Wild dunes resort

One of the fun things that we did when Charley’s family came down was sneek into the wild dunes resort where Charley works. I’d never even seen it before. Being a savvy photographer and all, I left my camera but I did steal some photos from my sister in law. Charley works in a large building and makes tiny plated desserts all day long and some wedding cakes on the weekends. People get married at wild dunes all the time, and I don’t blame them. It’s gorgeous.

This is off the main pier behind one of the hotels:

the hubs

We haven't taken a picture together in a long time for some reason, so we thought it would be appropriate to catch up.

We didn’t walk on the beach because it was so cold and we were all wearing shoes, but we enjoyed chilling on the dock for a little while. My niece was all giggles- we think she liked the weather.

 

The back of the hotel and rental houses are back behind my mother in law. They even provide beach chairs and pretty green and white striped towels.

A potted hibiscus was a source of great joy for little Abby. It was not unlike the baby shredding paper video but with her ripping the flower apart and trying to eat the pollen.

We enjoyed a breezy early dinner on the docks at Reds seafood.

You can bring your dog

This guy brought his Neapolitan Mastiff, the owner kind of looked like him too. He said that he didn’t move a whole lot and his excitement for the day was walking to and from the car. Really, all he needs is a pair of tusks and you’ve got a walrus.

I’m sure it was Fangs brother from Harry Potter, so yeah, I met a famous dog. booh yah.

Then I promptly went to wash my hands.

Phone calls

I used to hate talking on the phone. Now I love hearing from people enough to tolerate talking on the phone. It stinks that everyone is grown up now doing their own thing and moving away. Sure, we’re all easily connected by the internet, but it’s not quite the same.

Yesterday a friend called and the simple gesture made my day.  It’s so nice to just sit and do something without an agenda while connecting with someone you care about.

In a perfect world, my friends would all live on the same little mountain. We’d share our pictures by prints and in person. People could leave their comments verbally, and stuff happening in the news feed would be found simply by looking out the window or picking up a phone. No one would have to stalk each others profile to get to know who we were.

Just dreaming right? I know.

Since I don’t usually know what to do with myself on a phone, I usually doodle on stuff while I’m listening. If I don’t I usually end up doing something destructive like ripping paper or picking up things with my toes. Yesterday’s phone call resulted in some funny sketches of sleepy Juneau and her dog paws.

A family visit

This weekend the Hubby’s family came to visit. We took a walk to Hampton Park to show them the area. Charley even walked Juneau for a bit, which meant he allowed her to jump in the lake:

And my niece thought it was funny.

Isn’t she adorable? Then we fed the ducks.

Then we took some group photos, Juneau moved the camera on this one:

Then Juneau and I got busy crashing photos we weren’t supposed to be in.

Until Christine (my sister in law) decided to actually take my picture, which I hate..so I retreated.

Then we climbed trees. As a disclaimer, we actually are farther than two feet off the ground. I tried to point out that the point of taking a picture in a tree is to show that you’re up in a tree….but….fail for the photographers below. You’ll just have to take my word for it, we’re in this tree:

Juneau waited patiently for us to let her get the ducks again.

and to end, here is more of my ridiculously cute niece:

R2D2 cake

Today is Zack’s birthday (the roomate) and his best friend surprised him with this awesome R2D2 Cake. It was so crazy well done! It was made by a a lady at Free Bird Creative Services, and her work seriously takes the cake. (Yep, I did). 

Here was what the cake looked like before:

Here is what the cake looked like after Zack’s friend’s superb driving skills.

Looks like the force was strong on this one. (two corny jokes in one post!? sorry guys). It totally looks like R2 has a little love handle now.

And what better to go with a Star Wars cake than Star Wars gifts? Aka storm trooper shirt and glowing light saber umbrella…yeeerp you heard me right. That’s going to be one excited kid next time it rains.

Flea Circus

With our pup coming in and out of doors so often, it’s no surprise that fleas catch a ride every now and again. What is a surprise is at how fast they spread in spite of my religious every month flea dosing on the dog. ( I keep all of her vaccines, heartworm pills and flea & tick stuff on a little calendar in her doggy basket). I don’t know if it’s because we bought the cheaper version or Juneau just has to much hair to hide in, but the fleas multiplied faster than a pair of bunnies in a bush.

 

So first I gave her a flea bath and gave her a flea color and then did all of our laundry and washed her bed. Fail. Somehow the fleas multiplied still. So Charley picked up a Flea bomb- fogger thingy. We put off putting it to use for a few days because it would take so much time. We had to turn off everything, unplug the refrigerator, turn off the fans, turn off the AC, check for any ignitable sources, wrap tightly any open food source and cover our monitors. Then we had to pack  up the hedgehog, cat, and dog and leave the house for two hours. Then re-enter and open all the windows, doors, turn the AC and fans on full blast. Wait another 30 minutes outside, then vacuum/ sweep/ mop all the floors, upholstery and bedding. In short, it was a lot of work.

 

Catching a psychotic cat that hates people is not fun. Zack’s cat was found living under a fancy restaurant and lived for three months as a feral cat, often getting pricy cuts of meat and seafood from wooed customers. So not only is it persnickety, its wild and never lets anyone near without a warning scratch. I’ve been trying to develop trust with it, slowly approaching it, letting get used to me, giving it treats, playing with a ribbon ect.  I’ve successfully petted it twice without my arm getting ripped to shreds.

 

The game plan was to slowly lure it towards the carrier by using treats and ribbon. After 45 minutes, this turned into grab-the-cat-with-a-towel-and-wrestle-it-in-the-cage. Alas, she was quicker and ended up hiding inside of the box spring mattress. Charley came home from work and joined in the fun. Together we tried forcing the cat out of the mattress with a broom, only to make it more stubborn. Then charley picked up the mattress entirely, the cat slipping through a hole in the back and darting to the cover of a desk. Repeat the scare-cat-out- one-side technique and a scratch and a hiss later, Charley has grabbed the cat via towel and she is dumped unceremoniously into her carrier (sorry kitty).

 

The cat and Bruno got to wait on the front porch and Juneau in the courtyard. By then we had decided we needed a well earned treat. We went to eat while the bomb  did it’s magic.

Then we had to give all of the animals thorough flea baths. Starting with the smallest, Bruno received his bath in the sink. We’ve given him baths before but limit them because he maintains his own hygiene. Did you know hedgehogs can swim? I sure didn’t when we first got him…it’s rather humorous to watch. He got a little extra scrubbing from an old toothbrush.

…………….

Then the Cat had her bath. I’ll spare you the nitty gritty details except to show you our victory pictures:

It’s proof that it happened. It’s also an epic picture because it’s the first time she’s been held by charley or I.

 

Washing the cat was definitely a two person job, allowing for no photo narration. By the time it was Juneau's turn we were too pooped to even think about pictures. Now hopefully, this house had better be flea free.

I must add that the now-less-itchy dog decided to dry on charley's pillow while we were cleaning in the other room so we had the joy of remaking the bed all over again. If a wet dog on your pillow doesn’t make your day, I don’t know what will!