nightly walks

My walks begin like this. I get carried across the prairie grass which grows taller than me and makes me itch. I know it doesn't look like much in this picture, but this photo is deceiving and it really is TALL grass.

Then I'm lowered to the ground and freedom rings!

This is Zoe, one of my new friends. He looks like an oreo cookie, and I'm trying to see if he smells like chocolate.

No, he's all dog, but he sure looks good enough to lick.

And this is Nugget. Doesn't he remind you of Paris Rains?

Nugget is a strange one. When his dad hits a ball into a hole, he just sits down beside him instead of chasing the ball. So although he looks like Paris, I don't think he acts like her. And then my walks end like this, where I collapse on the floor or in somebody's arms. Life is good!

leash rash

I love my walks, and we take them almost every night. Usually they are happy and uneventful, but the other night, Motch felt the wrath of my leash. It looks a little nasty.

When I run in circles, she needs to stay out of the way. Maybe adding jumping rope to her exercise routine would help?

At least there are no red marks on ME!

first place

YESIREEEEEEE! My Cubbies are in first place!

goodbye my friend

Well, it is a sad day for me. My beloved chair is being removed from the bedroom and dragged into the front hall.

Its next stop with be on the curb, and I really don't understand why. It is a tad bit frayed, but I spent many months pulling each thread with love and affection. With intention. On purpose.

This chair is to me what Cowboy Pig is to Joe. Why can't Motch put it in a cupboard and pull it out on special occasions like Joey's mom does?

She has already replaced it with this old thing, and I'm not very happy about it.

therapy dogs

We've been spending lots of time visiting Grammy, who is in rehab at the nursing home. She's working hard and enjoying her therapists, especially those cute ones.
When I was there the other day, I met some therapy dogs, but I can't remember their names. Do you see the treat on this one's paw? He didn't eat it until he was told he could. All of the dogs did tricks like this, and it made people smile.

No smiles from me, though. I wanted that thing!

happy friday!

Hey Everybody! Look at the card Mack made for me! Isn't it PAWSOME?! Thank you, Mack! I LOVE LOVE LOVE it! Just 2-year-old Petra saying have a great weekend!

Happy Birthday to ME!

Yes, today is the big day: my 2nd birthday! Can you believe I'm 2 already?

Can you think of a better way to celebrate than with frosty paws?

With Fig and Tad?

Figgy ate hers so fast that she came and helped me finish mine.

I went to visit Grammy at the nursing home on this happy occasion, too.

She was happy to see me and happy that the Cubs split the series with the Cards over the weekend. She loves to display her W towel on her wheelchair. And just look at the lovely flowers that are stuck in the top of her wheelchair handle. Pretty cool, huh?!

Tad went with me and he had fun sniffing legs.

I liked sniffing cracker crumbs that fell to the floor.

There's no doubt that Grammy loves me!

And I love her! This is the first time she held me, last November, on my gotcha day.

And now I'm 2!

motch's favorites

OK, bear with me. I'm being nice to Motchie in hopes that I'll get some special treats on my birthday which is Tuesday. With that in mind, I'm letting her post the last photos of Switzerland, then we'll get back to ME and what this blog is all about.

From Zurich, they went to St. Moritz and stopped at Fluela Pass for a photo shoot. The mountain's reflection in the water is pretty amazing!

Edelweiss grows high in the alps, so the only time they saw it was in village shops. The cost for this one was 38 swiss francs (about 38 dollars).

The snow was melting and flowing from the mountains to little streams in every town. It was moving fast and made a lot of noise.

You've already seen the Matterhorn, but this picture was taken early in the morning when it was more visible. There is a cemetary in Zermatt, the village where they stayed, honoring those who lost their lives when climbing this mountain.

While on their way to Geneva, they saw Byron's Castle of Chillon. Although it's pretty, it would have been a scary prison.

This is Chapel Bridge in Lucerne. They spent a lot of time exploring this old city and shopping for watches and swiss chocolates (which, by the way, are already gone and not a morsel dropped into my mouth).

In Geneva, they took a boat ride to Yvoire, France, and then explored this quaint little village. You can see how steep and winding the roads were!

Motch snapped picture after picture of houses like this. Flower boxes filled with geraniums were the standard, and most of the geraniums were red like the swiss flag. The country was clean and quiet.

From Lucerne, they took a train to Rothrist, a small little town where Motch's grandpa was born. He was just 2 when his mom died, and she was buried in the cemetary at this church. I'm sure I could have climbed the steps much faster than Motch to get to the top.

But here's proof that she made it!
All of the cities and small towns had places where you could fill your water bottles or just take a drink. This water fountain is in Lugano. Motch thought she was in Italy when she was here because everyone spoke Italian and the structure of the buildings and city lay-out was Italian. And yes, she even had gelato ice cream here (several times) but I'm not letting her post a picture because it makes me hungry.

All good things must come to an end, and so did her vacation in Switzerland. She felt right at home at O'Hare and reminded herself that it was good to be back on U.S. soil.
I was glad to have the wanderers home, but I can't say I was too bored or missed them too much. Leah took excellent care of me and even held me tight when I quivered through the thunderstorm and fireworks!

So ends the tour of Switzerland, and that's fine with me because now we can focus on the next important event which occurs on July 14, my 2nd birthday!

favorite pics of switzerland

Motch and P.A. are back from Switzerland and life is returning to normal. I thought I'd take a few minutes and share some of my favorite pictures of Switzerland with you. This is a little red train that took them through the Bernina Pass so that they could see the Alps up close.
Everywhere they looked they saw mountain streams and lakes and waterfalls. The snow at the tip of the Alps met the clouds and they kind of melted together.

Cows grazed on the countryside throughout the land. It's kind of hard to see, but they all wore cowbells.

They visited a rural community in a horse drawn carriage and listened to yodeling music as they rode along. One of the highlights of their trip was taking the train to a small town called Rothrist where Motch's grandpa was born and where his mom died and was buried.

They visited big cities, too, and this is Berne. It means "bear" in German, so I like this town. They usually have bears that live in a zoo-like setting called the bear pits, but it is being remodeled right now so Motch didn't see any bears.

But they did see a dog playing with a stick. It went too far down stream and he couldn't swim back to his owner because the current was too strong. Pretty soon his owner rescued him and pulled him out of the water with the stick.

Then he took the stick and swam with it in his mouth to the steps, where he carried it to the top. Then his owner took it and threw it in the water again and again. He was having fun!

They took a cable car to the Matterhorn which is the highest mountain in Switzerland (can you see it in the background?), and then they got their picture taken with Heidi and Minnie! After the pictures were taken, the dogs got treats. Motch loved these guys because they were so sweet and gentle.

They sure look like good rescue dogs, don't they?

While they were walking the streets of St. Moritz, Motch said hi to these dogs and their owner asked if she wanted to take a picture. He was especially proud of this dog because he has blue eyes. Motch couldn't understand the dog's name. What do you think we should call him? Fritz?

OK, that's all I have time for right now. I'll let Motch share some of her favorite pictures next.