Two Are Better than One?!

I knew yesterday morning when I went for the morning dog walk it was going to be a beautiful day. You know how I knew? Well, for one thing I saw some people at the daycare all standing outside, sipping their hot coffee and looking towards the sunrise. I am not sure what they were saying but I am sure it was something like "damn, isn't that just the most amazing sunrise?". It was really beautiful and what seemed to me, unusually bright. It was more like a spring time sunrise (in my humble, never lived this far north opinion) than a fall/winter one. In any event, the sun shined all day long. This was the second day in a row with sunshine so I just had to go on another exploration walk - and yes, this time it was with TWO dogs.

After looking at the Taby map and consulting a more reliable one (the street map), I came to realize that there was a lake in what seemed to be much closer proximity to our apartment. I leashed up the dogs, loaded my bag w/ water, a scarf & the camera and away we went. The walk took us through a very nice green space area between two neighborhoods. Tons of little paths jutting here and there, but I kept on the major path until I saw this:

What's that, you say? Just a stupid stream? Oh contraire mo frare (or however you spell it). It's actually run off that has been manipulated "a bit" as on the other side of this picture is a big, concrete pipe. Not too photogenic, so I only captured it from this angle. BUT, what this drain off does tell me (and my Father would tell you too!) is that cities typically direct drain offs to bodies of water sooooooo I knew I was headed in the right direction!!!

OK, moving right along - the afternoon really wasn't that suspenseful but it was a peaceful and idyllic area nonetheless. Just a few minutes from the babbling brook (me or the stream?!) we came to the lake. It's actually a really nice lake that appears to have trails along it's perimeter. We didn't continue along the path because it was going to get dark soon and I wanted to get back so the girls (all 3 of us) could rest a little. Plus, I could see there was another dog on down the path that was playing with the ducks, leash free, and I wasn't really up for being dragged across the dirt by two excited goldens. Speaking of two excited goldens, here they are "posing" for me:

And here is Miss Mya watching the birds very closely. She loves birds like Reagan loves squirrels. She is really good on the leash, hardly pulls and has that cute golden retriever skip in her step. However she is a MAJOR "counter surfer" right now, bringing me all sorts of goodies from the kitchen.

Thursday was a total change from Wednesday - they pretty muched just chilled all day long, with a few wrestling matches here and there. This morning, they both slept in with me (I usually let Reagan out of her crate after Anders leaves for work) and were really good. Another thing about a puppy like her is you can tell how important the first few months are in shaping the way they behave. Now I am even more happy with Reagan's progress but realize that some of the things I wish she could do (go off leash at my mother-in-laws unfenced summer home) simply will never be because she is too old. When they are puppies, it seems they want to be with you every moment outside and are scared to go anywhere without you - I could probably let Mya off leash and she would be fine. Reagan is old enough not to be scared (but not trained enough to know CARS KILL!) so it will never work. Boo, hiss - we can always dream! I think the best part of having two dogs is when Reagan wants to play tug of war with her toys - Mya is all too quick and excited to be part of that game, even though it means she will be dragged around the apartment!!

This weekend we are laying low - we have a game night over at the American/Swedish couples house on Saturday but that is about it. Of course, that's how last weekend started out and we ended up having three things to go to!!! HA! Apparently, our landlord has a small, artificial Christmas tree in the basement, so Anders promised me we could put that up after Mya leaves. I think that will round out the decorations and I won't have to go buy more. OK, maybe a tablecloth, but I NEED that!!!

Have a good weekend, everyone!

Love, Monica