Our dog provides endless amusement (at least to us)

This past weekend we went up to PA to visit my parents since we hadn't been to visit since my birthday in April. We took Paisley like we have each time we go to my parents house. Now, Paisley LOVES car rides. And I mean the "sprinting-into-the-car, head-out-the-window, slobbering-everywhere, wouldn't-stay-in-the-backseat-because-she's-too-excited" kind of love. This sounds gross but its actually quite funny to watch, except when the slobber gets you- then I must admit, its a little annoying. Anyway, we arrived at my parent's house around 11:30pm on Friday night after an uneventful ride. I had the genius (if i do say so myself) idea of taking Paisley to the dog park right before we left so she was pretty mellow the whole ride.


The next night, after dinner we decide to sit down and watch Invincible to get in the mood for Sunday's Eagles game (which we won-yeah!). Paisley claims a space on the couch near my mom's feet and when Mom puts a blanket over her legs, it covers all of Paisley except her face. Which Paisley apparently enjoys. As you can see in the one pictures it looks like she's smiling upside down. So she stayed like that for about half the movie before moving to the floor.





Pais also got a kick out of torturing the family cat, Belle. Belle would sit on the couch or recliner and "hold court" while Paisley would bark at her and dance around below. This brought an eruption of hisses and growls (yes growls) from Belle and a few swats. It was very amusing to watch but I felt kind of bad for Belle. In the picture below, you'll see Paisley trying to figure out what this "cat" is and if she can play with it. My dad was overseeing this particular interaction.



Notice the flattened ears of the cat:

Aside from the fact that Charlie is allergic, I don't think we'll be getting a cat anytime soon. Although I now have my eyes on a Welsh Corgie...but that's another blog. :)

~KC

Doggie Swim Day

This was the scene at our community pool on Saturday afternoon:

Our HOA hosted a "doggie swim day" since it was the end of the swim season for us two legged folks, they let the dogs have the last swim of the season. (They drain the pool and prepare it for winter after the dogs leave.) It was such a great idea! Even the dogs that didn't want to swim had fun running around the fenced in pool yard and playing with other canine companions. Paisley had a blast! We took her over for about 2 hours and even near the end of our time she was still running, chasing and swimming. It was the perfect day for it as well- really warm and sunny. Paisley spent a lot of time chasing her tennis ball:

As well as other dog's toys. She was quite enamoured with this football and had trouble sharing it. What can we say...the Caldwell's enjoy football!

Charlie got in the pool and played with Pais and I was the designated picture taker/ball fetcher. We weren't sure if people would be in the pool too so Charlie brought his bathing suit along but quickly changed into it. I ended up wishing I had my suit on because it was so hot standing on the pool deck!

This is our neighbor Wrangler with his "mom" Molly in the background. They live right across from us and we feel very lucky to have such great neighbors! Molly is wealth of knowledge about dogs and has given us some great tips!

Hi Mom!

A shot of Paisley after the pool. Before I took the pictures she actually had her head resting on the chair legs...I guess it was too difficult to hold it up after all the fun!

The swim day was such a great idea- Paisley likes to swim and its great exercise for her but there aren't too many places around us that we can take her to swim. We hope the HOA does it again next year!

~KC

OBX Vacation

Last week we were at the beach in Corolla in the Outer Banks. This is the 2nd year we've gone with our friends, the Janetskys and the McPeeks. We had great weather the beginning and end of the week with some cloudy days in the middle. We were not able to bring Paisley (*tear*) since the house had a "no pets" policy. However once we got there we found a couple dog bones under the couches so maybe we could have brought her after all! We had a great, relaxing week of laying on the beach (Katie), bogey boarding (Charlie), playing tennis, and reading.

Charlie relaxing on the beach

Connor and Nathan playing in the sand

Mel and Kristine

Charlie and Chris attempting to bulid a sand sculpture of Yankee Staduim

Andrew, the future major leaguer

Us on the beach

One day we rented a kayak and toured the sound a bit. I had wanted to to rent two single kayaks so that we could each enjoy our own boat but Charlie suggested a double kayak because it was a cheaper option and he insisted I would get tired quickly. He's so smart. About 10 mins into our 2 hour rental my arms are burning ( I have no arm muscle whatsoever....seriously, the day God was handing out arm muscle he forget me!) and I'm soaking wet but trying not to show how tired I am (I was in the front). Finally I hear Charlie say "You're getting tired aren't you?". With relief I say "YES!....how could you tell?". He informed me that as I grew more tired I started to sway from side to side as I paddled, in an effort to use my body for more strength and he was afriad I was going to tip us over. So being the wonderful husband that he is, he paddled most of the 2 hours and I got to sit up front with my only job being to keep my paddle out of his way and out of the water. Sorry hubs! :)

Enjoying our kayak ride!

Charlie still happy even after paddling for 2 hours!

Now its back to work....sigh!
~KC

Pictures from Providence

As promised, some pictures from my trip to Providence, Rhode Island:

The State House

The hotel

Downtown on the Riverwalk

Nothing too exciting...just some pretty scenery!

~KC