Mommy can I pleeeease get a puppy???

The kids want a dog.  I'm not sure what got them on this kick, but they are all sure their life is not worth living if it does not include a puppy.  Ada is more flexible and declared to me that she would accept "a puppy, a kitty or a baby."

Gus and I are more realistic and understand the energy involved in having a dog, but it did not help our resolve when we stopped at Mapeltons one afternoon to discover these:

With some effort Gus and I held the line and we did not leave Mapeltons with a puppy.  We decided that rather than get a dog we would borrow one.  This, we explained to the kids, would allow them to demonstrate their dedication to actually looking after a dog and would help them understand the work that goes into a dog.

My friend April has a lovely German Shepard named Yoda and they were going away for 10 days, so we decided to watch her dog for her.  Yoda is very sweet.  He is sociable, loves fetch, and he is very patient and kind with the kids.  This last trait is especially fortuitous because Ada absolutely loves Yoda....a little too much.  She follows him around all day talking to him and cuddling him.  I'm not certain he loves the cuddling, but he is quite patient about it.  She loves to tell him "No Yoda!"  I have explained to her that she shouldn't say no unless he is actually doing something wrong, but my wisdom fell on deaf ears.  Fortunately, Yoda ignores Ada's admonitions.  Ada is so fond of saying "No Yoda!" that Darwyn has even heard her doing it in her sleep, while she giggles.

Yoda loves to play tug with the kids.  We bought them a long rope so they could safely play with him and he drags the older kids all over the yard, while they shriek and laugh.  Ada wanted in on the fun and they dutifully gave her a turn.  Ada does not know how to tug.  She jumps up and down while holding the rope.  Yoda gave her one "are you kidding me?!" look, groaned and laid down (still with the rope in his mouth).  After that he laid there while Ada tugged and pulled to no effect.  It was quite cute.  Unfortunately, we did not catch it on video.

Yoda's other quirk is that he loves water hoses...something we discovered when we attempted to fill the kiddy pool.  He lunges and bites at the stream of water as though he thinks he can catch it like a  ball.  It is hilarious.  The kids caught it on video:

The kids did come along when I walked Yoda and Max even agreed to pick up some poo....although he was quite disgusted by the practice and took more than a little prodding.  Unfortunately, most of the work still fell on me.  Still, everyone loved to have Yoda visit.

Trigator take 2

This past June the kids did their second year of the trigator triathlon for kids.  Everyone did well and had a great time.  Ada managed to halve her time from last year, owing largely to the fact that her biking has improved dramatically.  She was still reluctant to swim on her own, however, and Gus once again carried her across the pool.  But she loved it and as soon as she finished the race she asked to do it again.  I am sure she is the only person in history that wanted to repeat the triathlon the instant they crossed the finish line!

Both Darwyn and Max also improved their times from last year.  Like Ada, Darwyn was much better on her bike.  Last year she used an impromptu balance bike.  This year a month or so before the trigator Dar decided she wanted to ride her regular bike and she devoted a huge amount of effort to improving.  She looked like she had been riding for years by the time triathlon day rolled around.

Max made record time on the bike portion and also chose to swim the pool this year without a life jacket.  Max is about as buoyant as a stone with arms, so I was a little skeptical that that was a good idea.  But there is a personal volunteer for each kid that stays with in arms length of them for their entire swim, so I couldn't see the harm in it.  Max did a great job and swam almost the whole thing without any aid.  His head was above the water (if barely) most of the time, except for when he stopped to wave at grandma and grandpa (see photo below)!

Below are pictures and videos!  Special thank you to Aunty Sue for taking all these awesome photos.

Darwyn the athlete!

Just high-fived grandpa on his way past!

Waving to onlookers while swimming is not a recommended activity.

Another awesome trigator for all!