The Festive Fourth

WARNING! This will be a long and personal post. I will not feel offended if you are not interested in listening to how my weekend went.
However, I do have a lot of pictures so feel free to look at those and read the captions. 

We had a super busy fourth of July weekend. We had family visiting (on my side of the family) from Colorado and Indiana. My mom also got home from a long vacation to Cambodia so it was a full house around here. It was also the first fourth of July we spent with the pups. My grandparents also have a smaller dog named Bucky, and my parents have a large black lab named Dixie.

Recap of the last few days

Friday: We took BO and Daisy to my grandparents house to introduce them to my Aunt and Uncle, and to see how they did with my grandparents dog. They enjoyed the backyard and getting attention; however, Bucky wasn't a fan of having new friends over at his house.

Car ride - Things that make the car ride easier 1) Dog seatbelts: they latch into the normal seatbelt, are about 1-2 feet long and clip right to the dogs collar or harness 2) Car seat hammock: it prevents the dogs from climbing onto the floor in the back seat or from climbing into the front seat.

Daisy relaxing and enjoying cuddles on the patio of grandmother's house.

BO had a constant need to be inside, but Bucky didn't want him in there. So he stood at the door like this for a majority of our visit. 

He was pretty pooped on the way home, it takes a lot of convincing to get him to lay down in the backseat, he would rather sleep standing up with his head hanging over the hammock. 

She has no problem falling asleep in the car. 

Eventually they both took a nap, grandma's house was exhausting. 

Saturday: We left the pups in their outside kennel while we took the motorcycle to McClusky, ND. All of my family was down there for my cousins high school graduation open house. It was an hour and a half trip each way, way to long to be on a motorcycle for me! My brother also rode his bike down and we have headsets in our helmets that allow us to talk to each other (or complain about slow cars and weather), so that made it better. Once we reached our destination we got to say hi to my family from Colorado who met us there (my aunt, uncle, and two cousins). Then we got our sore butts back on the bike and headed home. 

Sunday: This evening we had a bonfire out at my parents house. I made the executive decision to bring the dogs with. We have done this before so I didn't think this time would be a problem. Hint: it was a problem. Dixie was more aggressive this time then she was the last time we had them out there. Our dogs have their own kennel at my parents that we put them in, but it still didn't work. Once family started arriving for the bonfire we took their cages inside and let them rest with some chewy rawhides. This was probably better for them since they couldn't hear the fireworks. 

To begin this journey we put both cages in the back of my SUV. The dogs love their cage, if we say 'Go to bed', they run to their cage and get in. We had never tried them in the car, but I was trying to avoid getting a lot of dog hair in my car. Any we get about a block away from our house and the dogs start barking like crazy! We stopped and put a towel over their cages so they couldn't see each other. Started driving. Dogs start barking. We pull over again and just decide to hold the dogs. Now you know why Daisy is sitting in the driver's seat in the above picture. I guess cages in the car = a bad idea. 

The dogs were great if we were inside. Daisy was amused with my parents cat.

The bonfire has begun!

Still to big for hot dog and marshmallow roasting. 

Our pre fourth of July party :)

Monday: Today was much more laid back. Jeff and I spent the morning at home, doing some light cleaning and relaxing. My best friend was in town and she got to come to base and we went swimming and had a lunch date at Popeyes. After that we got ready and headed to my grandparents to hang out with family again. This evening my brother, his girlfriend, Jeff, and I all attended the MSU Summer Theater; they were performing 'The Wizard of Oz'. It was a wonderful show!

                                            

Tuesday: Finally the Fourth! We started the day off at my grandparents again. My brother did some small fireworks with my nephew, then we grilled brats and had a simple picnic. My contribution was American Flag cupcakes (my nephew helped frost some). Jeffrey also discovered some brick pavers in the back yard of my grandparents house. We had been looking into buying some to create a fire pit,  and here they were about 50 of them just sittin' there waiting for us. I asked grandma and she told us we could have them, so we loaded 30 in the trunk of my car before heading home. I will have a later post on the fire pit. The evening of the fourth we had another bonfire at my parents house. This one was very relaxing: no dogs. 

These were fun and simple to make. Just add a few drops of food coloring to your frosting and with a little special placement you have a flag.

Fourth of July outfits! My mother-in-law bought Daisy her dress while she was visiting back in May. I found BO's shirt at Gordmans around Memorial Day. 

I generally try to find shirts with bows and outfits with flowers for the pups, but I also like to be festive. 

Family pictures are hard. Especially when BO falls asleep and Daisy licks the phone. 

This is the best we can do.

Lessons Learned:
#1 - When taking our dogs to visit someone else house, who also has dogs, make sure that your friends dog doesn't have dog food still in his bowl. BO will eat it and make the other dog very angry.
#2 - Dogs don't like the feel or sound of rumble strips in the car.
#3 - Wear stretchy and warm pants on a long motorcycle ride.
#4 - Try to stay awake on said motorcycle ride, dozing off and waking up with the world moving around you at 70 MPH is not the most pleasant.
#5 - Listen to your husband when he says bringing the dogs is a bad idea.
#6 - Our dogs do not like being caged while in the car. If you are expecting your puppy to take a lot of car rides I suggest starting this at a young age.
#7 - After dropping a hot dog in the fire and rinsing it off, it tastes just as good.
#8 - Taking a selfie with with two people and two dogs isn't easy. Try using a self timer, we definitely should have done that.