First of all – Happy July 4th to all my American friends and family! I’ve loved seeing all the celebratory pics on Instagram already. I’ve been lucky enough to travel to 29 of the US States whether it’s been with my dad for work, visiting family or meeting new friends – and I’ve great memories from all those trips. There are so many things about America that I love and I’m happy to call them our Southern neighbours. My sister is actually on vacation there right now in a state that no one in my family has been to before – Alaska! I can’t wait to see all her pictures
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I’ve been feeling patriotic for my own country this week too, with Canada Day and all. Then I saw this video made by Chris Hadfield and his brother Dave, and I got all warm and fuzzy inside about all the things I love about Canada too.
Just watching it gets me excited about our camping trip this weekend!
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Later tonight we’re hitting the road to go camping for the first time this year. We’re bring the dogs (a first!) and are planning a weekend of hiking the trails and swimming with the dogs at a provincial park neither of us have been to before. After Cola fell in the river at my parents’ place we realized we need to get him out there and teach him how to swim.
In my high school/university days I worked for one of the provincial parks for four summers, giving out camping permits and selling firewood. It was such a fun place to work and I often miss those days in the summer. When I worked there, I hardly ever went camping anywhere else because I got to stay at the park for free, but now I like getting out and exploring the other places in our beautiful province.
I still have to pick up some essentials tonight before we leave, like nachos, salsa and marshmallows. Provided that my cell phone works there, I’ll post some pics along the way on Instagram.
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For the past few days we were house sitting for Garrett’s parents, which also means taking care of what we like to call “The Menagerie” – 5 dogs (their 3, our 2), a cat and a rat. Thankfully they all get along well and are well behaved (most of the time).
The Three Amigos were happy to let us crash with them for a few days.
Moonie is the only female dog in the mix, so homegirl kept close to me all week. If I was ever looking for Moonie, I just had to look behind me.
Over the last few months Max has gone from thinking I was an intruder (I was here first, bub) to now being his best friend thanks to many treats and belly rubs. (I couldn’t get a picture of Jake because he was just a black blur running around the yard)
Whiskey was happy to have the whole yard to run around in, except for when the grass was wet, then he gets quite dignified about all four paws touching the grass at once.
And Cola? Well, let’s just say he wanted to help my in-laws with their landscaping.
Gobus the cat would try to make his escape every time we let the dogs outside, but thankfully he only goes about 3 feet away and then lays in the grass, so he was easy to catch. And how did he get that weird name? Well, he was found on a GO Bus and taken to a shelter where they kept calling him the “GO Bus Cat” and it stuck.
I always forget about the rat, until I hear Whiskey’s whimpers as he tries to get close to the cage to “play”.
Needless to say, all these animals do make for some pretty fun entertainment and considering their combined weight is less than that of one big dog, it isn’t too much to handle. It was also only about a 5 minute drive from work, so I was able to pop in on my lunch break to let them out and have some midday cuddles. Loved it.
