Blackhawk Up

I worked one day of our vacation this week, so that I could take advantage of an opportunity to ride on a Blackhawk helicopter. There is a great JROTC program at the high school I work at and every year they take the JROTC students up in the helicopter. Faculty members have begged, cajoled, and bribed, but never been approved to go. This year, the army said yes! I didn't pause before replying to the e-mail to get on the list to go.Here we are boarding. I wasn't concerned during the safety briefing until there was mention of the blades' ability to slice you in two.Not my best picture, but it's the only one of me in the helicopter. We were safe as the school's police officer happened to be on my flight. ;)It was pretty cool to see the school from above, but after we passed it, I wasn't sure of where we were. Not so good with directions! I think we went north of the school and circled back around.The landing was a little dusty! The ride was great - loud, but great. I'm so glad I got to go!

Buffalo Point, Arkansas

David and I are on vacation this week, so we took advantage of the beautiful day and went to check out the Buffalo Point area in Arkansas for future camping. Riley got to take his first ride on the ferry to cross the lake. I'm not sure he was impressed, but we thought it was fun!
Mr. Photogenic posed momentarily by the Buffalo River for this shot.
David had a little fun splashing across a low-water crossing.
We checked out the ghost mining community of Rush, AR. It's kind of spooky! We were afraid that when we looked at the pictures, we'd see a ghosty face peering out the windows, but fortunately I don't see anything. Wouldn't that be creepy!
We posed for some Christmas card pictures on the steps of this rock wall while keeping our fingers crossed that the animal that we could hear in the brush behind us stayed where it was. It was a great day!

Riley

Riley has been very busy! Visiting, sleeping, making friends with Outside Kitty, and mostly - growing! He weighted 15 and a half pounds at his last vet visit.
He loves to play with toys, but is especially fond of sticks. Once in a while, we win and he is worn out.
Yesterday was the first potty-accident free day, so there is hope!

Riley Update

See basket full of dog toys.

See doggy play with stick he brought in from outside.

What's that? You want to take my picture? No need to use the zoom. I'll come closer!

While Riley and I were playing outside, I heard meowing. Looked up to see this kitty watching us - from inside the fenced yard. She walked right up and laid down about 3 feet from us. Wherever she came from, she must be used to dogs because she wasn't the least bit concerned about Riley. Haven't seen her since - good thing since another pet is the last thing we need!

400th Post!!!!!!!!!!

If pictures of our pets isn't really your thing, you may want to skip reading the blog for a few days (weeks? months?). It's the easiest way for David to see pictures from the road. And really...how could I resist taking pictures of this?

Think someone has a new best friend?

Yesterday Riley met Emma. He was worn out from helping me with cleaning out flower pots, so he didn't play a lot, but he was pretty interested in her. Christina came and played this afternoon and now a tired puppy is sleeping at my feet. If you're worried about the kitties, they're adjusting well. Gracie is in her favorite place (my lap) as I type, and Hen is sleeping in her cuddly new kitty bed.

Punkin Head

Our New Addition

Since the end of July, we've been able to sleep through the night without having to let a dog out. We haven't had to buy dog food. Our backyard is poo-free. But something has been missing. Something that only a dog can provide. So....here's Riley!His Grammy suggested his name. We tried all different names, but that just seemed to fit him best. He is hard to get a picture of! Always on the move.

On the move, until he isn't. He fell asleep on David during a belly rub. Isn't he something!? It's been a while since we've had a puppy. He is so funny to watch.
Amazingly enough, the cats seem to be adjusting fairly well and fairly quickly. Maybe they'll all be friends! Nah...