Greyhound invasion..

I am not really sure how it has happened..the stars have aligned, the moon is in the seventh house, jupiter aligns with mars..this is the dawning of the age of the greyhound! (couldn't resist..sorry)...but we have a ton of greyhounds! ;-)
In the last 5 days we have had quite a few hounds travel through our threshold..
Smokey..he is such a cute cute boy..
Bella enjoys the sun (and the tall grass..I forgot to mention that while I was in Canada, Jason sliced his hand open and had to get 9 stitches..so as a consequence we are surrounded by a hayfield)Yes, ladies and gentlemen..Hemi DOES sleep!Jello (race name Jello Shot Dot) came for a few days. She is just too cute!And newly adopted Pete came for a few days as well. He smiles a lot..not sure why this is the only photo I got of him....but oh wellOh..and Lulu was here too..but we all know she becomes a blur when a camera comes out..so imagine!
On Saturday we chose 3 hounds (Cali, Dana and Jello) and met Kristen and Gyeong at James River Cellars for their Summer Festival. We spent the majority of the time talking to people interested in greyhounds! We barely had time to drink! So we put in our time and heading home to drink some wine and play some Wii!! Gyeong goes in to serious concentration mode when playing tennisCali was denied access to the couch all weekend due to Smokey and Jello..so she had to make 'do' with the recliner..not exactly sure why this was comfy

We got a haul of 6 hounds in this morning..always fun to help with those. You can see pictures of that at GPA's Blog.

The turnstile remains installed for a while..school is out which means serious vacation time for greyhound adopters..

OOHH CAAN-A-DAAAA

Well..I am back from trip number two this year. I love being a little jet-setter. It was a great girls trip! So relive it with me ..will you??
So..we fly from Richmond to Buffalo..discovering that JFK airport in NYC is a horrid airport..I expected much more. BUT on the plus side..I highly recommend flying JetBlue..LOTS of legroom and your own TV with DirectTV at your seat. I was impressed. Commercials complete.
Welcome to Canada! We got a stamp..we had to ask for it and got the 3rd degree as to why we wanted a Canadian stamp..but we got one. ;-) We arrive after driving the 2 hours to Toronto and are greeted by Carolyn's wonderful 'dog-like' cat, Sway. He kept us entertained while we were there. The 3 girls go to dinner on night one! The next day we hit the city!!! We go to the CN tower and go all the way to the top!!! It was a long wait. Carolyn couldn't get too close to the edge but I was hanging off the railing to get photos! It was gorgeous!!! In the shadow picture..we were in the smaller 'bubble' above the large bubble on the tower..it was really high!! There was also a Blue Jays/ Chicago Cubs baseball game going on right beside the tower. Can you find the airplane? (I know..it is landing so it is not high up..but check out the SIZE of the plane in the photo..gives you a perspective of height) The CN tower also has a glass floor area in the 'larger' bubble..I had no problems walking all over it. It was a cool feeling. Susan did venture out for about 2 seconds..and they humored me while I trotted around on it for a while taking photos and being very proud of my brave..ness?

Then we went to Steam Whistle Brewery..and ended up getting some asses kicked out. Reminded me why I love wine drinkers..we get drunk with a lot more style! ;-) We also hit Dundas Square, China Town and Kensington place (and even visited a head shop with a 'smoking deck'!) The city is SOO clean and progressive. I wish it didnt' snow so much in the winter. Recycling and composting were required by law..restaurants, street corners, all had recycling containers. It was great.
But I digress. We also ate a LOT of cheese while there..such wonderful cheese everywhere!! The next day we went to Casa Loma.. a HUGE 1000 room castle built by some guy in the 1800s who pretty much had his hand in every business and mae a lot of money. But he contributed to lots of charities and got royaly screwed by the government..so he ended up loosing everything and dying poor. Can you tell I watched the movie but didn't pay enough attention for all the details..;-)

Susan, Carolyn and I in front of the castle. Did I forget to mention Carolyn is 8 months pregnant? ;-)

The gardens were beautiful and I couldn't resist a little 'abstract' photography.We could also trek up narrow, metal spiral staircases straight up..to get to the top of one of the towers. Of course, we couldn't resist. It was pretty neat up there! The view was insane. Then we hit some more cheese shops! And took a walk along Lake Ontario..it reminded me of an ocean!And last but certainly not least..our trip ended by driving back down to Niagara (Carolyn skipped this part and stayed home..for ..um..obvious reasons). We toured Niagara Falls, hit 4 wineries in the Niagara-On-The-Lake wine region then crossed the border and hit Seneca Falls Casino. Niagara Falls was amazing..and quite worth the trip.We flew back yesterday..I am glad to be home with my kids. I brought by gourmet doggies treats, cheese and lots of magnets and shot glasses!

You can view all my photos (well..not all of them but a lot more!) at this shutterfly link. I have today to recooperate and then we get 9 boarders for the weekend, a dog haul next week and a wine festival on Saturday. No rest for the weary, eh?

Weeeeeee!!!

"Weeeee": this a sound of ecstatic jubilation as well as the pronunciation of Gyeong's middle name. But most importantly..it is the coolest game system ever invented!!! We all know that Jason is a gamer..but I enjoy some games. I finally broke down and asked for a Nintendo Wii..and that is ALL WE HAVE DONE since purchasing it!! Who knew playing tennis, golf, baseball and bowling in your own living room could be so much fun!!But before we got ensnared in Wii land..AND before it became 100+ degrees F outside..we took the kids out for some fun last weekend. The Richmond Animal League sponsored Woofstock and we had a booth/table at the event..which was a lot of fun. it was only 90F that weekend..which at the time seemed stupid hot.
Cali shows off her mad agility skills...it took a cookie to get her that far! And it was so hot, the dogs were laying in a pool filled with ice..they loved it!

The standard shot..
Then..we went to the Beer, Bourbon and BBQ festival...Gyeong even came down since Kristen was at Mountain Hounds with Jaime. (pics taken with cell phone..eek!) Gyeong gets 'serviced' by twins..he had some pretty big bourbon muscles this day which made us all laugh hysterically at his 'ideas' and 'plans'. I am not a bourbon drinker..so I was the driver for the day. Everyone else..had WAY too much fun!!
The weather here has been crazy..100 degrees and high humidity..crazy thunderstorms. We had a dog haul yesterday and the hauler had to actually pack ice in the crates to keep the hounds from overheating. Of course..I got a flat tire..so changing a tire in that heat was FUN! But sometimes mother nature gives us a spectacle.And I will leave with a shot of my nephew, Boone. He is wearing a present from his favorite aunt and uncle. I am off to Toronto, Canada with some girlfriends next weekend..so stay tuned for our adventures. And yes..I am worried about leaving Cali alone with Jason..the locks might be changed and all my clothes will be in the front yard if she has anything to do with it! ;-)