Copper

Last Wednesday evening, we got to welcome a new member to the family, Copper, a six (maybe 5, but probably just barely 6) month old pup.

The decision to get him was pretty much on a whim. The house felt a little lonely to me since Zahra passed away in June. I don't want to have another baby (adoption of an older child down the line, maybe) and we love dogs. The timing is good, since I'm still at home with Anya and will have time to train and be with a puppy. And Laika is still young enough to accept and play with a young dog.

We looked on petfinder.com and Copper was the one that jumped out at both Chris and me. We ended up getting him from Georgia Peaches Rescue, who were great. They rescue young dogs from Clayton County, Georgia shelters -- apparently, people don't spay/neuter their dogs there and there are so many puppies. They have one of the highest dog euthanasia rates in the country. Mister Copper was scheduled to be put down (I think) August 10th and was one of the lucky 6 dogs to be rescued and flown to Seattle. And we were the lucky family to get him.

We love having him. He and Laika get along beautifully. They were playing within seconds of their initial meeting last Wednesday and have been playing nearly nonstop ever since. He's a smart boy and is learning his commands easily enough and house breaking is going very well (knock on wood). I'm pleasantly surprised, as he's had zero training the first 6 months of his life. He's very sweet as well and has lots of puppy energy. He have no idea what breed he is and there are many opinions. We initially thought Rhodesian Ridgeback mix. Georgia Peaches thinks hound mix. Our vet and technician are guessing Boxer and German Shepherd. So, basically, a mutt. The guess is also that he'll end up being 45-50 pounds as an adult - so much smaller than Laika, but he can hold his own with her just fine, thankyouverymuch.

 Copper with the other lucky shelter rescues, getting ready to board the plane from Atlanta to Seattle.Copper is 2nd from left. 

Copper's petfinder pics. How can you resist that cute face?

At his foster mom, Amanda's place before we adopted him. Poor boy needs some fattening up. We're working on it.

The morning after Laika and Copper met, playing with all the dog toys they could find. 

 Anya with Copper, testing out his kennel.

 At Copper's first vet appointment with Maple Leaf Veterinary this morning. 

North Carolina

We recently returned from this summer's trip to North Carolina. This year, we timed it with the big Rawls family reunion. As always, it was great seeing everyone. Some highlights:

• my mom and Bruce's beautiful, bountiful garden. Anya got to help pick corn and we had a delicious corn feast for lunch.
• Bonding and lots of play time for Anya and her cousin, Alivia
• Visiting with my high school best friend, Erin, and her family. We don't get to talk all that often, but I still think she's just as awesome as always.
• All the wonderful meals we prepared as a group at dad and Angie's house. One of my favorite things is group cooking/eating.
• Anya had a great time in the mountains, looking for newts, playing with the dogs, swinging on the rope swing, and generally running amok outside. She got to meet her 6 year old cousin (Angie's nephew's daughter), Emogen (I think that's spelled right), and those two were inseparable for 3-1/2 days.
• Anya also caught her first non-trout farm fish...a full sized blue gill at Fawn lake.
• Relaxing and hanging out with my family, whom I miss and wish I could see much more often. Thank you, Don, Koby, and Alivia as well as dad and Angie for putting us up.

Anya and Grandpa B shuck the freshly picked corn

 playing with tadpoles at John & Nancy's house during the big family reunion

 climbing the rhodendron tree at dad and Angie's with Emogen

 fishing with my dad at Fawn Lake. 

 Buster and one of his precious rocks. 

 the neighbors' rope swing. This got lots of use all-around. I want one. 

 Anya and Alivia posing for the camera

 Rawls family group pic. 

 Grangie and Anya's cousin, Daniel

newt!

Long Beach

After Brian, Tara, and the kids went back to Virginia, we met up with Lynn and Steve in Long Beach, WA for some R&R (thanks again for inviting us, Lynn and Steve).

We had a nice time. The visit coincided with the big sand castle building competition, which was interesting to watch and many of the structures were really impressive. Anya didn't particularly care, though. She was more interested in jumping in the big holes left from all the sand used in the competition and running around, playing by herself or with any willing kid.

We did some silly touristy things, like rent one of those surrey bikes . It was pretty ridiculous, all 5 of us pedaling (well, 4 of us pedaling, plus Anya in front) around on the big path and on the side streets. It's more work than we thought it would be and I'm surprised we never tipped over. It was fun, though, and I'd do it again.

We also took a horse-drawn carriage ride, which was relaxing. It was interesting looking the houses in town. There are some really beautiful, old homes there.

Anya seemed to have a blast. She got to go on the carousel in town, and suckered grownups into taking her swimming at the condo pool at least twice every day we were there. Honestly, if it was up to her, I think she'd just stay at the pool the whole vacation.

We watched the Summer Olympics (London) a fair amount (the opening ceremony was comedic, in a bad way) and got some relaxation time.

A lovely trip. I hear the condo is reserved next summer for the sand castle competition again. We are looking forward to it.

We didn't take many pictures on this visit, but here's one plus a video of Anya playing on the big holes at the beach.

writing

This was in Anya's folder at preschool yesterday. Usually, the older kids write their first names on whatever they work on. Apparently, Anya was in the mood to write her whole name. I found this interesting because we never specifically taught her how to spell her last name. I guess she saw it written down on mail enough times to know it, or perhaps she sounded it out on her own. Her teacher said she did it completely on her own, without help from anyone.

I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised. She's made a jump in her reading and writing over the last few months and is quite interested in both. She reads through the beginning BOB books somewhat quickly and now sometimes sounds out letters in her head and just reads the words aloud (as opposed to always sounding each letter out loud and figuring out the word at the end). And when in the mood, she's decent at taking longer words and breaking them down to read them. She gets her b's and d's confused often, as well as th and ch, but I think she's doing an awesome job and we're thrilled to help her at this age as long as she's really interested in pursuing it. I know I didn't start reading and writing until at least Kindergarten, so more power to her.