A Big Roar for My New Friends

I think some of Auntie Nora's friends might want to adopt me. Well, Kristy and Mario (above) might. Michael and Jamie (below) are not a couple, so strike that thought.

Kristy and Mario met us for lunch and brought me a present: a warm hat with bear ears and mittens that look like paws (they have no thumbs, not that I can grasp anything with bulky mittens anyway). I roared like a bear for my new friends and they roared back, then I wore the hat for the rest of the day.

Jamie is Nora's housemate and she gets along well with my papaw because they both are learning ukelele and can jam together. She works as a parapro at a school here and rides her bike to work, even in the snow! I admire that...

Michael is Nora's friend and running partner -- recently she ran a half-marathon and he ran the full marathon (and says he will never do that again. I can respect that, too). He's getting his PhD in clinical psychology at the same school Nora attends, so I watched what I said around him, lest he analyze me.
In fact, I limited my vocabulary that day to saying nothing but "bots" (as in "robots"). With a range of inflections, I made that one word mean everything I needed it to. Michael and everyone else thought this was very funny, which only encouraged me to say it more. "Bots." "Bots, bots, bots."

Tomorrow we go home, but I've loved every minute of my Colorado trip. I'm looking forward to riding an airplane again!

P.S. Speaking of new clothes, thanks to the Bartons in Tennessee for my birthday outfits. I'm wearing the fleecy green pants in the photo above. And I wore the brown bear outfit today and the jammies last night. Everything fits perfectly! Bots!

Posing in the Pumpkin Patch

Today I experienced my first pumpkin patch near Fort Collins, Colo. I'm visiting my auntie Nora (see my family's blog for more about our trip) and it feels more like fall here than it did at home. The leaves are yellow, the air is nippier, and my goodness, the pumpkins are bigger!
Here's a picture of me and Auntie Nora walking in the patch. The ground was very uneven, so I had to hold her hand tightly so I didn't fall. One funny thing is that while most pumpkins look round, when you roll them over, most have a flat spot where they lay on the ground to grow. Guess that makes sense.
Did I mention my Papaw and Grannie are along on this trip? Nora is their daughter, after all, just like she's my mommy's sister. Papaw is holding me here and I'm holding a pumpkin shaped like a pear. Then there's Grannie and Nora next to her.
Here's Mommy and me! We took home a couple of pumpkins for Nora's front steps, as well as some acorn squash that we had for dinner and some cantaloupes we will enjoy for breakfast tomorrow.
The pumpkin patch had these fun wagons to ride in, and for transporting pumpkins.
I tried to pull our wagon, but it was too heavy for me to budge more than an inch or so before I would kerplop on my bum. But I am persistent -- I would get up and just try again. I didn't move that wagon very far, I'm afraid, but I had fun trying.
Whew! Pumpkin patches can wear a fellow out. At least I found a soft hay bale to rest on.

Eating With a Spoon, Sort Of

Oatmeal is pretty difficult to eat with a spoon, I don't care what the grownups say.

And yogurt? Best spooned into the mouth with the hands!

The Biggest Dog I've Yet to Sit On

My! That's what I thought when I came around the corner in my friend Barb's house and saw THIS sprawled on the floor.
It's a St. Bernard, she told me. Look, she's friendly! We got close and Peggy Sue (that's the dog's name) gave me a big grin.
Then Barb lifted me up and set me on Peggy Sue's back, which was perhaps a surprise for both of us. She was very soft and furry and...still large. You should see her standing up!

Just this morning, I realized I could climb on my dad while he's in certain morning yoga poses, and sit on his back just like I did with Peggy Sue. I have to say, Dad's more fun to ride. But I like dogs, even the biggest of the big ones!

Ahoy! Isn't That What You Say When...?

Ahoy! Doesn't this life jacket look a little too confining to you? I thought so, too. Wearing it marred what would have otherwise been a perfect outing on my friend's 1966 Grand Banks 32. What a beautiful wooden boat! Appropriately, it's called VINTAGE.
We departed the marina on Sept. 14 for a 2-hour cruise out Guemes Channel...
...where I deftly steered us, with Grannie's aid. This was my favorite part!
Later, Mom said I could take off the hated life jacket if she could carry me on her back (here we are on the bow), or if I stayed in the cabin. But that was boring. The deck was where it was at!
A big thanks to our skipper-host, Carlos. We'll go cruising with you anytime!!