Concert on the Mountain

We got free tickets to a Phil Vassar concert tonight on "the mountain"! When dh asked if I was interested my first reaction was "Who's Phil Vassar? But, yes, I want to go!" Going up the mountain is a real treat, because you have to ride a gondola to get up there... and gondola tickets are spendy so we don't do it very often. I think the last time we went was Labor Day weekend 6 years ago! From what I can tell on the web, concert tickets are a 2-for-1 deal. You get another ticket to ride the gondola again another day!

If the music's too loud or we don't like it, we don't have to stay! And we can go up any time today, even though the concert doesn't start till 7:00. However, we had already made plans to go to the North Idaho Fair today... which opens at 11:00. So we'll do that first. Then come home and change clothes (we'll need to put on long pants and get coats and blankets), pack a cooler, and get the dog. It will be a full day. But fun!

Lost Child, Part 2

Remember the little naked feller who showed up at our house a couple weeks ago? Well, he came back last night. Appropriately clothed this time. He didn't come into the house, but probably only because the kids were in the back yard. He was just milling around again, like he belonged there! Some of the other neighbor kids were also here, but they are school age kids, and come around frequently. This little guy is definitely too little to be out alone. I just took him by the hand and started walking around the neighborhood with him. Sure enough, his mother was looking for him. She said something about the garage door being accidently left open. I asked her where they lived so I would know where to take him if it happened again, since this was the second time. "The second time? This has happened twice?!" She seemed shocked. So I told her what happened the last time. She didn't know anything about it. I said, "I think a friend of yours was watching him that time." Anyway, they live just across the alley from us (our houses are back to back), not way down the street somewhere. So the police officer must have been thinking about a different little boy. That comforted me to know that he really hadn't gotten very far... but still, the fact that he will just go into a strange house is really scary!

Gorgeous Weather

The weather is gorgeous! Sunny and 70s. Just perfect "enjoy-the-outdoors" kind of weather. I sure hope we get to go camping for Labor Day weekend. And it would be lovely if the weather holds!

We haven't had a chance to go camping all summer, and most of the National Forest campgrounds close after Labor Day. There is one State Park campground in the area that stays open later, so we could go there sometime in the fall if next weekend doesn't work out, but I like the National Forest better. Besides, I need that "down-time" over the holiday weekend to get psyched up for school. I always take my teaching materials and a notebook along to get the semester planned. Then I'm ready to start when we get home!

Puppy Training

We went to the library last night to see if we could find some books on dog training. Our pup is still a little young for "formal" obedience school. They usually start at 4 - 6 months. Cookie is just now 3 months old. We thought we oughta start training her a little anyway! And we're very much amateurs when it comes to dog training. We just let our last dog do whatever... However he was at this stage 15 years ago. And that was pre-kid! Now we know a little more about training babies/children, so we thought some of the same principles oughta apply to little dogs! There oughta be a book! Well, this was the one we found on puppies, and it's a good one. Very practical advice. For example, we didn't know we shouldn't let her be "mouthing" us. It's cute and it seems like play... but according to this expert, by allowing her to "bite" us (even though it's not aggressive and it doesn't hurt) we are actually showing her submission. Dogs are pack animals and humans need to let the dog know that we are the pack leaders not them! I dunno. Sounds kinda silly, but if it will make the puppy mind us better, I'm all for it! I know we will enjoy a well-behaved little dog much more than a "wild thing"!

Da Puppy's So Cute!

All together now... "Awwwwwwww....."

I'm taking her to the vet today for her puppy shots. We had to wait a couple weeks after she was over the Parvo to make sure her immune system was built back up. I'm also taking the cat. She has some hair loss at the top of her tail that I'm concerned about. Boy! It oughta be an interesting trip with both the cat and the dog in the car!

The cat has learned to tolerate the pup, but I'm not sure she's real impressed. Yesterday, I took Cookie outside and the cat was in the yard. Cookie immediately bounds over and starts trying to herd the cat! Border collie coming out in her, I guess. She was bouncing around, her little front paws manuevering this way and that way. That cat wasn't going to go anywhere the dog didn't want it to. The cat just crouched into a ball and looked at the puppy like she was crazy. Pets are so much fun!