SHE'S COME A LONG WAY, BABY!

Cora and Bernadette, who she loved at first site on this particular visit to Aunt Sandy's house. She's come a long way from that little girl who ran away screaming bloody murder at the sight of even the sweetest and calmest dog, climbing our legs in a panic to be lifted high above the poor offending canine. We're quite proud that she's hit this milestone, since even as recently as last month we were still dealing with 15 minutes of panic and avoidance before she relaxed around pooches other than Buster, even if she already knows them. Hopefully this milestone sticks!

 

We were at Sandy's last night for a beer pairing dinner (smoked beers and smoked meats - yeehaw!) where we tasted 1 oz servings of perhaps a dozen brews (maybe 1.5 dozen?) and paired them with smoked Swai, black lager marinated brisket, kolaches filled with smoked brisket and cheese, and two varieties of chicken wings (spicy and savory). Don't worry, we ate our veggies too (salad and smoked cabbage). And dessert (nothing fancy here... just the bags of Milano cookies we'd purchased as a camping splurge, then didn't eat because we didn't go camping...) The kids enjoyed a couple of movies in Sandy's living room. And some unauthorized jumping among couches. And fort building. And harassing of said sweet and calm dog... Many thanks to Nate for putting it all together, the Beanes for their ever delicious contributions, and Sandy and Barrett for hosting.

 

In other news, we spent today doing all the things we didn't do yesterday while I was out racing, then napping, then indulging at the beer dinner. House cleaning is not so exciting, but you know, has to be done at least once in a while... We managed to sneak out to the pool in the afternoon though, but having failed to check the radar prior to the 20 minute drive out there, were sorely disappointed to have to run for cover after a mere 15 minutes of swimming and sliding (Cora = super slider out the gate, with no fear to climb the tower solo and then swim out to us once she hit the water; James = super scared of the slides, he went up, then came down, but sat at the edge of the slide crying and terrified to drop down into the water... since we are not allowed to assist sliders and the lifeguards had to make an exception for us to rescue him, I doubt he'll be given a second chance at the slides anytime soon...) And that starts our summer pool sessions at the outdoor Y pool (without a single photo to document - maybe I'll grab video of Cora on the slide next time we go, providing a giant thuunderstorm isn't rolling in!)