(75) Mother's Day Comings and Goings

Happy Mother's Day
What a day. Brad is gone and the boys and I had a grand outing. We drove to help celebrate Mother's Day with Nana. We got up early and drove in my Honda CRV. I don't have the new Honda that is big and roomier. I have the older Honda that I love, but in order to fit both Max and Beeks, I had to put the back seats down which made a half barrier between the front and back. This turned out to work well. Max was so excited to be going "out" for the day and he hardly sat down for the first hour. After a while he sat down and then stood up again. Not until the return trip did he actually lay down.
When we got to Nana's, my brother and Papa were cooking hamburgers on the grill. They smelled great. We had to tether the dogs outside because their neighbors also had company with dogs. At first this really depressed me. I was concerned that the tether would tear up the yard(it left two big holes,sorry Dad)and the dogs got very little exercise. This was really a test of patience for Max. We showed off Beeker's hoop skills, with my niece's 5 year old holding the hoop, and both dogs' performed the roll over trick. Of course Max did great and Beeks did it with some encouraging. The real excitement was when my niece's son, who is 5, walked right up to Beeks and Max, and got them both to down-stay. This child is so calm and confident that the dogs were not afraid of him. The pictures we were able to take were fabulous (see above). I love that Max was able to display the calm gentle giant trait that Newfoundlands are known for. Yea! to Max and Drake, new BFF's. It was a really good challenge for both Beeks and Max to be around very small children and act appropriately. They did a super job of controlling their behaviors and I was so proud.
On the way home, both dogs were exhausted and slept the whole way home. When we were near home, just about 5 miles out, I saw in the distance a hot air balloon. I love hot air balloons. I think because it represents adventure to me. Imagine getting to see earth from so far up,going slowly and so silently. I understand that the silence is what is so amazing. Someday...
As we got to our turn off to our sub development, four deer crossed the road. This got the dogs really excited. Beeks barked(of course)and Maxie whined. As we turned in the lane the dogs spotted two dogs being walked right at the corner of our circle. A greyhound and a whippet. This got Max so excited that he JUMPED into the front seat. Ignore the fact that all of my computer stuff and personal belongings were in the seat. Max was trying to crawl into the dashboard! He wasn't barking, he was just trying to get close to the Whippet and Greyhound! He couldn't stay still or get back to the back seat, he kept slipping and I was so glad that we were 100 yards from home! We are happy we had our great "outing" and glad to be back home too.