reckless summer fun

"if nothing was ever scary, nothing would ever be fun."

-STAN

summer isn't summer without jumping off a big rock, feeling your stomach drop, and getting your arms slapped by the cold spring water below. its the sublime mixture of pure joy and vivid terror that makes cliff-jumping so addicting.

here are some pictures of our first trip to Gisela this year.
(Gisela is off the B-line, just before Rye. Hang a right, follow the dirt road and hike it in.)

for more of our trip visit beth's blog.

The Bi-DOG-raphy of Prince Murph.

Feeling left out, because

I got NO human kids to brag about (like the rest of you bloggers),

i've decided to tell about my "son".

MEET MURPHY
He is my dog.
A Pure-bread, A.K.C certified Yorkshire Terrier,
A costly investment,
A pain in the tookus, at times,
A JOY and a PLEASURE, at other times,
And a TREASURED member of our FAMILY

His full and legal name is
PRINCE MURPHY De RICARDO.
Here is a brief BI-DOG-RAPHY of his special, precious, darling, adorable, to-die-for, angelic, priceless little doggy life.
Born on July 23, 2004
His dad's name was King Pillow Climber
so that makes him a bona-fide PRINCE.
and nicci's voice for him was mexican so he got the suffix De Ricardo
here he is as a pup, in his crate. He loves his crate.
in the beginning he was so cute, with dark hair on his head, He was very hyper active and loved to be the center of attention.
he looked a lot more innocent too (probably because he was)

As time passed his hair got whiter which is the ideal coloring for yorkies
(he looks like he's high in this picture)

His best friend and CRATE-MATE is
SOPHIE

the moment Murphy laid eyes on this little doll and saw her silly GRIN
IT WAS love at first sight!
(SOPHIE belongs to DARCY/MOM. and is freak adorable)

These two pups, Murph and Soph couldn't live without the other
(although Sophie is always violating Murphy which seems weird.
I'd post a picture to prove it but Spencer said it was inappropriate for young minds,
so i won't. But i do think Sophie has issues and needs professional counseling.)

and THIS is Murphy's PET,
SARA SUE

SARA is the best pet ever, they really do love her.

Who ever coined the phrase "its a dog's life" meaning that a dog's life was easy-peasy with no worries did not live with Taylor or London.
AKA
TAYLOR the TORTURER
AND
LONDON the LOTS-A-LOVER

Taylor is guilty of making Murphy LEARY, DEFENSIVE and NERVOUS around children
because he was so mean to him as a puppy (and still is).
THIS IS MURPHY'S SINGLE FLAW--HE will GROWL at Kids
(and i can't fix it as long as taylor's around)
but LONDON, on the other hand, LOVES the pups TO DEATH
its so cute, but kinda sad when the dogs panic and squeal in fright.


but it's PURE in intent, she just wants to give the puppy some LOVE!

MURPHY'S FAVORITE THINGS ARE................................

To go on walks to the park and bark at birds, bark at people, bark at the wind, back mom up and bark at Taylor when he's being disciplined (I think this is Payback for the torture). He enjoys chasing the garden-hose and bite the stream of water, run around and around the pool for hours on end while the kids swim, give kisses, to be petted and scratched on his neck, follow MOM wherever she goes and lick her hair when she's sleeping, go psychotic when he sees the vacuum even when turned off, roll around the floor after a bath, hide from me at bed time,
and Probably his most favorite thing to do is also the most Naughty, and that is when he gets into the trash. BUT it's funny too because he lays out the dirty paper plates on the floor in a perfect row and then licks them clean. (this is such a weird thing to walk in on!)

Murphy is overall a very good dog. He does suffer from Little-dog Syndrome and puts a tough act on sometimes but he is super Loyal and Devoted to our Family.
and i can't imagine life with out the little booger.

and that is Murphy.

MINI of MINE!

"Look! It's a mini coopa, its a mini coopa!"

Not only are they different cosmetically, Mini Coopers have this happy feeling about them. Happiness is just oozing out of them. (Just like the pig in the Pig of Happiness book. If you haven't read that book, Spencer has it and you can read it or he can recite it for you because he has it memorized word for word as well as a describe the pictures to you-- he has a perfect memory. next time you see him ask. trust me it will have you smiling) Back to the mini cooper, it IS the pig of happiness out on the road spreading and the positive energy everywhere. It is also like a little puppy that loves you and will do anything just to get a scratch under the chin but i think instead of a little scratch the car wants to drive really really fast. It is the perfect car to help me escape my safe little bubble i've been hiding in. I am excited.

Here is what mine will grow to look like. Laser Blue with a white top and white bonnet stripes! I was, at first going to go with white and black top and have no stripes at all but, luckily i had Beth to help me not let me crawl back into my bubble cave. (thanks, by the way) and i chose to go the brightest blue and added the racing stripes.
Here is my little guy on the assembly line in the giant factory-womb.These updates will be sent to me until my car is finished. When its all done they load it onto a boat and float it over here from Germany or somewhere i dont reaaly know.(i think its Germany because BMW makes it) This is my fist time buy "brand new car" and it is a mix of emotions but the car is already in production which is nice because backing out is not even an option anymore!

now it's just a waiting game

The SECRET (tooth) is OUT!!!

free, free at last!!!!!!

Hoorah for the MIRACLE OF BRACES! And WOO-YEAH for free braces!! I didn't "really need" braces but they truned out to be free just because I work for a dentist! A nice little perk. too bad I can't get anyone else a discount though. I am ghostly white in my after because I stopped doing the fake n' bake tanning booths last summer to obey my grama sue and extend my life! But you got to admit i look a lot better brown than albino. I can hear the humm of the tanning bulbs tempting me........

Here is A little back ground history on my "secret tooth" as it was nicknamed because ONE- it did not grow in until i was about 16. TWO- You could not see it at all. I talked, laughed, smiled and yawned and my lip covered it perfectly so it was always hidden (thank goodness) LASTLY- because of my pridefull embarassment I kept this little defect to myself because it was so gross and ugly and along with my long-darwin arms it was sure to draw a croud. Anyway Katie named it "the secret tooth" and I only shared it with a select few. So if you saw it in its snaggle stage--consider yourself one of my trusted friends. yay for you. I have straight teeth now and I gained a few years, aging in seconds because I no longer look like a 12 girl anymore! Yay-hoo. After a short 14 months of being the tin-grin, Metal Mouth, train tacks, brace-face, tinsel teeth, jaws and i even heard zipper lips once and not to mention all the rejection I felt as the little kids were scared and run away from me. I survived it and it was super worth every bit of food stuck in my brackets to have my new fantiastic smile!!! Thanks to DR LARABEE now I can finally smile, smile, smile with complete confidence and EAT bread at last! And now my little canine that was stuck behind my lip can enjoy life ubove the lip and feel the sunshine and experince everything a tooth should.