Pup pics and updates

The kids have been enjoying the peace and serenity this week. We have just been being lazy at home all week. This week at work for me was CRAZY busy. I guess because of the holiday last week. I wish every week was a 4 day week. We are getting excited about our upcoming trip to Dewey in October and our family vacation with the kids in December. It seems like a long way off, but it will be here before we know it. :)


I just had to put this picture in. Booyah is sound asleep with his head up Maggie's ____. You can fill in the blank. I can't believe she is becoming so tolerable of being touched by other greys. Don't get me wrong...it's great, but it soooo unlike the Queen! Maybe she is getting too old to care? Or maybe she let out a stinky and is laughing on the inside. Sweet revenge. :)Now on to some updates. Remember miss Ria? She is now in her forever home and is doing great! Her mommy loves her very much and she is already spoiled rotten!!!!
And miss Kinga is also in her forever home and she is also doing wonderfully! She is as sweet as sugar. She reminded me a lot of Iggy (M's Foxy Susie).
The patio. There has been significant progress on the patio since my last update. The bottom portion of stone has all been put in place. It looks complete, but it is not, there is still work to be done. We still have the pergola and bar to build and we have some more stones to fix on the top portion. We should be done by the 1st weekend in August and we will be planning a little celebration get together towards the end of August. And when I say we, I mean Mitch. As all I am doing is supervising the project. I am not good when it comes to projects like these. Give me some paint and a paint brush and I will paint any room. I actually find it fun. I know it is sick, but true. Outside work.....I think I'll pass. :)

It should be really nice when it is all done. BTW....yes we do have cushions for the furniture. They are being stored in the garage temporarily. I just had to put the love seat out there to get an idea of what it is going to be like when it is done.
The two foot rests are where the pergola is going to start. It will cover most of the bottom portion of the patio. We also bought a fire pit, which will be in the center and the chimenea will be off to the side. I am getting excited about seeing the final result!! And, of course I am looking forward to enjoying quality time outside.

And then there were 4

Whew...the chaos at the Ridlon house has finally settled. 7 hounds in the house at one time I must admit was way too many. I can't believe those words just came out of my mouth! Our living space in our house is just too small. I hate to admit, but our max is probably 5 hounds. Mitch and I are exhausted. We are enjoying the much needed break! The hounds are exhausted from all the company too. These pictures were taken before the chaos began, but I think they sum up pretty well how the kids are felling now.

Booyah takes advantage of being the only one in the living room. He has the entire couch to his self and any number of dog beds to choose from.

Zola takes it easy on a plushy dog bed. She was dropped off on the 3rd and will be with us for the whole month of July while her mom is away on a business trip to Sri Lanka. She has stayed with us so much over the last couple of months, she knows the routine and is super easy to care for. This is like her second home. :)
Cueball's think bubble says "Things are finally back to normal. now it's time for a nap."

And, how did the queen take all the excitement?
Well......she gave me the evil stinkeye several times during the course of the week, snubbed me a few times when I asked for kisses and chewed on my shoes to express her frustration.


But alas, she is back to her princess like self now.Mitch and I are back to our normal routine and feeding 4 seems like a piece of cake after feeding 6 for a week. We are conserving our energy for a busy upcoming weekend....meet and greet, Cueball's birthday celebration and the South African food and wine festival. This weekend should be loads of fun! :)

Copious Greyhounds

On Sunday VAGA volunteers met in Ashland, VA to welcome 5 lucky greyhounds from Orlando, FL to VA. All the greys on this haul were brindles. All of them were beautiful and sweet! It was another great group of hounds! More pictures of the haul can be seen here.



And, good news for Tigress. Her foster mom dropped her off so that she could get a ride with Kristen and Debbie up to Northern, VA to her forever home. She had a hard time saying goodbye to this sweet, good girl. I can't imagine fostering for 2 months and then having to say goodbye. :( I get very attached after only a few days. Hopefully, Tigress has found a place to settle and will be there forever. Below is Debbie with Tigress. Best of luck sweet girl!!

3 of the hounds went to Northern, VA to meet their families, 1 (Mesa Coronet) went to a family in the Ladysmith area, and we took 2 fosters home. We are fostering for the week, we are still watching Lola until Friday and Zola was dropped off yesterday. So we had 7 hounds for a day. We are on greyhound overload!! Mg's Diana, now known as Kinga, went on a home visit yesterday and is now being fostered by her soon to be forever family. Her official adoption will be on Saturday. Ria's official adoption will be on Sunday. Both girls are doing great and are adjusting well!

Kinga.

Ria.

Birthday Boy

We celebrated Booyah's 5th birthday on Saturday. He is starting to get very distinguished in his face and on his hammies. I love it when they gray in their face. It is very handsome!!

In honor of Booyah's birthday here are just a few things (there are many many more) I love about our Booyah.

He is the SWEETEST dog you will ever meet!! Booyah loves to be loved and doesn't care who is providing it, so long as he is the one receiving it.
He loves to travel.
He has impeccable hearing. He can be laying down upstairs in our bedroom and hear me downstairs in the kitchen opening up the treat jar. And, our house is well insulated between floors because of the way it was built. So trust me, that is impressive hearing!!
His favorite toy is a stuffed yellow lamb.
He loves doing zoomies around the yard with his brother and sissy.
He is so laid back!!

Okay now onto the fun stuff.

We loaded up our kids and Lola and headed out to Three Dog Bakery to get a cake and some yummy treats. We also walked around Stony Point Fashion Park. The hounds got lots of attention! We didn't stay long cause it was HOT!! So we loaded the kids up again and headed to Petsmart for some new squeaky toys. Then we headed home so the kids could enjoy some cake. This is Booyah's favorite cake. It looks yummy enough for humans to eat. Of course I didn't. It wouldn't be a birthday party at the Ridlon's without leis. So I made the kids humor me for a couple of minutes. It would have been nice if Mitch would have included my head in this shot, but oh well. :)
The cake is frozen. We thought with all the riding around and it sitting in the car while we were in Petsmart it would have thawed a little. It was in the 90's that day. But, nope, so here I am trying to cut through a frozen cake. Has anyone tried this?
It wasn't easy. It took a little muscle power, but I eventually got it. Looks like Cueball and Lola still have faith in me, but Booyah has given up.
Booyah finally gets his yummy treat. BTW we did nuke the cake in the microwave before we gave it to the kids.
My little princess humors me for a while. I love dressing the hounds up!!
Cueball and Lola don't seem to mind the leis. Booyah and Maggie are soooo over it!
Lola has the cutest ears!! She is staying with us until the 4th of July. I think this was the first time she had ever had cake. Lola came to stay at Ridlon doggie camp at the right time! :)
And, lastly Booyah playing with his new squeaky toy.

Happy Birthday Booyah!! We look forward to celebrating many more! And, we love you very much!!