see his mind working and realized that hey! " I'm not sinking! and when I move my legs like this..... I move!" So Luke swam himself back to shore like a pro! Here he is with Kevin after his adventure!

Meanwhile........ Sandy decided she had enough and went back up on land to hang out with my sister and my Dad.

Jasmine finally slowed down (for a second) and I got a good pic of her looking out over the Bay.

I tried to coax Luke back into the water but after his previous swim he was not having that!

All I got was a snuggle and a pathetic "please momma! Don't make me go back in there!" look...

At least we don't have to worry about Luke jumping off the boat! HA!

(Jasmine on the other hand...)

....And here the kids are.... all nice and tired.....walking home after a long day at the beach....

Welcome, Aboard!

2007-09-13T07:44:00.000-04:00

Home at last! A Internet connection is not as easy to find as one would think! We are going to be trying out the PC card for wireless Internet from Verizon. So hopefully it will work out and we can get back on-line!! I miss the Internet!

Here is our new vessel slipped up at our new home in Annapolis!

We got the dogs on and they are adjusting well! Jasmine jumped right on and you would think she has lived on a boat all her life! Sandy took a little TLC but she got on and settled in. Luke... well our boy Luke took a little bit of time. He was shaking so bad he could hardly stand up! But after some patience and time, he jumped on. That's our Luke though. Everything is easy does it with him!

But we got them all on and here they are lounging in the cockpit getting used to the movements of the boat in the water.

After awhile, Jasmine and Luke ventured out to the deck......

Here is a great pic of Sandy looking oh so pretty in the cockpit!

Getting them on the boat was one thing. Getting them down into the cabin was another. They fared well and we got a few good shots of them lounging around in the cabins!

Here is my favorite pic! After an adventurous first day on the boat... the hounds took over our bed and snuggled up together for a good nights sleep!

Ahoy!

2007-08-27T00:13:00.000-04:00

The boat is ready and we have moved aboard!

YAY! Homeless no more!

The dogs are doing great! Since we are busy moving in and fixing issues, access to the internet is intermittent. We have great pics to post with the dogs on board! Stay tuned and we hope to have a full posting by the weekend!

Homeless Pets and Hotels

2007-08-20T21:22:00.000-04:00

The pups are moving on in a world without Clayton. Jasmine of course took it the hardest. A week later and they are all doing much better. We spent a couple days at Jasmine's house over the weekend. We let the dogs out in the backyard for a potty break and a romp and when they were ready to come in they stood looking pathetic at the back door....

The back door that was cracked OPEN!

Clayton was the real brains of the bunch. He was always opening the doors for them, opening the cabinets, trash cans, baby gates and any other obstacle that was in their way!

We are also kind of homeless right now. The boat is not quite ready for living so we are staying at various places and hotels. Luckily these 3 are VERY adaptable and love all the new experiences.

They are no strangers to hotel life and they just move right in and make themselves at home!

We took them to a local dog park to blow off some steam. They loved it and enjoyed playing with some other dogs as well.

Sandy trying to camouflage herself to ambush the others.

Just this side of heaven....

2007-08-15T18:20:00.000-04:00

.... is a place called Rainbow Bridge.

Tuesday was a sad day for us as we had to put Clayton to sleep. As many of you know, he has been in a steady decline for the last year and the last few weeks came down on him very hard and very fast. Everything came to a head on Monday night and on Tuesday evening we had to make the difficult decision and the long trek to the vet for what we knew was the best thing for him. His momma (which is my momma) was away on a business trip which made it doubly hard for everyone.

We were lucky enough to be able to get a hold of her to get her blessing and to let her know what was going on. She was extremely sad she could not be there. She was only a couple weeks from coming home but she did not want him to suffer any longer.

At 8 years old he was his own dog. He no longer needed to impress the younger pups or to prove anything to anyone. He left his marks wherever he went and did his own thing on his own time. A little slower than the others, but more strong willed than all of them put together. He held his own but loved his momma and the companion of others. Smart as a whip, he learned to open doors, gates, trashcans and anything else that contained food on the other side!

Here is a little video Shannon put together as our tribute to a good old dog.......