Saturday, June 21, 2008

Camp

By Lani
Me and my person are up at this place called 'camp'. It smells incredible! and there is always something happening. I've walked all over down to the lake and over to the meadow, and later I'm going to visit the horses, not sure what they are, but Waffle said they are like really big dogs, who need really big blue bags to clean up after themselves. We had a cook out (but some how I missed out on all the food!) and camp fire where I learned to sing lots of songs it was dark when it ended and I got my first golf cart ride back to our cabin, cuz Carrie said I was just the right size for Felix the Mountian Lion's dinner. I'm not sure I like that thought
I have lots of people friends who come and visit me during the day while I am 'working' ie sleeping in my room. My person said I have to be good while she is working, but being good is really boring. So I made my own fun. I figured out how to open my kennel, the closet door and where to find the tasty-est shoes. eerrrr that's where things went wrong. I missed Carrie so I thought I'd open her closet just to smell her, and they I was sleepy so I took her shoe on to my bed, and well it was kind of tasty and.... well now I am on tie down in the infirmary with the nurse people who are not supposed to talk to me or LOCKED in my kennel. Sooo touchy over an old shoe some BFF she is. The up side is that Carrie now walks me for a long time. something about idel paws....
I'll post pic later.

Friday, June 13, 2008

Camp Bloomfield

Many blog friends are heading off to work at Camp Bloomfield today, a summer camp run by the Junior Blind of America. Lani and I will also be off to spend the summer at Girl Scout Camp. I have always been a big believer in the power freshly roasted marshmallows, silly camp songs and warm summer evenings. Camp is a magical place where kids can be kids, they can recreate themselves, find strengths they never knew they had and build life long friends. I wanted to attach an article from the LA times about Camp Bloomfield and wish all those traveling there today safe journey and have a great summer.


In Malibu, a fun site for visually impaired children

Camp Bloomfield gives the youngsters a quintessential summer experience
By Jason Song, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
May 27, 2008
It's hard enough to send a child to summer camp for the first time, much less a boy who has trouble seeing anything 2 inches in front of his face.

"He's very independent. It isn't until he runs into a tree that you realize he can't see," said Yvonne Hrabe, whose son Graham Kope is legally blind and will attend Camp Bloomfield for the visually impaired this July.

About 800 children attend the camp, run by Junior Blind of America, each summer. The event gives campers a chance to ride horses, swim and hike under the supervision of specially trained staffers and an opportunity to make new friends and boost their self-esteem.

"I would like him to be a little more outgoing. He's a little on the shy side," Hrabe said of her 5-year-old.

Hrabe discovered that Graham was legally blind when he was 4 months old. He would scream every time he went outside because the light hurt his eyes. He also has albinism, a lack of pigmentation, which makes him especially sensitive to light.

She and Graham attended the camp in Malibu during a session for families last year, and Hrabe was so impressed that she decided to send her son to camp this summer on his own. All of the nearly 40 camp staffers go through a week of special training during which they learn special communication skills and do camp-related activities blindfolded.

"These counselors were absolutely incredible; they have tons of energy," Hrabe said.

Still, Hrabe said she couldn't help but be a little worried, especially about a dry creek bed.

"It's a 15- or 20-foot drop, and he doesn't know that the land ends and goes down. So that's a concern," she said.

"But he's going to have to grow up and be independent, even more than a sighted child, so it will be a good experience for him," she said.

Berenice Cotera understands Hrabe's apprehension. She was also nervous when she sent her 11-year-old daughter, Triana, who was born blind, to camp for the first time two years ago.

"But it's something that she looks forward to every year. She really loves it there," Cotera said.

This year, Triana's younger brother Luis is going to camp with her. Luis' vision is fine, but he's going so he can spend more time with his sister.

"We're going to have a lot of fun," Triana said.

Thursday, June 12, 2008

PB and stuffed kongs

Why I love Peanut butter by Waffle
mmmm where to start....... for you poor PIT's who can't have PB it's butter made from Peanuts, it's salty and sweet, creamy and crunchy all at the same time. Hmmmm it is possibly the perfectly balanced food their is. I love the way it smells, it makes my nose very happy, which makes my tummy happy, which makes my tail very happy which makes my person giggle. It is gooey and yummy and I like the way it sticks to the tip of my nose and I have to really work to get it off. It makes my lips stick together and if you are really , really good your people will let you lick the spoon or knife after they make a sandwich.




I've tried people mind control, you know what I mean.... you concentrate really hard and think 'give dog peanut butter...., GIVE DOG PEANUT BUTTER...NOW!'

Puppy eyes works better it got me a stuffed kong topped off with Peanut butter.





This is kind of a kooky video, my person kept moving the camera, hope it doesn't make you sea sick.

Updates and news

So what's new? Well I ran in to Tacoma's people today and can I once again say I need to be adopted by Taco's people. They are going up to the beautiful San Jaun Islands on Monday and taking her, so if any Washington state friends see a black lab swimming in the sound trailing after a 10 yr old girl in a kayak that might be her. (Makes the walks to the park that I take Waffle on seem weak.)



BUT before she can go Nora, her person, will be throwing her a birthday party! No kidding. Nora was camping on Taco's birthday (not to mention Taco was still recovering from eating 2lbs of grapes) so on Saturday she will be celebrating her 3rd birthday. Apparently 4 or 5 of Taco's closest K-9 friends will be coming with their people for cake, games and presents - THEY ARE BUYING HER TOYS! hope she gets a good haul.

I'm sooo pleased to with her family. I always knew that Tacoma should go to a family with kids, since she was a pup she was all about kids. In Target when kids would cry she would become alert and look around, she would follow small kids, and when I asked her what she wanted for xmas she wanted a toddler. I told her they were in short supply and gave her a nyla dino instead. She is totally bonded with Nora, they share a bed, play soccer and play in the bath tub together. I think they are both a bit ADHD so they complement each other.

Thursday, June 5, 2008

Hey Look!

look what Spike found! Good boy Spike

BIG GIRL COLLAR


Big Girl Collar by Lani

My peeps gave say that I am getting pretty big, in fact they keep calling me Waffle! Can't they tell us apart. So they wanted to see if I could fit into my big girl collar. Guess what? it fits! mom says I look like a hobo 'cuz the end sticks out and flaps around. GDB sends us home in small 1/2 inch collars and when we are big enough we move into the 1 inch collar with the GDB name plate. See mine has my number on it. I am 410P

that's not all they gave me, the Waffler and I both got baths today, mom said she was going to change my name to stinky sue soon. You should have seen the dirt come off me, mom asked if I was growing carrots!

*sssssssssssssssssssssssmmmmmmmmmmmm* snif snif snif

aaahhh lemony fresh,

Guess Who

Guess who we saw at Disney on Tues? It was Blitz! They were hanging outside of the Tortilla Factory in Cal. Adventure. We just saw the GDA jacket and went up to say hello. Turns out it was Blitz. His and Camry's blog were a few of the first that I read when I started blogging, since she went private, I miss keeping up with him. Any way he is way cute, kind of compact for boy, and a very very well behaved. He was hanging out eating a bit of ice, just chillin', Maui's raisers had him for this trip and they were great. Maui is in for training, and their new pup Bell (?) is too young for D-Land. It was nice to meet someone who I know from the blog-o-sphere.

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

We should have known better...

It was too good to be true, we've gotten in the habit of locking the girls up in the family room when we leave. Lani has been such a good pup we let her sleep free in the evenings (usually because she loses the kennel race at bed time); We go out to dinner, or run to the mall and all is fine. So last week we went to Disneyland, and left the girls in the family room for about 5 hours, and they were fine and so was the family room.

Well we should have know better than to tempt fate. We did a quick trip to Disneyland (we have passes, and next week starts the summer black out) left at noon and made it back around 5pm and guess what greeted us.........





"Geee Lani what's that fuzz on your face?.....And ALL OVER THE FLOOR!!!!????



I'm speechless - they ate the futon


Before.......... (she looks kind of proud of her work)


AFTER

about 1 hour of re stuffing and a bit of patch work. I asked them what they were thinking and then it occurred to me they weren't. There is always one who is the naughty one, the one who starts it all....and mom and I laid bets on the baby. I wish I could have seen them in the act, what was so freakin' fun about ripping up the mattress? Who was in charge? and how much did they eat? WHOSE THE RING LEADER?

12 HOURS LATER ....... Lani puked and pooped fuzz

BUT

Waffle pooped fuzz too so it looks like it was a joint effort.

Actually let's be real it was our fault, we skipped morning walks for both girls - they were bored and well maybe the title should be "Idle paws are the devil's tools"

Monday, June 2, 2008

ok - just roll with me on this

Has anyone had their pups poop in their sleep? I don't mean just pooping in the kennel, I mean literally in their sleep.