You might have noticed...

Well, I'm officially in the Christmas spirit!!
I hope you all enjoy this fine holiday season, I'll be back soon with a recap of how I celebrated with my little family unit and more importantly....what I got for Christmas!!
Until then, take care and be safe. Oh, and since it's such a social season, mum hauled me to the groomer this week and had me shined up and smelling pretty handsome. Also, she's hijacking my social media here to show you Christmas decorating at our casa (get your own blog mum!).



I know, I AM hot stuff!!





(yeah, and mum might want to learn to take better night shots...sheesh! dark much?)

Lots of love.

WOOF!

Gobble, Gobble!

hope everyone's turkey day was full of delicious food and good times. i spent mine roaming the italian compound (just a nickname) until mum spotted the neighbor's chickens and then i had to "on-leash".



really puts a damper on my exploring. i participated in a few rousing games of bocce and was keen on making sure dad had proper bocce ball tossing form. i was very vocal...



there was some counter surfing, sniffing of relatives of mum and dad, some mild begging, and of course i threw out the "sad eye hungry" look for some turkey.









it works every time on noni! (or as i know her "lady that makes meatballs") :)
it was a great day, and i'm ready to do it all over again!



GOBBLE GOBBLE!
xoxoxo wally

goodnight irene...

you'll never guess what my pinkies did...THEY LEFT ME AGAIN!!!  i'm beginning to think it's me, do i smell? (yes) i really don't understand how they could abandon me when i give the "sweet eyes" look and a big old head in the lap.



who could resist?!?!?
anyway, off they went to the east coast again to D.C. and Baltimore with an evening in Annapolis.  i will let mum take it from here.
yes, if it sounds patriotic, it was.  Ben and i are now 110% American!!  we saw our nation's capitol by foot...oh, some sore and swollen feet...and we perused the big 3: The Constitution, The Declaration of Independence, and the Bill of Rights.  oh so American are we!!!  it was truly great to actually see those documents as well as all the national memorials and monuments.







AND i finally got to see in person the Abe Lincoln memorial, it was thrilling!  (some of you may know that he and i share a particularly fabulous birthday in february!)











we went on our trip to see a dear friend of mine tie the knot at the naval academy. while there, we got to hang out and catch up with other friends from LCHS days as well. it's amazing how after 13 years we can all laugh and talk like we were in the Daws Hill library before class started. so much fun to see everyone and we should not wait that long to see each other anymore! (note: lest you think i'm a horrible person, i have seen and been in contact with the bride and other friends during these last 13 years...i'm not that bad of a friend!!) sheesh!!






the wedding was beautiful and we enjoyed the reception...all the while hurricane Irene was blowing and raining outside!!  yes, folks Ben and i have crossed off "waited out a hurricane" from the list (his list...mine did not have that line item on it!) the wind blew pretty hard and the rain was coming in sideways, but really, i feel like i've been in worse conditions. just my opinion.  we decided to wait out the storm at the hotel where everyone was staying, keeping the after party alive of course!  the after party was out on the hotel porch through most of the night/early morning...possibly with some adult beverages and really we were not bothered or hindered by the storm.
we also spent a limited amount of time in Baltimore.  of course we visited the market and some historic sites.  we also dined in the little italy part of town and it was great!  found the best italian pastries and had a great time discovering the city.  Baltimore did get hit with some wind damage, lots of large trees blew down and there was debris all over.









bocce ball court in little italy, baltimore...ben was enamored!





so, all in all we had a great time with old friends and it was just great to take an end of summer breather.
i'll leave you all with some gratuitous pics of our main man...Wally!



take care and have a wonderful safe labor day weekend!
WOOF!

Down to San Antonio...

hey there folks!
just thought you might like to see some pics of my curly gorgeousness...oh and mum says some peeps have been asking her for pics of the wedding she and the old man went to recently...but really i think they just want more pics of me :)
that's right, i was abandoned once again while the pinkies went and partied down in san antonio...luckily i stayed with my favorite dog watcher of all, our neighbor, or as i know her "fenway's mom".  she's the best!  she lets me sleep on her huge sectional couch and i get to lay around on her wood floors all day.  anyway, see below for some pics of the pinky trip...



















































































OK, NOW FOR THE GOOD PART...PICS OF MEEEEE!!
after mum and dad came back, we watched my bestie gurlfriend Mia.  we love each other and get along SO well.  she's feisty and likes to taunt me, so i play along.  while i can literally walk over her while she's standing, she is the boss when she visits.  i still don't know how that happened, but dad says that's just the way it is.





hope all of you are doing well, stay inside and keep cool in this crazy heatwave.
i'll bark at you later :)
WOOF!

up to Boston

oh friends, we had a weather respite in early June this year...we took ourselves to Boston, Mass. for a 6 day vacation with some friends. upper 60* weather, sunny gorgeous days allowed us to see the sights and tool around the east coast. it was perfect.

except that we had to leave the Wall-ster at home. boo. oh, and traveling all day is not really that exciting or fun, just ask the extremely loud and smelly 4 yr old that sat next to us on our flight from boston to dallas.

anyway, we left wally in the careful hands of a good friend and jetted up to boston and met up with our good friends from louisiana for a well earned vacay. we toured around and ate our way through the city the best we could and had a great time.

if any of you are going we had a heck of a great hotel that we got thru hotwire and we highly recommend it. the sheraton at prudential square. here is the view from our room...outrageous.

and right next door to the T station to boot! AND a legal's seafood restaurant...best crab cakes EVER!!

ben agrees...

we drove down to cape cod and strolled around provincetown on the very tip of the island and had some incredible lobster and clam chowder at the 'Lobster Bot' which we highly recommend. and also spent some time on the beach. of course, we also visited the national park that is located on cape cod and ben and i got our mandatory nps sticker and christmas ornament which is our m.o. for all national parks we visit. seriously, our christmas tree is more nps ornaments than anything...and we love it that way!

back in the city we saw the aquarium, the museum of fine art and got to see a chihuly exhibit (more on that later) and we walked the freedom trail and saw paul revere's house. we also made it across the river to MIT and harvard/cambridge area. and we took a side trip out to salem as well. we walked the serene landscape of mt. auburn cemetery...gorgeous. and tested out the italian fare in the north end. all in all, it was a great trip and we could not have asked for a better time, weather, hotel, and friends to enjoy it all with. below are a few more pics of our adventure.  too bad the curly snout (also known as Wally, could not join us in the fun).

chihuly exhibit

my homecoming anniversary!

today is my coming home anniversary!!  three years ago my mum arranged with the airedale rescue in dallas to meet up in waco and deliver me to her.  that's exactly what happened!  i jumped in mum's green machine truck and sped away home to austin to my new home.



my first profile shot...kinda.

honestly, at first i was a little scared and subdued...i didn't really know these people.  of course i loved mum as soon as she loved on me (which she did a lot) and eventually i stopped shying away from dad after a few months.  i was just really suspicious of men in the beginning. (we'll never know why until dogs start talking...)
i'm so happy to be here, and i love playing fetch and tug of war and love getting all my treats :)





so keep looking up rescue and shelter pups when you are looking for a furry friend!

happy 4th of July!!!

WOOF!