The Turkey Hill Experience

Damian and Jenn invited our family to meet them and Leo at the Turkey Hill Creamery, outside of Lancaster, PA, to go through the Turkey Hill Experience.  We thought it would be fun for the kids, so we packed the car and headed to PA for a day trip.

Elektra in her hat

DJ in his hat

Elektra hanging out on a bean bag chair... she did not forget her hat when she got up!

DJ milking a cow

DJ, Leo and Elektra "churning".

We got to sample ice cream and some of their iced teas while we were there.  We also got to make up our own ice cream flavor and packaging.  Click here to see what I decided to do.  With 2 toddlers running around, I didn't exactly have time to sit there and think about it.

They had some neat uses of technology with which the kids could interact, and it was a pretty neat place overall.

We had lunch in their cafeteria and, of course, got ice cream.  :-)

After lunch, we decided to drive to the Schrammies and hang out with them for a couple of hours.  Elektra got a hand-me-down from Sophia (a new swim shirt) along with some new shorts.  DJ inherited some of Spiro's old bathing suits, too.  The kids all ran around in the back yard and in the basement together.  When it was time to leave, our two fell asleep in the car on the way home; they were exhausted.

They are so excited for the beach to be able to play with their cousins all the time!!

DJ on the way to the Schramm's

DJ looking at Spiro's frogs

Elektra's new swim shirt from Sophia

Drywall and Shower Pics

Here are some pictures of the drywall starting to be installed.  Most of it is installed on the ceiling, but you can see a support pole has been rocked as well as some parts of the walls.

Drywall in the kids playroom and a (insulated!) support pole. 

Moar drywallz!

Ceiling drywall on the bulkhead.

This set of pictures is of the new shower!  The base was installed yesterday, the Duroc (a concrete drywall which is used as a "subfloor" for the tile) was installed this morning, and so George started tiling the shower walls!  George, on his own accord, also decided to add a line of mini-tiles to add a little flair to the walls themselves.  He is his mother's son... he has an eye for style!!!  What was really hilarious is that he was going to stop for the evening and install the mini-tiles tomorrow morning.  He cracked open the package "just to see" what they were, and then he couldn't help himself.  He had to find out how they installed and looked.  LOL!!!  Thanks, George!!  You can also see Steve's round shower base!

Beam me up, Scotty.

Mini-tiles installed!

A closer look at the mini-tile pattern

The grouted floor tiles.

The floor needed to be grouted so that George could install the shower base.  George thought he was picking a dark color grout based on what was on the package, but it definitely wasn't darker!  That's ok because it blends perfectly with the tiles.  Besides, the grout will darken with age and use!!

Our new steel door... with built-in mini-blind.

Drywall and a shower!

The contractors came yesterday to start installing the drywall!  The ceiling is being completed first., and they probably did most of it yesterday!  They were at the house until 9pm last night!!  They work so hard!

George was at the house, too, yesterday, grouting the tile in the new bathroom, and installing the shower base.  Hopefully, the contractors will install the Durock (stuff that is like drywall, but made of concrete so that the tile has a firm base) this morning, and George will start tiling the shower today!

Comet Update

Our foster puppy, Comet, spent the month of July driving Napoleon bananas.  Napoleon has been doing everything he could to prove himself as the Alpha dog, but Comet runs away and makes life difficult.  Eventually, they do get to playing chase (we thought our dogs were fast... Comet is *fast*!) and wrestling.  After Napoleon gives up the chase, Comet lays down in the grass and chew on a stick happily.  He also enjoys barking at the dogs on either side of us.

We spent the month of July learning all about Comet.  He LOVES LOVES LOVES people.  He likes dogs because he can play with them in the way dogs play, but he LOVES people.  He wants to be wherever we are all the time.  We had to re-teach him to sleep in the crate, eat puppy food (not human food!), and to potty outside when sent outside.  But other than that, he has had no accidents in the house.  The only accidents he did have were in the crate because we didn't listen to his crying or we were gone too long.  In both cases, those were our fault!  Silly humans. 

He has all of the exuberance of life that a puppy has, bounding (or streaking!) from one place to another, totally excited about everyone and everything.  He is extremely curious and smart.  He learned pretty quickly to not jump on me when I let him out of the crate!!

Last Tuesday, I took him to the vet to have his baseline checkup.  The vet said he was "perfect", and she doesn't say that often about dogs.  I scheduled his neutering surgery for that next day (it's required by Rescue that all dogs be spayed/neutered!), and so he spent the night at the vet's office. 

The next day, when I came to pick him up, I told the receptionist that I was here to pick up Comet.  She said, "Oh Comet!!  Yes, he figured out how to open his crate at will."  Oh.  Oh my.  That's bad!!  Hilarious since it wasn't on my watch, but bad!!!  Smart boy!!

The vet recommended 14 days of restricted activity.  HA HA HA Hardy har har.  That's hilarious.  Getting an Italian Greyhound puppy to sit still is like asking ice to not melt in 200 degree heat.

He recovered from his surgery in a hurry.  By the next morning, it was driving him crazy that he couldn't run around outside with his 2 roommates.  By Sunday, he was getting Napoleon to chase all over the yard.  He still has to wear his space-dog collar to keep from licking his stitches until they are absorbed, but I've stopped restricting his activity!!

In fact, on Sunday, his new forever family came to see him.  They drove from DC to meet this sweet boy, and he immediately loved them.  In fact, they sat down on the couch, he bounded on top of them, wormed his way to a spot between them, and promptly fell asleep on their laps.  That's when I decided he should just go home with them.  And go home with them he did.

I received an email yesterday from his new mommy that that he did really well in the car (stress drool, yes. vomit, no), and did well in the house - no marking!  Good boy!  He claimed his spot on their couch within minutes of arriving.

Comet on his new couch!

He's followed her everywhere - including the bathroom. 

We miss Comet - he was truly a fireball of puppy life.  And I know Napoleon REALLY misses him... he's SO B-O-R-E-D BORED BORED BORED without him.  We thought long and hard about keeping him but in the end, we decided it was best for us and for Comet to give him to a home that really wanted a fireball of Italian Greyhound. 

Good luck, boy!  We miss you!