Project Maggie: Part Two

Prject Maggie: Part Two, In Which Maggie is Schooled on How to Place Her Head and Ears Out the Window of a Moving Vehicle

I mean, c'mon! How amazing would that be for her big ol' Dumbo ears to be flapping out the side of our VW Bus? Nevermind our poor success rates from years past, today is the day! Get ready California. No, no -- even better -- get ready world . . .

First things first, Little Maggie, you are sitting in the wrong seat.

Move. Please?

She's all smiles as we head out for Operation Ear-aqi Freedom.

Maggie, you're facing the wrong way. The window is the other way.

Success! Can you believe it? After all these years of prodding and cajoling, she finally does it!

Not sure this really counts though. Fact of the matter is, the car wasn't moving. Secondly, Lars was standing on the other side of the window calling to her. Thirdly, her ears never made it out of the safety of the car. Well, it is a step in the right direction.

Project Maggie: Part One

Since the time we first received Maggie in our lives, we've set out two goals for her:
1) swim in a large body of water like a rugged, athletic macho dog
2) stick her head out the window of a moving vehicle.

Today's post is about the first of our two goals for Magdalena. However, much of what we've learned from our attempts at raising Maggie as a proper dog comes straight out of that old adage, "you can lead a Bassett Hound to water but you can't make 'em float."

Enter Dog Beach:

Running and sniffing and sniffing and running . . . far away from the water.

She made a friend.

And kept running.

Won at King of the Hill, but still no water.

Kicked sand on other people's belongings.

And then finally consented to a brief foray at the water's edge.

Wear she got her paws wet . . . and her ears.

Can't say that you can call this swimming, but near bout was.

Poor short legged doggy.

Even after taking the leash off her, she didn't run away from the water. She sure wasn't thrilled about it, either.

Half-smile.

"Can we wrap up this lesson?"

The other day, while picking Soren up after a whole day of school, I noticed something a little quirky about his wardrobe. At first I thought it was a theme day at school, but then I noticed none of the other children were dressed like him. Then I realized that my Main Man had committed a major wardrobe gaffe and I needed to get home pronto to document it on camera and share it with the public, loving and supportive mother that I am.

Step One: Engage him in idle conversation while snapping pictures of his sweet, winning smile.

Step Two: Zoom out just a scooch, act non-chalant as you take pictures of the evidence.
Still don't see it?

Step Three: Lovingly point out to your son that his shorts are on backwards, complete with plum jam stain from his PB&J at lunchtime.

Step Four: Take pictures of him on the floor, laughing his brains out.

Now that's just dang funny, ain't it?

Taco Tuesday

Very occasionally, she'll eat something besides a non-food item. Tova is very fond of Taco Tuesday. This picture is to prove to you that we feed her stuff besides sand, in this case black beans, refried bean and tomatoes.

I gotta say, bean dipeys are almost as exciting as sandy dipeys.

Eating Disorder Continued

No matter what we offer her at home, from Cheerios to booby snacks, nothing -- and, I mean nothing - - sates this baby's appetite like a couple of five handsful of sand.

Maybe it's a thirst for sea salt?

Iodine deficiency?

Probably, a craving for Eau de Dead Poisson.

Mystery, none-the-less.

Sticks, hair and dirt are a close second.

Over Two Weeks Ago

What is that face for?

Come on Sweetie Petie, show us what ya got!

Nope, that's not what I was referring to.

Stop bein' a goof.

Let's see 'em!

Petra Leigh!

Give me a break . . .

Ta da!

Petra's braces went on a couple of weeks ago. Within six days her front teeth were straight. Can we take them off now? Or, how about we just stop paying for them?