Two Anniversaries

Well..tomorrow August 4th will be Jason and I's 3 year wedding anniversary. Three years ago we carted our immediate family (and Kristen and Gyeong) off to Napa Valley, California for an official elopement (with guests). I planned the wedding with one phone call and one trip to Orbitz..it was my kind of wedding. I always try to celebrate our anniversary with a little trip to somewhere local. This year we decided to do the Northern Neck Wine Trail. What better way for two oenophiles to celebrate marriage! It isn't too far from us and we stayed one night in Warsaw, VA. Jason, Jack and I started out at New Kent Winery which was AWESOME and remained our favorite through the end. It is going to be a favorite haunt I do believeThen to White Fences..which sucked but had a huge corkscrew to take a cheesy photo with..

Then to Athena winery..which had Lola the Yorkie..

Then to Vault Field (our 2nd favorite but nothing to photograph). We had a wonderful meal at Good Eats Cafe in Kinsale, VA. The next day we headed off to Belle Mount vineyard where our friend Gil parks his camper. So he knows the owners well and we were able to talk about him. ;-) YOu can see his camper barely through the trees.

Then to Ingleside..but along the way..we ran in to a loose cow. These wineries were a good 30 minutes apart..and it is very undeveloped in that area..so we saw a lot of corn and peanuts..and cows.

Ingleside..it gave Jason and opportunity to shine

Then we had lunch at Colonial Beach..a beach of small rocks instead of sand..but the pier was interesting. Didn't see anyone catch anythingFinally..to Oak Creek Winery and home. We bought a lot of wine..which we didnt' need...but now we need a bigger wine rack!And the title is "Two Anniversaries" So the 2nd is this is Cali's 1 year Gotcha Day. She was our anniversary present last year. Getting married changed my life entirely for the good. As did adopting Cali. She came along exactly when I needed her and was exactly what we were looking for. Cali signified a new beginning and the point at which I became respected and appreciated by those around me. I know..one dog did a lot. She did..and I have never been happier. So this weekend signifies so much change for me..And Cali is the coolest little tart we know. So we got a cake for Cali's gotcha day as well as Dante and Shiloh's birthdays (at some point this month). It says Cali..but dogs can't read. ;-)

OOOHH..PULEEZ LADY..can we have it now????Now..the sequence that follows should remind you of the Discovery Channel films showing a snake consuming their meals whole. Now..needless to say..Cali is NOT a Boa..so this meal came back up seconds after the last shot to be CHEWED and eaten properly.

Dana on the other hand..ate her cake like a real lady..on the floor. And Dante and Shiloh enjoyed theirs tooWe have Baxter (below), Smokey and Lulu for the weekend..

I know that Ihatetoast tagged me for the "6 things you don't know about me" post. I will get to that soon..I am pondering. If there are any burning questions out there..please feel free to comment.

Happy Gotcha Day Jason and Cali! ;-)

A weekend on the farm

We decided to pack up and head to the hills..literally this weekend. My parents live in the sticks (I am a redneck by blood) and sometimes we treat their house as a vacation home. So we brought Kristen and Gyeong.
Now my parents live on 30 sprawling acres completely fenced in..for horses. AND my dad isn't exactly keen on the whole..indoor big dog thing..much less indoor 8 dog thing. So we decided to leave all the kids at home..except Shiloh. She can be off lead with no worries and loves being a farm dog.
Dana showed her disdain at being left behind by falling off the bed.
So Kristen, Gyeong, Jason, Shiloh and I pile in to the Saturn and head deep in to Southwest Virginia. We are greeted by peace and tranquility
Gyeong has lots of pool shots that will make it to his blog within..maybe the next month. So keep checking his for that action!
On Saturday, we went to...guess...a WINE FESTIVAL! I know...shocker! It was at Tomahawk Mills Winery which is about 20 minutes from my parents house. And shocker..there were a lot of hillbillies there! The banjo players were singing a song about the "10lbs of possum" they had waiting at home for dinner. I kid you not!!!
And in true fashion..a tractor took us up the hill to the wine festival
It kicked up quite a bit of dust..But we came, we drank, we shoppedMy parents enjoyed the festival as well. My mom doesn't like wine so she wore the wine sling to fit in..We had two lazy days of swimming, eating, playing Wii (my mom is a hip g'ma!) and drinking wine.
And we entertained ourselves by calling the horses to dinner once they had gone all the way out to the edge of the far field. Mac, the retired racing thoroughbred and Rocky and Sugar the rescued miniature horses from Roanoke Valley Horse RescueCreek Schmeekand laughing at my mom's 'farm dog' Truflz when he would get whatever stuck in his beardAnd yes, I saw my nephew, Boone. He is much cuter now and slightly more fun. He still drooled (that ended the Aunt Trina lap time) but he was more interactive this time. And he is the pillsbury doughboy now..

I have a new foster dog now too. M's Sweet Baxter ..aka Baxter. I haven't had a chance to take any photos of him. He is really sweet and loving. You can see him on the GPA blog (along with the other 6 hounds that arrived on Saturday..I had the miss this haul :-( )

I will take more photos of him soon.

2 Lulus, a boo-boo, a jolly rancher..and wine.

Last weekend, we had Ana and Blue
And Lulu..we all know her 'fear' of photographs. I have heard there are cultures that think taking photos removes your soul..there might be truth in that..
Poor Lulu..I did finally get her..she was trapped!
but we went to the South African Food and Wine festival at Grayhaven winery last weekend. I have photos..but they are on my phone and not too exciting. Great food, great wine and great company (Kristen and gyeong!)
I couldn't resist this one..Dana has a habit of sleeping on her nose. We were getting ready to head to the festival so we had them muzzled..Dana was resting comfortably on it!
Dante had his teeth cleaned last week. And he had a little growth on his nose that he was itching and bothering..so we had it removed too. Dante's boo-boo (and boy is he MILKING this one!)

This weekend we had another Lulu..who likes to be photographed.
Gabby who just hung out a night or two before going to her new forever home (isn't she striking!)
And Sam..aka..The jolly Rancher. We decided he was the thickest greyhound we have ever met. But he is sooo sweet. So we named him the Jolly Rancher..sweet as sugar but thick as a brick.
So we inform the dogs that we are ..yet again..heading off to a wine festival. And because it is 100+ degrees right now, dogs aren't allowed. They aren't happy
But we head off to Lake Anna Winery for their annual Wine and Whiskers event to benefit the Fredericksburg SPCA. It was a great dinner event with a lot of activities. It was hot as hell though!
These next photos are just too funny....

Stay tuned for photos from the upcoming weekend. YES..another wine festival but this one occurs at my parents house. And our trusty wine festival companions will be accompanying us there. So photos of farm life and lounging by the pool to come!

Happy Independence Day

We had a 4th of July party this weekend. Jason cooked out and we invited some close friends over. And as always it turned in to a big ol' greyhound party!
Nerice has been taking a cake making/decorating class. She is just like Chef Duff on Ace of Cakes!!

Some greyhounds playing


And we got a baby pool which was enjoyed by all. Dana for some reason always has a lot of fun in the pool..she splashes and bites the water..it is hystericalAna has to endure a little festive outfit for the occasionAida gets some loving from Ally and DiegoKristen and I can't resist a photo-op...And partying is hard...some people/greyhounds just can't hang...You can check out more photos at Matt's flickr page or on Gyeong's blog...fun was had by all and the greyhounds are EXHAUSTED!!