Clara's Blog

Lots of fun stuff going on lately. We had a sad goodbye to Beckham and his family - they're off to Germany! It wasn't so sad, actually, it was lots of fun. I got to play with some rowdy boys which is pretty rare for me. But fun! I hugged them and encouraged them even while they were being loud and rough. I'm funny that way I guess.

I also talked with the Slingsbys - Rich, Cyn and Stella. I'm not sure if I've ever met Stella. She's really cute. I think I'll share some of my clothes with her (she's only one). Of course, Mommy didn't think to tell me before that party that Cyn is a firefighter! A REAL firefighter! Cyn is super nice and invited me to come by the station. We did that a few days later and it was really great. I even got some homemade zucchini bread. I guess I haven't told you but I'm going through a little bit of a firefighter fascination stage. Every time I hear sirens I say, "There goes Cyn! Cyn's on a call!"

The other big thing that has been going on is....SWIM LESSONS! I have been going every weekday for about three weeks (one to go). Mommy decided that the pools are mostly open when I'm napping so swim lessons would be the best way for me to get a lot of practice in the water. There were a couple of days that I was overtired or something and didn't feel like cooperating but, mostly, they're really great. I even went underwater all on my own the other day! My teacher was very impressed. We kick and blow bubbles and sing songs. Good stuff!

Daddy, Scout and I did another hike. Mommy stayed home with New Dog. Reika is on strict rest: maybe she doesn't have a torn ligament after all, so rest might fix her up. It's sad. I think Mommy and Reika would have liked this hike. Oh, by the way, Reika is over her kennel cough, but I sill have it.

I hiked by myself for a little bit, but it was steep and slippy and just got worse! Mostly, I rode in the backpack, and Daddy said that I got a silver star! I wasn't fussy at all, not even after a long, bumpy car ride, and a long hike in the sun.

There were like a million butterflies and two million wildflowers and four snow-capped volcanoes. What species of flies are butterflies? I really wanted a butterfly to land on my hand, and I clutched a wildflower for forever to entice them, but no luck.

Daddy and I went up Ed's Trail. It's very scenic, but we had to scramble up some loose, steep stuff above big drop-offs, and that was scary. Especially with Scout doing his best Rockhopper Penguin. I didn't freak out, and I held on tight to the backpack handles, but later I told Daddy that I was scared.

We met lots of people on the trail. Another Daddy shared cherries with me, and a nice lady shared her trail mix. Later, she found my hat on the trail! Thanks, nice lady!

When we got home, I even pooped in the potty instead of my pants and fell asleep before 9:00 pm, so it was an all-round miraculous day.

Do you sometimes say, "No!" just because you feel like it? Do you then say, "No!" to any alternatives? Yes! Me, too. Know what? If you do it all the time, Mommy and Daddy get really agitated. Ha ha.

I had plenty of practice on our Fourth of July vacation. I might call it our Car Driving Vacation because we were in the car forever. (We went to East Lake Resort on the Newberry Caldera.) We fled the fireworks. Scout and I bark at fireworks.

So, I was pretty good in the car on the way there. We stayed in a cabin right on the lake, and I wanted to swim all the time. Lakes are also good for rock throwing.

I tried fishing, but you have to sit and wait for at least two or three minutes, and I don't have the patience for that.

I also did not want to sleep, ever. And I wasn't going to hang out alone in my bedroom, that's for sure.

Oh, do you know how to learn the rules? The secret: be naughty. When you're naughty: a) you learn the rules; b) you get attention. Scout is a good teacher.

I am doing more and more hiking on my own. Until I get tired. I am a good hiker.

The New Dog is funny. In every picture Mommy takes, Reika looks crazy.

So, actually, she has some problems. She got kennel cough from the shelter, and it got worse on vacation. (Pop caught it, too.) She coughed so hard that she vomited, and it was so bad that no one could sleep. Mommy drove her to Bend for medicine. Eighty mile round-trip. and the Bend vet thinks that Reika has a torn cranial cruciate ligament.

I think that the excitement, attention focused on Reika, and lack of sleep caught up with me at the end. I was, maybe, a bit evil. I cried when we left: I live here! Don't take me away from my home!

It was a long car ride home.

Though we did stop in Sisters, and Daddy shared his scone with me.

Hey, I've got news for you! Lots happening since I was practicing being brave.

First off, we hiked Dog Mountain. Can you guess why Scout and I like it? I was very patient, waiting to hike around at the top, but it was too windy and too cold! I did not like that and I did not like not hiking. Finally, after a post-summit napping session, I got to hike some of the trail back down. I am a very good hiker. I had Daddy lift me over the rocky parts.

Next, we went backpacking for the very first time. We drove in our new Subaru Outback to Herman Creek—we sold our Honda Accord. I like to use full car names. I also like to call the Honda Accord, "the stinky car." I was told that we got the Subaru Outback (also known as "the blue car") because two dogs would not fit in our Honda Accord ….

Anyways, back to backpacking. We went up the Herman Creek Trail to Casey Camp near Casey Creek. Mommy carried me (I wanted to hike myself), Daddy carried all of our stuff (he looked pretty funny!), and Scout even carried his kibble.

I said I had a great time, but maybe I did complain a little about, er, everything. Nothing was OK—I always wanted the other thing. I was so fussy and tired that I went into the tent at 6PM, and then I was wide awake at 8PM. After my rest, I was done sleeping, but staying up all night seemed to make everyone else crabby. Sheesh. Go with the flow, people.

I took like three naps the day we got back. Oh, we heard owls at night. I liked that. And water filtration is interesting.

Summer time is Mt Tabor time. Daddy did the bike race and I played on the playground. I also cheered. Aren't cheerleaders cool?

I've been running with Mommy. I like to run, though sometimes I get tired. I think my record is like a mile or so, which is a lot, don't you think? Afterwards, I am a very professional stretcher. Can you believe that Mommy doesn't let me run with Scout by myself? No, me either.

And the we went to Glenn's house. It's too bad we don't have more pictures, because he has a "spread" up on the hill above Washougal. Mommy and Daddy like the view of the Columbia River Gorge, and Glenn's orchard, and his new house. But did you know he has a kiddy pool? and that his kids have toys? We had watermelon after lunch. So cool.

You would think that Glenn's house would be enough excitement, but later that day we adopted a German Wirehaired Pointer.

Yes! You read that right: we have a new dog. Her name is Reika (RAY-ka), she is one-year old, and we got her from a shelter. She is full of beans, but eager to please. I think she is very interesting, and I give her commands to train her. Hopefully, her leg boo-boo will heal soon so that we can all go running.

Don't worry, we still have Scout (a.k.a Pooper, Scooter, Scouter McGouter). He is pretty funny. He is now the model obedience dog while Raika is around. He comes when he's called, doesn't steal food, and doesn't even freak out too much. We'll see how long that lasts!

Labels: backpacking, Dog Mountain, Glenn, Hiking, Reika, Scout

So, sometimes I am really brave for other people and not so brave for Mommy. Sometimes I am brave for Daddy - sometimes I'm not. But, with Mommy, most of the time I act scared.

This mostly applies to the playground. With other people, I go up and down the slide all by myself. I did this a lot with Grandma and Grandpa in Cazenovia. Anyway, Mommy and I went to the playground today and I went up and down the slides like I was never afraid. I went down by myself, I went down head first (penguin-style), and I went down lying down on my back. Mommy's not sure what to make of it but she's not complaining.

Mommy note here: Clara goes down head first at a VERY modest speed. Don't worry!

Labels: brave, playground, slides

The day after my birthday, I went hiking with Mommy, Daddy and Scout up on Route 35 near Mt Hood on a hike to Tamanawas Falls. It was a lot of fun. Daddy carried me a lot of the way but I also did some hiking on my own. I kept saying "This is a good hike." That made Mommy and Daddy laugh, I don't know why. Scout liked the hike too.

I also went hiking with Connie up in Forest Park. It was pretty muddy! I didn't want to walk in the mud but I walked on the edges and Mommy gave me a ride for some of the time too. Scout and I were really excited to hang out with Connie. We even had fun when we were just playing in the grass field near the parking lot.

Labels: Connie, Forest Park, Hiking, Tamanawas Falls

I had a really great birthday. Some of my friends came over with their parents and we had pizza and mini-cupcakes and everyone played with my toys. Thanks, everyone, for making it a fun day!

Grandma in Central Park around 1945. Me in Central Park in 2008.

We didn't know where the eagles were but we stumbled on them so we snapped a quick photo!

Labels: Central Park, eagle, Grandma

When we were away, we also took a small side trip to New York City and we went to see the statue of Balto! It was a surprise and I was really excited. I have been asking a lot when I would get to visit Balto. If you don't know about Balto, you should - he's a famous sled dog. I love to read about him and Togo.

It was also fun to take the train, visit the Central Park Zoo (that's the one in one of my favorite Paul Simon songs), visit with Uncle Matt, play on the playground there and to dance with a jazz band playing in the park. The band leader even asked everyone to clap for me! Oh, and best of all, I got to eat a big pretzel and a hot dog from a cart there too.

No, really, Balto was best. The rest is second best.

Labels: Balto, Central Park, statue, train, zoo

After we visited in New York, we drove down to Connecticut to see Grandma & Grandpa Myers (they're Mommy's parents). Anyway, Mommy and Daddy told me the last time we did this drive it was in a terrible thunderstorm. We were all pretty excited that the weather was nice and that we manage to avoid the worst of rush hour traffic into Fairfield.

Anyway, I had a great time in Fairfield too. I found all sorts of dress up stuff around Grandma's house, we went to a playground by the beach and we played with cousins and neighborhood girls. We also had an early birthday party for me which was really cool! The mini-cupcakes ended up not being mini so there were plenty of leftovers. I also probably got a bit more than I would have. I don't think that half a big cupcake is as small as a mini-cupcake. Hee-hee. Lucky me!

Uncle Brian and Cousin Nick came down from Vermont for the day and that was a special treat. We're really sorry that Aunt Lisa, Cousin Mike and little canine Cousin Dottie didn't come too. I think Dottie would be a lot of fun! Roo the kitty would be good too but I don't want to subject a cat to a car trip.

Grandma & Grandpa also have a bunny or two in their yard (we saw one one the trail at Grandma & Grandpa McCullough's too). Anyway, there was one that I kept chasing - he'd run away but then he'd come back and then I'd chase him and he'd run away and then he'd come back and.... Anyway, that kept us all giggling.

By the end of our trip, though, I was really really tired from all the excitement so I was glad when it was time to head home.

Labels: Cousin Nick, Fairfield, Grace, Grandma, Grandpa, Myers, Sam, Uncle Brian

While we were in upstate New York, we met up with a bunch of Willsons. We saw Grandpa Paul, Great Grandma & Grandpa, Aunt Sony & Uncle Dave, Uncle Jim & Aunt Mandy, Uncle Mike, Uncle Doug and some cousins too! Did I forget anyone? We went up to the farm that Uncle Jim works on and I got to see lots and lots of cows. My favorite parts, though, were the tiny kitty we met (and her mama) , Lambeau (Lambo?) and a bunch of young calves including one that was about an hour old! That's really young!

At Uncle Jim's house, we had lots of yummy food like hot dogs and olives. I got to meet Daddy's aunts and uncles and hang out with them. It was fun because I never met them before. I also got to play with Cousin Annabella and her toys. It was really fun. She was really good at sharing. We also had an early birthday party and both of us got presents! It was a big surprise. Too bad I didn't get that farm kitty to take home too! Hee-hee-hee.

Labels: Annabella, calves, cows, farm, Grandpa, Great Grandma, Great Grandpa, kitty, Paul, Uncle Jim, Willsons