Change Is Hard

…but change is certain.

Tag Archives: Katie's park


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Baby’s first walk all the way around Katie’s park

Hey there, it’s me your Adventure-Girl Penny!

So this is the pond Katie always got her picture in front of.

I bet you’ve been wondering what I’ve been up to, and since mom is off doing dishes or laundry or some other boring thing I thought I’d tell you about last weekend when I got to visit my sister Katie’s park and I walked all the way around it for the very first time!

Is there something back there?

I’ve been telling Mom I was a big girl and I could walk around that park, but for some reason she’s never taken me. I think she just wasn’t emotionally ready to handle it, you know?

It’s really nice here, mom!

I know this is Katie’s park and it’s not like I’m asking her to rename it or anything. But sometimes mom is a little slow to move forward. So I waited patiently (I’m really good at patient) for her to be ready to share the park with me, her new little girl.

We stopped at the memory tree. Mom didn’t have to explain it to me. I understood.

Well. Let me tell you it was worth the wait! Though I am not thrilled about sitting on some rock in the parking lot. Apparently Katie would pose for her there. I don’t see what the point is, so I declined to pose.

Tell me again why you want me up here, mom?

I am my own girl. Mom said that was OK, I’m allowed to be me, and she loves me just the quirky little girl way I am.

Mom says she always takes at least one artsy-fartsy image. I guess this is it.

Anyway…mom put a long line on me so I could wander further away from her. But she kept calling me when I wasn’t paying attention.

Did you call, mom?

I’d turn right around and run back to find out what she needed. And to get a snack.

This is a pretty fun game, mom!

Mom says I’m very good at something called distracted recall. She says that’s a very very important skill to have. Whatever mom, if you bring the snacks I will do recall all day.

Are you coming, mom? Katie says you lag a lot on walks.

The park was pretty the day we visited, and mom promises to take me back again real soon. I can’t wait. I liked this park a lot because we weren’t in the deep woods and I could see the sky.

Is there something back there?

Mom is figuring out I like to be in open places the better to make sure there aren’t any monsters around.

Sometimes mom focused on stuff that wasn’t me! Incredible. Katie told me to get used to it.

It’s possible to be an Adventure-Girl and also a little nervous all at the same time. Mom says that’s OK too.

I think I’ll get braver and braver the more adventures we go on. Mom’s going to put up another tent in our back yard after it stops raining. She says it has a little window down near the floor and maybe I’ll like it better. I don’t know, mom. Right now I’m thinking daddy has the right idea about camping.

Mom got a lot of pictures like this too. Tee hee.

I guess I’ll have to trust you, mom, and check out the new tent when you put it up. Maybe I’ll turn into a camping dog eventually. Dad reminds mom that I’m still just a baby.

I took a nap when we got home. Mom woke me up when she took this picture. I was not amused.

Mom says she can be patient too.


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Let the adventures begin!

Penny, our 4 month old sheltie, has been fully vaccinated for a couple weeks now, so it’s safe to take her beyond our neighborhood. The little girl has no idea how big the world is, but we introduced her to a tiny part of it last weekend.

Where are we, dad? Is this another vet?

On Friday evening my husband and I took her to Katie’s park. She wasn’t sure about the whole adventure thing when she emerged from the car.

I think turtles have been here, mom!

But by the time we got to the pond she was having a good old time. There were so many things to sniff!

This is kinda fun, you guys, being out here in the evening!

We just wandered around the pond, we didn’t do the whole trail. After all, she’s just a little girl, and there will be plenty of time to explore the whole park in the future. This visit was just an introduction.

What’s this down here, dad?

Of course I talked to Katie quite a bit as I took pictures of Penny and her dad. Katie says she is fine sharing her park, especially with her little sister. Of course I wish she could have been there to introduce the park to Penny herself, but I like to think there was a bit of Katie there, showing us all around.

Is there another puppy here, mom?

Then on Sunday I met a friend and her five month old cocker spaniel named Whisky for a longer walk at a park Katie had only visited once.

Ok Whisky, I’ll let you give kisses to my mom. This time. (Picture by Whisky’s mom, Karen)

We walked on a combination of cement paths, wooden boardwalks and dirt paths along a fast moving river.

These leaves smell AMAZING!

Personally I liked the woods the best, and once Penny got over the abundance of leaves on the ground, and realized she couldn’t eat them all, she settled right in trotting along the path.

This place is so cool!

She also got to see lots of other people and dogs enjoying the park. She was interested in all of them. When she sees something new she sits, very alert, and considers what it might mean. She’s a thinker, this one.

What might that be over there?

I think she had a wonderful time. It was her longest walk, and in a new environment, and she was a trooper.

This was the very first log I’ve ever jumped over!

She fell asleep in her crate on the drive home and pretty much napped the evening away. But the next day she was bored at home, now that she knows there are more exciting alternatives out there.

Hey mom! Did you know I can do zoomies in the WOODS?!!

I might have created a monster.

Yep, I got a little muddy. It was amazing!


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Betrayed!

Katie here.

I can’t even believe I have to tattle on mama again. It’s not as if I haven’t discussed time management skills with her before. I even thought, these past couple of years, that she was finally getting the hang of paying attention to me and only me.

But she fell off the wagon yesterday.

Deuce and his little brother Ace on the shores of Lake Huron.

While I was home napping supervising my daddy she was off galivanting with other dogs. And worse, they were boy dogs! She can’t fool me, I might be old and deaf but my nose still works just fine!

I can’t believe it! Seriously, I am too old for these kinds of shenanigans. Mama should know better.

Ace is only 2, and he likes the water. Silly boy.

She says she thought about taking me but decided the drive would be too scary, what with how I shake when I have to go in the car these days. I told her that she’d shake too if the only place she ever got to go was the vet!

Deuce is 10 and smart, like me. We don’t like our feet getting damp.

So she said she was sorry, and she made me my supper and tickled my ears and tried to play lovey-dovey.

These guys will pose anywhere for a treat. I need to tell them about my one image, one treat clause.

But I told her there was only one way she could make it up to me, only one thing she could do to make me consider forgiving her this time.

Yep.

That’s how I got to go on a nice long walk with my mama in my park right after supper while the sun was setting.

You owed me mama, and you know it!

But shhhhhhh. Don’t tell mama, but I didn’t mind staying home all that much. I got lots of loving from my daddy and lots of naps and I didn’t miss a single meal either.

That was your one picture, mama, now lets get to walking.

PLUS I got to make mama feel guilty.

Score.

Me and mama are a team.