Santa Doesn't Wear A Hoodie, DAD!

We set out for our first walk of the morning this morning.  It was still dark as it was 5:30 a.m.  We started down the hill when we saw a man with a hoodie and a bag on his shoulder behind us.  He didn't look right to me, so I growled at him. That's right, I growled.  I really wanted to bark, but Mama told me not to do that because she didn't want me to wake up people.  My growl made the man stop.  Yep, I scared him good.  I growled again just to let him know not to mess with us.  I kept turning around to check on him.  Scout decided the best thing to do was to jump in a big pile of leaves. The only thing we could see was her head.  Mama laughed at her, but I couldn't laugh because I was still worried about that man.  Mama told me the man wasn't a bad man and that he was just on his way to do laundry.  I don't know about that, he looked suspicious to me.  Who does laundry at 5:30 a.m.?   When we got home, I told Dad all about it.  He told me that Santa carries a sack like that and what if it was Santa that I scared  Seriously Dad, Santa doesn't wear a hoodie!

Yesterday, the folks took us to Weston Bend State Park for a hike.  It was a nice day.  The hike was fun.  The hardest part was climbing up a big hill.

This is the lookout point.  It was probably prettier a few weeks ago.  Mama hates when the leaves are off the trees.

I am admiring the view.

Scout is ready to keep walking. She loves walking in the cooler weather.

Me and Dad

Trying to catch up to Mama and Scout.

We are tired after our walk.

The weather is going to turn cold tonight.  Brrr!  We are going to have to use our propane heater tonight and tomorrow.  Mama has been saving our propane until we really need it and tonight we will need as it will be in the teens.  We have a heat pump and space heaters that we use when it is not seriously cold.  Mama hates being cold and is counting the days until we are in Texas and warm again.  We just wish Dad could be with us.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Showed Mama That He Can Protect Her From Bad People Today

Cows?

We enjoy hiking through the woods here.  We try to do it every day because with all the leaves falling, there are new smells and the landscape is starting to look different.  Yesterday, we had a big surprise when we came down the hill.  There were cows! 

Mama told us to move along and not stare at them too long. 

We enjoy playing at the dog park.  We really like it when there are other dogs there.  Mama doesn't let us "play" with the other dogs, but since there are two fenced areas, we go into the empty one and run along the fence with the other dogs.  It's fun, but I think making actual contact would be better. Mama is scared we will get hurt.  The other dogs do seem to be pretty mouthy.  There was this one little dog that tried to get to me through the fence.  Do you know what I did?  I peed on him through the fence!  BOL!   There was a guy there this week who didn't want his dogs to "play" with us.  He yelled at them and told them they were not there to play.  He scared Scout.  They didn't stay long and Scout and I were confused as to why their Dad was so mean.  We are glad he is not our Dad.

 The other day there we saw a lady and her husband watching us play.  She said "Oh look, they are best friends!"  Us, best friends?  I am not sure about that.  I guess I don't have any other friends, so does that mean that Scout is my best friend?   The lady asked Mama if we are obedient.  Obedient?  Mama had to laugh at that.  She had never thought about it.  Mama said "Well, they don't get into anything.  Does that make them obedient?  The biggest problem is walking them.  There are times when they want to go their own way and my arms are only so long.  One on one, they are great at walking, but together, they can be a challenge at times."  Yep, that sounds like us.  BOL!

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Wonders If Scout Is His Bestie

A Trip To The WWI Museum

Dad has been wanting to see the WWI Museum for a very long time. The folks decided to visit this past Saturday.

Liberty Memorial Tower at WWI Museum

Visitors can go to the top.

View from the top of the tower.

The admission price to tour the WWI Museum is $14 a person.  Mama did her best to find a coupon, but didn't have any luck.  It is half price on Wednesdays, but that was not an option for the folks.

Mama's favorite part of the museum was a glass bridge that you cross to enter the exhibits.  Under the bridge are 9,000 red poppies.  Each poppy represents 1,000 soldiers that died during the war.  It was hard to get a good picture since the glass had a lot of glare.  The windows you see are actually the ceiling reflecting on the bridge.

Volunteers offer tours of the museum and the folks decided to go that route instead of exploring on their own.  Mama said they learned a lot more from the tour guide than they would have on their own.

Propaganda trench. The tour guide said that it was used to convince mothers to allow their boys to join the service.  The real trenches were nothing like this.

German gas bell which was used to warn people of gas attacks.

Gas masks

Trench - see the floors are mud and not wood like the propaganda one.

German machine gun

Part of film that shows America preparing for war.

The model for this poster didn't show up, so the artist painted himself.  Mama always thought it was "Uncle Sam". No matter where you move in the room, his eyes and finger follow you.  It is strange.

Dog collar used during war to send messages.  Bell let soldiers know where the dog was.

Tank

Motorcycle used during war

The folks enjoyed the museum. They were there for four hours and Mama said they probably could have stayed longer. 

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Is Glad He Has A Bed To Sleep In And Not A Trench

We Need A Green Screen!

It is that time of year again.  Yep, it is time for photos to be taken of us for the annual Christmas card.  I knew we were in trouble when Mama started knitting us scarves to wear.  Then, she signed up for the Greytalk Card Exchange.  She agreed to send a few international cards and those have to be in the mail by December 1st.  She said she really needed to get in gear.  She finished the scarves Saturday night.  Sunday, she got out the Christmas lights and the tree.  Now, remember, we are in a RV, our tree is small.  We actually have two trees this year.  They are both very small though.

She set everything up and we put our scarves on and then the craziness started.  Dad just laid on the couch and watched.  He then decided to help, but he couldn't handle us any better than Mama.  He said we needed a green screen so that he could wear green and just hold us in place and Mama could add any background she wanted.  We all agreed that sounded like a great solution, but we doubt it will ever happen.  The folks finally gave up and took down the Christmas decorations.

Today, Mama set up the Christmas decorations again and told us that we needed to get this done because we had a deadline. Walgreens has a 40% off sale on cards and photos and it ends on Wednesday.  Yikes, that is a lot of pressure for a greyhound. Guess what? The camera battery was dead.  We had to wait an hour for it to charge and then we were able to start our photo shoot.

Did we mention that we were getting paid with chicken livers as our treats?  Yep, the folks ate at Stroud's on Saturday and had some left over.

Today's photo shoot was much more fun than the one yesterday.  We had Mama laughing with stunts like this:

This is our favorite and really got Mama laughing.

Is my nose really this big?

I've been told that I am the problem child in these photos.  I don't know about that.  I think I make them FUN!

See, Scout is boring.  BOL!

Mama never did get the photo she dreamed of even after 85 photos, but the deed is done.  She spent a few hours deciding which picture would be "suitable" and then she placed her order with Walgreens.  The cards will be here next week.  We are glad that is done for another year, but we really enjoyed the chicken livers.  We will show you the picture that Mama chose when it gets closer to Christmas.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Can't Stand Still Long Enough For A Photo Session

I Didn't Know Six Would Be So Hard

Mama told me just hours before I turned six that I was no longer a baby and I couldn't whine or pull when I walked.  WHAT?!  That's not fair!  I DON'T WANT TO GROW UP!  Scout said not to worry about it because in her words "What are they going to do to you?"   I guess that is true.  I have been testing Mama with the whining.  I like to whine.  It is my way of talking.

My day started out pretty good.  I relaxed on the couch.

Then this happened.

What am I looking at?

It's a witch with a dead rat!  Yikes!

Scout refused to look.

We took a relaxing walk along the lake and admired the colors.

 Scout and I then went to the dog park.  I whined because a dog walked by, but didn't want to play. Scout said she would play with me.

"It's on sister!"

My mouth is not in hers, but this will freak Dad out if he sees it.

The pictures turned out pretty good considering they were taken with a cell phone and when you snap it, it still takes a few seconds before it shoots.

My birthday was pretty good, but I still don't like being six.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Likes To Whine And Always Will

Oh Noooooo!

BOL!  It's my birthday!!!  Any guesses on what I got?  Yep, I got my Mr. Bill doll.  He says "Oh, noooo!"  BOL!  I have been wanting him since I saw him at Petco in July.  He was worth the wait.

Me and Mr. Bill

Do you want to hear hear something neat?  Scout's birthday is November 19th.  My birth mother's birthday is also November 19th.  They were born in different years, but we still think it is neat.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Is Now Six ~ Oh Noooo!  BOL!