Newest Addition

Maybe it's that we missed bringing home a new baby every two years.

We're a little overdue for a new one to add to the fold.

(You can't count the chickens or fish here.)

So, it was destiny (right?) when Mark was leaving Cabella's and a girl was sitting there with an almost 9 week old black lab puppy.

And had a trunk over flowing with little lab puppies all wiggling and squirming for attention.

Mark was trying to be strong.

He told the girl that if she still had the runt at the end of the day to give him a call.

It must have been destiny that she still had the runt that night.

And the next day.

So, we decided that if the parents were good dogs we'd really consider it.

I think it was a done deal in Mark's head.

It was pretty close to a done deal in mine too.

Both parents were good looking, mild mannered labs.

We were smitten.

And so we brought home our newest baby.

Miss Olive U. Schreck.

But don't call her Olive in front of Carl, he doesn't like olives but he loves Miss Ollie.

Here she is sharing a bone with her sister Lucy (who now lives with Elsa's best friend Henry).

One trick with bringing home Ollie was that we had to give up our trip to Mark's parent's cabin in Mazama.  It was tough to weigh bringing home a puppy with a promise to play in the snow at Nonna and Grandpa's cabin.  So, we compromised by taking the kids to the Great Wolf Lodge for a night.

While I had Charlie and Elsa in the bathtub after their first day in the indoor water park I was a little worried about making the single tiny tube of kid wash last for all 4 kids.

Don't ask me why, for some silly reason Mark really didn't think we should request more...

I turned around and saw them happily squirting all the soap in the water.

My reflex reaction, "DON'T WASTE THAT SOAP!"

I stepped out of the bathroom to put it back on the counter away from the tub

and heard Little Miss Big Pants Elsa Jane, "Jeeze Louise, she's cranky!"

Huh.  Totally put in place by my three year old.

She was right.  Who cares about a silly little tube of soap?

It was vacation.

She offered a good reminder to lighten up.  Jeeze Louise.

I can still hear her little voice perfectly enunciating, "Jeeze Louise! She's craaannnnkkkyyy!"

And giggling.

I had to giggle too.

I love those little buggers, all of them- two footed and four footed ones.

I think we need to figure out a sign to post on the barn: "Welcome to Crazytown.  Population 8.1- 6 human, 2 canine, 1 fish" and likely leave room to add to it for the future chickens, cows and whatever else moves into our crazytown.  It might have to be in chalk.