Charlie's new look!

OK, here's the before picture and below is the after picture. Is this the same dog?

We had Charlie shaved down yesterday @ PetSmart so that he could enjoy the river on our walks AND so that we didn't have to deal with a wet dog all day. I sure hope it grows back!! We'll keep you posted .....

MAY DAYS

I've posted a slide show of our May activities. We went to Florida for 10 days and enjoyed the change in scenery. Tropical instead of desert - as we usually go there in August, this was a big change for us. The water was only in the 70's - a bit chilly for one of us! And the normal balmy ocean breezes were cool. Amy's friend Margaret flew down for a few days to join us and that was a BIG success. They had a great time in the sand and water and also had a scuba lesson in the pool.

We got home in time for Amy's ballet recital where she was involved in 2 dances. She was a jellyfish!! and a folk dancer. It was in the 90's and probably hotter on stage but all the girls managed to look cool.

Later in the month, my niece, Nancy, brought 2 friends who were visiting her from Pittsburg for a few days to enjoy Central Oregon with us. We did a lot of hiking and they took a lot of pictures. Nancy is moving back to NY this week and we will miss having her "close by" in Portland.

Enjoy!

Check out my Slide Show!

DUCKS Football

Now this is what we call a real U of O Duck fan. We caught this picture on our way out of Autzen Stadium. This is a woman biker and everything on her and the bike was U of O related. Her license plate read - BKR DCK "biker duck"!!

Well, last Saturday, we drove to Eugene ( ~ 2 1/2 hrs) to watch the spring football scrimmage. It was Amy and my 1st time @ Autzen Stadium and it was really impressive. There were about 17,000 fans in a stadium that seats about 60,000 but the crowd was very enthusiastic. Pep Band, cheerleaders and even Dennis Dixon roaming the sidelines. The team was split into a green team and a white team. They all had a chance to show their stuff and there were some spectacular plays and some real goofs. Dan's take on the day - "It was awesome!" I think he has been waiting years and years for just this opportunity - now we have to see if we can get to a game or two this fall.

Check out my Slide Show!

We had a birthday party for Bella on Saturday @ a park nearby with our friends, the VanderArks. They have a golden retriever puppy, Lucky, and an 8 yr old pug, Mabel. Amy made doggie cupcakes and Aimee V. brought decorations. It was a beautiful sunny day and we all enjoyed ourselves - especially the pups!

Beautiful Day @ Bachelor

We spent lots of time putting together a "slide show" of Amy & Dan's day skiing/boarding, but could not get it transfered to the blog, so here are a few pics. This one shows off the 3 Sisters (North, Middle & South). Dan has visions of us hiking the South Sister this summer. Yikes! According to him it is just a "looong walk". We shall see! Dan is ready to shoosh off and Amy got the shot.

Amy gets ready to board with her friends Aimee & David. She has her last (of 8) lesson this coming Tuesday and has really made some great progress, according to Dan and her teacher.

OR Wildlife

Wild Bella got a bath a few days ago and we couldn't resist sharing her sudsy mug with you. She remains the wildest member of our household. Her play/fights with Charlie are a sight to behold. It would appear that Charles is about to do her in then she bounces back to attack again. FUN to watch.

Our 1st encounter with OR wildlife occurred shortly after Christmas - this was the scene out our front window one morning as I was preparing breakfast. 14 blacktail(?) deer just kind of sauntering along our sidewalk out for a morning stroll. I think our development took over their land and because we are so close to the river gorge they wander back occasionally.

After the most snowfall in 15 years, spring has come to the High Desert (at least for now). Yesterday the temp. reached 62 degrees and we were lovin' it! The picture is from a walk we took this past week (after school work was done) in the Central Oregon Badlands. It is about a 16 mile drive east of Bend and you just park your car and walk among the Juniper trees, lava rocks, brush and western scenery. So far we have not encountered any wildlife but have heard accounts of elk & coyotes.