YESTERDAY.

I should start by saying that a few months back Shuggie starting doing this really absurd thing when he wants me to play/pay attention to him. And the first time it happened, I assumed it was an accident and dismissed it as hilarious. But then he did it again a few weeks later. I'll tell him I'm done playing with him, turn around to let him know the fun is over, and then he'll push me. Not a joke. 

He'll stand on his back legs, lift his front legs up, and then push me. Tyler died laughing the first time he was around to witness it. And it probably wouldn't be funny if we owned an Alaskan Malamute, but Shuggie will never be more than 30 pounds, so we let it slide. 

Puppy parenting fail. 

Fail because yesterday on the beach Shuggie pushed a kid (about the age of ten) on the beach. Pushed him right into the ocean. Luckily, the kid (fully clothed) thought it was absolutely hilarious, so this story has a happy ending. In fact a whole crowd gathered--this kid's parents included--to laugh and take pictures of Shuggie pushing him over and over, but REALLY. Having a dog that pushes can't be normal. And I know that because when I youtubed "boston terrier pushes person" NOTHING came up. Which tells me two things, for sure. One, Shuggie is ridiculous. And two, it's time for me to make a Youtube video. 

SUNDAY FAMILY PHOTOS.

OUR FIRST FAMILY VIDEO.

Last weekend we visited a few of our favorite spots in the bay (the Golden Gate and the redwoods in Felton) as a family and experimented with that newly acquired video option on our camera. It was our first time using it, so keep that in mind when the shot wobbles or we pan too quickly from left to right. We're just newbies at this!

A few fun facts about this video: while exploring we learned that Shuggie is deathly afraid of heights! Shortly after beginning to walk across a bridge he looked down, saw a river much below him and dropped down as if dead--refusing any and all movement. Also, that meal we are eating on top of the train was actually our Easter dinner! Lastly, if it seems like we have a stupid amount of fun together you're right. This video doesn't cover even the half of it.

p.s. Make sure you click the HD button to watch it in HD.

SHUGGIE'S "BUT YOU STILL LOVE ME, RIGHT?" FACE

I checked Shuggie into a puppy hotel early Saturday morning, because neither Tyler or I would be able to bring him with us on our mini-trips to Utah/Lake Tahoe. It's always a little hard for us to embrace the idea of leaving him anywhere, even for a night, but the weekend before we'd found a great little spot that offered "bedtime stories" at night and "doggy ice-cream breaks" during the day for their guests. 

Perfect.

Except at checkout the following afternoon the employee looked at me and said casually "so, that'll be 142". 

"Dollars?" I asked with complete sincerity. IS IT POSSIBLE SHE COULD MEAN PESOS? Or, could it be the 1st already? April fools?

"Yeah, well we gave him a bath. And we're in what we call the 'peak' period of the season right now, so it's a little more per night," she responded. LIKE, A HUNDRED DOLLARS MORE. And surely this was my fault, because I should have asked her for their rate would be before I dropped him off, but then mind started racing with all of the things I could buy for a hundred dollars.

I'm terrible at math but it was easy even for me to calculate just how much I hated the peak period in that moment. But then they brought out my little maniac and he looked adorable, and so I paid the woman and drove us back to the bay. All in all, he was happy and most importantly healthy when I picked him up. And that's when we realized he was sick. Like, puppy diarrhea all over your new rug, sick. Twice this week Tyler and I have come home to some pretty stomach-churning messes. And there I was thinking blowouts happen only to mothers of human children. So we've been doing a lot of laundry and running the bath a lot over here.

My poor, very expensive, boy.

Here's to hoping he'll start feeling better soon! I have to say I'm quite ready for this week to be over. Happy Friday!

LAKE TAHOE

Because Tyler is as good as it gets, I came home from work to a new camera a few weeks ago. It was the sweetest surprise, especially because he sort of hates having his photo taken and a new camera could only only mean more photos in our immediate future. Right? His timing ended up being really nice, too, because my family and I had just planned a trip to Lake Tahoe! He wouldn't be able to make it since he'd be in Utah for our dear friend's wedding, but my experimentation could begin in one of the prettiest places in the world.

While we were there we toured Sugar Pine Point State Park, hiked Emerald Bay, played games in our hotel room, and just kind of enjoyed the weather and scenery there as a family. Ryan is moving away for college in just a few months, so we're monopolizing on the time we have left before he's gone and my parents become "empty nesters"-- a phrase my mother hasn't exactly warmed up to. She keeps saying that one of us is practically obligated to hurry up and have a baby now.

The good news is that if Hayley or Anna do get pregnant in the next 5 minutes, there is a whole closet full of recently purchased baby clothes in my mother's closet "just in case".

I'M BACK...

We've had busy weekends over here (Shuggie included) with Tyler in Utah and me in Tahoe with my family! It's been so fun and I have a whole heap of photos to share, but we're fading fast, so one will have to do for now. Hope your weekend was spent with people you love, friend.

A FEW FROM THE WEEKEND.

1. Colorful fruit at the farmer's market on Saturday with my family. 2. My grandmothers hands arranging flowers for Hayley's Sacramento wedding celebration. 3. My outrageously beautiful sister, being admired in her wedding dress. 4. Flea market spoils. (The lump sum for all those pretties came to only 8 dollars!) 5. Dear friends at the celebration Friday night.

Hope your weekend was pretty. Happy St. Patrick's day! 

OUTSIDE & INSIDE THE COMPUTER MUSEUM.

Tyler and I sometimes forget how unique of a place Silicon Valley really is to the rest of the country. And then we make a wrong turn off the freeway somewhere in Mountain View, pass the Google headquarters and go " ohhh yeah! All of that is right here!". It can be bizarre. Especially when you consider the role companies like Google or facebook play in the rest of the world right now. 

And neither of us are real techies, but Tyler attended a seminar at the Computer Museum in Mountain View on Friday, and so we thought we'd go back and really explore over the weekend. It was totally interesting, and also kind of funny to see my college lap top displayed as a "relic" behind glass. 

No joke. My exact one. With a red mini mouse pad in the center of the keyboard and everything. 

I used to joke around about it being the grandmother of all computers, but I never thought I'd actually see it labeled as an ancient on display. 

I can't wait to go back in a few years and see the computer I'm currently using to post this. Happy Tuesday, friend.

SUNDAY FAMILY PHOTOS.

TODAY.

Shuggie is asleep on my legs. I just made a batch of blueberry muffins. I am listening to Carla Morrison (the Denjenme llorar album) despite the fact that I cannot understand any of the lyrics, because her voice and the production on this album are both outstanding. My love will be home soon, and we're going to be very irresponsible and stay up late to watch a movie together. And the flowers near my house looked even more yellow than usual today.

They get a bad rap, but sometimes grey and rainy days are my favorite.