Puppy day at volleyball

On Monday nights I play sand volleyball during the summer.  Since I am dogsitting this week, I took Brady with me.When we arrived at the park, the first obstacle was to get Brady across the grated bridge.  He didn't like the fact that you could see the water through the bridge floor.

We got to the court and Sadie was already there.

 Then later Toby joined us.  Brady is about a year old.  Toby is a little younger and Sadie is the oldest.  They started by getting acquainted and then went to their separate corners.  Sadie and Toby both made a visit to the creek.  Fortunately I had staked Brady far enough away that he couldn't get in the creek.

 This is John untangling the dogs.

 Brady and Toby

 John getting ready for volleyball using electrical tape instead of athletic tape.  Seemed to work out OK.

The dogs watched the game sometimes and sometimes played with each other.  Sometimes they barked, but mostly they were very good dogs.

About 3/4 of the way through the evening, Brady was barking and straining at the harness.  Right after a particularly good volley, suddenly there was Brady on the court with us.  He had broken the metal hook holding him to the stake.

I was able to step on the green lead and grab him.  We were able to rig the lead to get Brady back on the stake.  As I was working on that and John was helping me, Toby came over to get in on the action.  I was in the process of untangling Brady and Toby when without warning I was standing there holding a leash with a dog collar attached and Toby was off and running.  I yelled to John that his collar was off and we spent the next 10 minutes or so trying to catch Toby.  We tried circling all the volleyball players around him, but he kept getting through.  John called him, but he didn't listen.  We tried tempting him with a towel to tug on.  I got out a dog treat.  We picked up a big stick for him.  It was crazy.

Finally Toby slowed down and John was able to get hold of him.  He got his collar back on and tightened it.  Then we were able to finish our game.  Puppy night at volleyball was quite entertaining!

Zoo Videos

At the zoo with Joey and Corbin

Joey is the 2 1/2 year son of my niece Melissa. Our day began early with me picking Joey up at Grandma Cindy's. Grandma Cindy had him all packed and was putting on sunscreen when I arrived. Given my last attempt at putting sunscreen on Joey, I'm glad she took this on :-)

As we were driving to the zoo, I quickly learned that I was outclassed. While passing a construction area, I was about to say "Joey, look at the digging machine," when he said "Look, an excavator and a backhoe." I learned a lot about trucks during that drive.

We got to the zoo and met up with Corbin, his mom (Jean) and dad (Lee). Cousin Laura met us too. Corbin brought his red wagon to share with Joey.



Jean and Lee double teaming Corbin for his sunscreen application.

Lots of naps at the zoo today!

Joey climbing.

Snack break.  Fortunately Grandma Cindy had packed a good Joey snack.

This ostrich kept being attacked by black birds.  Not sure why!

The baby elephant stuck close to mama.

This guy was jogging back and forth, must be his morning routine.

Joey liked the fish and the giraffes.

They had special viewing glass down low for the little guys.

Evidently someone stopped for a sunscreen application ;-)

Lee got his daily workout.

Joey in the polar bear trap.

Hi llama!

Lunch at the Kids Kingdom.  The only disappointment at the zoo was the menu at the Kids Kingdom.  No kid-friendly choices, especially with respect to portion sizes.  The only healthy option was a huge cup of grapes (like a large size soda).  The two lunch choices were pizza and hot dogs (which received bad reviews from the cousins).  Thank goodness Grandma Cindy packed a good lunch for Joey.

Thanks for the cheese Grandma Cindy!

Joey and Corbin loved this climbing area, but Joey does not like tunnels.  He would not go down the tunnel slide.  He walked down the steps every time.  He didn't like it when we went through the Fort Pitt tunnels and he asked me to go around the tunnel on the way home.

Corbin loved the tunnel slide.  One time he sent his hat down first and then followed it.  Wish I'd had my camera ready!

See the sleeping kangaroos?

The boys loved these little cars.  The Kids Kingdom had lots of great things like this for kids.

Buddies at the zoo.

Time to say goodbye.

Sleeping tigers.  We decided to let them lie.

Couldn't resist a train ride on the way out.

Exactly why are you taking my picture Aunt Caffee?

Couldn't resist the gift shop either :-)

5 minutes from the zoo :-)