Family Reunion

Well, home now and exhausted! It was a wonderful reunion. We really missed those who weren't there to share the time with us. Jay, Ryan, Samantha and Katrina were all missing and very missed! We love them all and hope that they will be able to join us next year. That is the wonderful thing about our reunion, they know when it will be next year and we hope they can plan ahead for it. Sometimes it doesn't work out though for what ever the reason and those who can't make it are missed and mentioned. I don't know how many times my family mentioned how much Jay would have loved the place he chose. Mt. Hood Village Resort was a good choice. Jay had decided on this with his number one priority moderation of temperature. He was right on. It was lovely. Quite cool in the mornings in the camp area where we were based, warmer out by the cabins and perfect for hikes and biking and other activites! We got to meet Jessica's husband and he seemed undaunted by the crazy Perry clan. We celebrated Michelle's birthday as usual, she turned 14 this year.
I came up with a new twist for next year. Barb, Annette, Cheryl, Julie and myself are going to "do a spa weekend" next year. The weekend before reunion we are going to a nearby spa and hang out, charging up our batteries for the reunion festivities! I noticed that it is hard for us to get down time with all of our children and families around....so voila! Evolution!
Grandpa and Barb won the BBQ cookoff this year. It was EXTREMELY close counts and fabulous food. (We got to have Jennifer's pulled pork for lunch yesterday...yummm!)
David and Cheryl were chosen to recieve the "good attitude" (sorry I don't remember the official name it was created to honor the attitude that Kristine Perry used to bring to camp) trophy...Congratulations to them!
It took us over 6 hours to get home yesterday. We had to make one stop in Portland that was about an hour. Traffic was incredible! It is good to be home. Today I get to clean the motorhome and get it ready for next weekend.

I am getting excited!

for our Perry Family Reunion! I was looking through pictures from Christmas when we were all together. I happened to be going through a series of David and Cheryl's family. I was thinking wow, do they have a big clan. Then I realized....we do too! I think they are the same size unless I don't have Sarah's kid count correct. (I hope it is still only 4). What a great family (the entire total). I know we will be missing some folks this year (we did last year too) and that is a bit sad. It is always more fun when we are all there. Of course, if we never have us all together, we can forever avoid the dreaded GROUP PHOTO! That didn't slow us down last year. I wonder where that is...I need to find it!

Meet the grand dogs.

Last weekend we got to spend some time with our grand dogs. Augie is on the end of the leash held by Kevin. Recee is the black dog in the x-pen with Hattie.

Augie is a rescue who lives with Kevin, Sherry and Laney in Lake Stevens. Laney is his pet lab mix. She was the first member of the family he got really excited about. The day he was adopted last summer. He participated in his first earth dog trials last weekend. He did okay for a very young dog. The first time in the tunnels, he really didn't go "in" the tunnel! Kevin was pretty discouraged I think. I suggested they leave him at "Camp Cairn" for the night so he could have more chances to practice. After some practice time that evening with "Granndpa Greg", he went into the tunnel on his next entry. Not very far, still not understanding exactly what it was he was supposed to be doing. But farther than the times before. He just needs time on the rats and he will get it. He has a very strong prey drive with toys at home, so it is just a matter of the game clicking in.

On the other hand we have Recee. She is a former show girl. A champion and holds a Junior Earthdog title. She lives with Jennifer, Alex, Kai and Maya. All humans which is what she likes. She loves to come to Nonni's and hang out with the cousins for a while, but does not want to be treated like a dog for a that long! She was at Camp Cairn last weekend too. She does understand the game, having earned a title already, but last weekend I think she wanted her family there playing with her. She hunted and had a wonderful time, but did not qualify.

Hopefully both of these guys will be able to come to the play days in August to have more fun with both canine buddies and the humans in their lives.

HOT, HOT, HOT!!!!

Holy cow! I am officially old now. 97 degrees and all I am thinking about is keeping the dogs cool and the house cool enough tonight so Greg and I have a chance of getting to sleep! I am now ready to concede the heat to the young. I even had my herding cancelled! That is really what I am so cranky about.70-75 degrees with the sun shining...that is prime weather!

Really, really ready!

Oliver gives voice to the excitement of the weekend for all of the cairns in attendance at the Puget Sound Earth Dog event at Whall's. I counted over 30 cairns in there with their human transporters. Everyone had a good time, cairns and humans learned a lot and we are all looking forward to next month back at the Whall's for the Cascade Cairn Terrier Club's Summer Fun Days. August 4 & 5. Lots of training and games for dogs and people.

Happy 4th!

Greg and I live in a great community! This morning we had our parade around the park. All the boys and girls decorated their bikes, wagons, skate boards, dogs and carried flags through our neighborhood. Real Americana! The rest of the day was as pictured. Water balloon toss, egg toss, 3 legged races, baseball, hamburgers, hotdogs, pop, water, beer, ice cream. What a place. What is not surprising is that a lot of the kids who grew up here are moving back into the neighborhood to raise their families! What a wonderful legacy.

Back to normal

As I set here writing, I can feel dark eyes boring into my skull. Kula has not done any agility work since last Monday....almost a week. She is letting me know that if I expect her to do her weave poles in competition, I had better get them set up in the yard! I once had a friend tell me that you have to practice weave poles every single day if you want your dog to run them with no faults. I think Kula was listening!

So, I know what I will be doing tomorrow. The poles are in pieces in the bag that I took them to Montana in. I need to remember what they look like, then put them back together. Maybe it would be easier to build the new set. Then I will have better luck sorting out the pieces that are in the bag!