Flying to Christmas

Rise and shine came early on Christmas Eve, 5am. My wheelie bag was packed with food, treats, toys, Skully coat from Puglet & my Noodle Sweaters. Destination... Grandpa & Grandma's home. The plane arrived and we were ready to head into the wild blue yonder. Yeppers, almost to where the astronauts fly. 34,000 feet altitude.

This wasn't my first flight, last year I flew to Neena & Papa's and acquired my first wings... The pilot bestowed my first wings. Proudly wearing them on my coat, I think it makes me run even faster, jet propulsion speed.

Once we arrived in St. Louis, we headed to the car rental shuttle. Waiting in the cold, a dude in a suit, holding a clip board asked, "do you have a confirmation?" Mom's reply, "Yes". Then we were told, "well, we are sold out." What the heck! So much for a confirmed reservation. How were we going to get to Grandpa's? I can't hitch hike, no thumbs. Then the suit dude offered a solution with another rental car place that would honor our reservation. From a puddle jumper car to a Lincoln for the same price, SWEET! Cruising the 3 hour drive to Grandpa's in leather heated seats...Nice! How apropos, riding in a Lincoln to The Land Of Lincoln.

Leaving behind the hustle & bustle of the city, driving down a single lane road with no dividing markings, when you meet a passing tractor or vehicle, there is a friendly wave. Sigh, its good to be home!

One of my favorite traditions of Christmas is viewing Christmas lights. Grandpa discovered this awesome display coordinated to music, to listen we tuned into the designated FM station on the radio.

Stay tuned to the rest of the adventure...

Christmas Is Almost Here

The weather is still broken... Christmas is almost here and the leaves finally turned to Fall colors this week and fell off the trees.

When we got home it was time to pack my suite case. Yep, I'm going on a jet plane to somewhere that is really cold. Skully & Pug Tooth sweaters - check... Skully coat - check... now where to find room for my toys, treats & food.

Wait! Will Santa know where to find me? Mom say's Santa knows, not to fret. She also said there will be a special surprise on the Christmas adventure.

Christmas Shopping

My friend Puglet... viewer discretion is advised for the first picture....

It was time for a weigh in, which are a breeze. You know how humans are talking about weight gain during the holiday season from all the delectable savory foods, well I had a plan and it worked. I lost a little weight, not sure where it went, but it's gone. Now I can eat ALL I want over Christmas. Hehee, snort.

Then it was time to do my Christmas shopping.... Pursuing the isles with my long neck is perfect for searching for just the right gift.

Finally, found one... Over the intercom: "Can someone help with a carry-out on isle 5!"

When I got home, there was a special message from Santa waiting just for ME!

Surprise Package Delivery

Mom came home announcing "Surprise-Package Delivery for Suki!" What could it be? I couldn't wait to open the package, but dinner first, it's a Pug thing. After gobbling down my special allergy diet food, duck & potato, it was time to open the surprise package that was addressed to Moi.

Oh my goodness, the package was from my friend Puglet. If that wasn't the best thing ever, then I discovered the contents... A really warm and comfy-cozy Skully coat.

Puglet has had some weight issues recently, lets be realistic, what Puggie doesn't have this issue from time to time. Despite his best efforts, apparently he tried to wiggle & wedge himself into the coat but it wouldn't fit. Puglet was being Green-recycling and sent the Skully coat to the petite-est pug he knows.

I so can't wait for my weekend adventure, definitely have the perfect coat to wear.

Bionic Abilities Activated

Gracie is so cool, said she would have her Mom help me & my Mom with our very first Agility mini course. Mom has always thought I would have a blast at agility since my bionic knees help me run beyond the speed of light. So here it goes....

Over the first jump and thru the tunnel. The tunnel was awesome, After-Burners activated, Whoo Hoo! Not sure what those are, but if they make me run extra-super fast, I'm all for it.

It's suppose to go like this, when exiting the tunnel, Mom is suppose to be right there directing me to the next obstacle. Do you see her anywhere in the picture. Not mentioning any names, but SOMEONE needs to start working out to keep with me. Wimp, Hehee-Snort.

What seemed like days, she finally caught up, chop-chop! Then it was time for the last jump on the course.

My bionic knees provided lots of lift to clear the jump with room to spare. Gracie's Mom - Thank you for taking awesome action shots. As well as being a great teacher for Agility 101. It was sooo much fun!

Side note - Guess what?! I found out my super-model friend Puglet, yes the one and only(!), he knows my ARNIE! Puglet's Human shot Arnie running agility and he was featured on The Daily Puglet. Behold Agility Arnie, how cool is that!

After running, it was time for the humans to have Thanksgiving diner. As they were eating dinner, Arnie, Gracie and I put our heads together and came up with a plan for the SYOP photo contest. Dinner was done, time for our action plan. We called ourselves "Party Pugs". I so wanted to wear a lamp shade, it wouldn't fit. Instead I wore this groovy knitted, funky hat. Arnie was the D.J. in charge of the music. And Gracie, well, she just looked for left over morsels.

Arnie did a great job with the musical bottles. Disclaimer: No human-adult beverages were consumed by any Pugs, now it was a different story for the humans.

At the end of the day, we were three tuckered out Pugs. I found a comfy stop on the couch on Mom's left leg and Arnie was on her right leg. Sigh, what a way to end the day. This was THE best Thanksgiving EVER!

AND

What a wonderful Thanksgiving... Where do I begin?...

I knew something was up last weekend, lazy-lounging around instead of going on an adventure. Oh My Gosh, so glad I did. Mom loaded up the runner and we were off to a Thanksgiving Road Trip.

Once we arrived at our destination, I couldn't believe my brown eyes! Low & behold, we were at Gracie AND Arnie's house! Oh my goodness, tons of wiggly-tail wagging actions going on, commence an immediate game of chase. The humans had to stand still and not get run over. darn, no photos to document, my bionic abilities left Agility Gracie and Arnie in my dust! It was so awesome to see them again.

We all loaded up, destination, the dog park, which was waaayyy better than anyone dog park that I have been to before. The park had great shade trees & Mom was surprised that I didn't eat any crispy leaves. The park even had a brave, mischievous, dog taunting squirrel. Just like the dinosaur at the Garden, the three of us were oblivious to the rowdy, barking squirrel.

Speaking of the trees, Arnie and Gracie shared a new trick. I thought Gracie was pretty slick with her pizza plate grabbing technique, but this one equally good... "Tree climbing".

Arnie was suave in his posing. Sigh.

Then is was my turn...

Then it was time to run. As Arnie was running my direction, he gave me a kiss as he was flying by.

I didn't do any running, Gracie suggested that I save my bionic powers for something I have ALWAYS wanted to give a try and she would show me how.

Stay tuned for the rest of the adventure.... Continued...

Lazy Weekend

The past several weeks I have been on the go. Agility trials, kayaking, and shopping. Mom said this weekend was going to be a lazy, lounging, stay in pajama kind of weekend. I love being on the go, but when you say lounging, count me in. Mom said I need to rest and recharge my bionic abilities because they will be used soon. Hmmmm.... Here's a hint... "AND"

Gracie & Arnie

Oh my goodness, it was a stupendous weekend. I got to meet Gracie from Screaming K9 in the fur when she road into to Austin. (See really didn't really ride in on a Harley, but since she's kind of a biker chick, it was a perfect place for a picture).

Gracie is really sweet it was awesome to finally meet her and her Mom. As you may know Gracie does agility. And was in town for a trial, I was so honored to watch her run! She can run fast (but don't tell her, but I think I can run faster - since I'm bionic).

After Gracie finished running at the speed of light, jumping over the obstacles, while pointing her toes like a ballerina, we loaded up and went to the hotel where they were staying to pick up Gracie's Dad AND Arnie, Gracie's brother. It was a surprise, I didn't know Arnie was along for the adventure. Gracie's Mom said Arne & I would get along great, we are very similar. Oh my goodness, when I saw Arnie & our eyes met, I could swear I heard music playing, sigh.

After we picked up Arnie & his Dad, we headed to lunch on the patio of Home Slice Pizza. Mom says this place is always packed, has a great city vibe feel and everyone is always super friendly. Needless to say Gracie, Arnie & I got tons of attentions and pets. Arnie is such a clown. Look at him licking his chops wishing for a piece of pie.

Gracie is a smart cookie, while she was sitting on her Mom's lap, she spotted the waitress with the human's slices of pie. As the waitress was putting the plate down, in the blink of an eye, two shakes of a lambs tail, Gracie had her paw on the plate & slid it over in front of herself. I'm going to have to remember that trick. Thanks Gracie for that pointer. Gracie & Arnie are so cute!

As we were leaving the pizza place, we all stopped in our tracks, we couldn't believe our eyes. I think we all had the same thought at the same time... Graffiti, posing opportunity just like our friend Pug & Dutch from the Daily Puglet.

After lunch I wanted to share one of my favorite places with Gracie & Arnie, Zilker Botanical Garden. It was so much fun exploring the Garden, plus we were on the look out for the notorious dinosaur that lives at the Garden.

The Garden has several different areas to explore, Japanese Garden, a Pioneer Village where we discovered this cauldron. Hmmm, I heard something mentioned by the human's.. "Pug Stew".

Another area has nice wide paths thru the woods. This is Mom's favorite part, it makes her think of the Woods at the Farm. Did you notice in this picture, I think Arnie is checking me out, blush.

We searched & searched but didn't see any dinosaur. It must be like Big Foot or Sasquatch. Maybe next time.

On Sunday, I met up with Gracie & Arnie again, Gracie had more running to do. As she was resting for her run, Arnie & I spent some together. We went to play where Arnie grabbed my leash & tried to take me for a walk.

He also gave me a kiss on my face as well as a pug snort in my face too & even "boxed" my head with his front paws. Not quite sure if this was a first date, but it was the best time!

After all the adventuring, I'm one tuckered out Pug. I was super proud of Gracie's running and her sneaking pizza pie technique. Arnie was dreamy. Hopefully soon we all will have more adventures together.

I Won!

Since I had a great time on my first kayaking adventure, Mom checked Facebook to see if the Rowing Dock had a page. Sure enough they did AND they were having a photo contest. All you had to do was post your favorite pictures of fun times at the Rowing Dock on their FB Wall. Mom quickly uploaded two pictures. Guess what?! My cuteness WON!!! I now the proud owner of a punch card for 6 hours of kayaking, a $50.00 value.

I almost thought this adventure was going to be postponed. A cold front blew in and the morning temp was 42 degrees, thankfully it warmed up fairly quickly. I wanted to wear my pink Skully sweater, but Mom insisted safety first, the life vestie was a must.


After posing, my mind was on the treat. I can taste it even before its in my mouth...

Mom prefers to be behind the camera taking pictures. Once in every great moon, she will post a picture with her in it. She really likes this picture of us kayaking together. As you can see, I have kayaking down pat, Mom does all the paddling (heheee, snort) and I just sit here, looking cute and enjoying the ride.

Once on the water, we headed upstream to get the hard part over with first. But there was debate on which way was was up stream, but I was right.

While on the water, I saw lots of red slider turtles, a Great Egret, Great Blue Heron and ducks (mallards, coots, gadwall). At one point, I was surrounded by the ducks. I don't think they have ever seen a pug before. I really, really wanted to go swimming with them. Unfortunately, Mom wouldn't have it.

Mom's video cam has been fickle, she wanted to fling it into the lake to see how many times it would skip across the water. Thank goodness with the help of a SD card reader, what ever that is, she was able to recover the video of ducks.

After being on the water, it was time to sunbathe and catch the warmth of a few rays. Kayaking is so much fun. Plus I get a good laugh out of Mom trying to "gracefully" get in & out of the kayak. Thankfully she didn't end up in the lake.

Next weekend adventure can't get here fast enough. I'm so excited! Here's a hint, Pugs and running.

Chilly Morning Weather

The weather has messed up my adventure plans again. The summer had pug melting weather and now this weekend's morning temperatures were a chilly 45 degrees. Way to cold for what I had planned. I was so looking forward to the adventure, because it's something that I WON! How cool is that, I won something & its an adventure! Score!! Hopefully next weekend's weather will cooperate.

So instead I had a lazy morning, sleeping in. Then when it finally warmed up, headed off to a local park that has really cool buildings from the pioneer days.

Did you notice what's missing from the picture? My yellow ribbon, that I was wearing in honor of my human cousin while she was deployed overseas. She made it home safely. But I'm thinking about wearing it from now on, to show my support for all the troops that are deployed.

Is anyone besides me watching DWTS? I'm so rooting for JR Martinez to bring home the mirror ball trophy.

A Snipe?!

My kind of day, slept in and then headed off on an adventure. Destination: Apple's Genius Bar. The new iPad2 was having a brain-app-update "1004" malfunction. And I thought it was user error, not this time. Mom had an appointment at 11 am, an hour before the store opened. The store was packed, to crowded for a picture posing.

But there is one picture Mom really wanted to take of me...the picture didn't happen, but would have been great if it did. Hehee. snort.... here it goes...

While the tech was fixing the ipad's app-brain, Mom spotted Mack Brown, head football coach of University of Texas, sitting at the next table. He was dressed in all black, with his posse surrounding him. Mom joked with the Genius dude about having Coach hold me for a photo op. Can you imagine what his black shirt would have looked like after a photo op with a Pug?! Hehee snort!

We stopped past Dutch's favorite pink store, Anthropologie. Unfortunately, we were to early, they hadn't opened yet. Instead I settled for posing in a niche in front of the store. This store is definitely on my list to visit.

Just as we were heading back to the 4 Runner, there it was.... Could it be the elusive Snipe? Um mm. Look at the size of it's toes and it's shadow! I ran over to it and quickly tied my leash to its ankle so it wouldn't get away. But I think I'm going to need a bigger burlap bag along with some back up from my puggie friends to wrangle this one.