Nothing too exciting has been going on since our trip, thus the lack of postings. But here's an update.
Back around July 15th, I had the incredible foresight to get the dogs "shaved" for the Summer. What actually happened was they needed to be trimmed, and after Chris's attempt with his shaver, we realized it would be an all day ordeal for us to do it. Plus, we didn't even think we could get Maddie to sit still long enough to do it. So I called Pet Smart and made an appointment. When they asked me about the length of hair I wanted, I said, just shave it. They asked, do you want some Schnauzer features to remain around the face? I said, "Nope, just shave it!" They said even around the feet and tail? I said, "Yes, all of it, shaved!".
I came back a few hours later and didn't even think they were my dogs! They were about an inch thinner and so scrawny looking. I wish I had the foresight to take a before picture, but you're left with the "after" shots. (Gunner is the one with some brown on his face).
Then, a couple of weeks ago, I went out and bought a bicycle for Makenna. She was getting way too big for the tricycle so we moved her "up" to a four-wheeler (as my dad put it). It has a princess theme on it and a place for her to add a passenger (in this case it was bunny) and a back-pack on the front for her to store all her important crap (I mean stuff).
You can see that after Daddy finally had a chance to put it together how happy she was. The downside, sort of, was that it was raining out so she had to practice riding around in the garage. But it's not like she could really practice in our driveway since it's all loose stone anyways, so it worked out for the best. Plus, it was a way to keep her contained and for her to practice turning.
She's trying to get the hang of the whole pedal thing. On her tricycle she could pedal backwards. On this, if she pedals backwards, she stops abruptly.
You can see the frustrated look of "not getting it."
But when she did get it....she was elated! She came in later to tell me that she can ride her bike now and that she was all grown up. Yikes!
We also had a conversation a couple of Sundays ago (July 31st) on the way home from church about 9-1-1. I was explaining to her what it's for and when she should use it. It boiled down to she should only call it if (a) Mom or Dad asks her to; (b) if she can't wake Mom or Dad up for whatever reason.
I have these visions of her calling it because she fell and has a scrape and I won't give her a "plaster" (band-aid) and to tell them that she needs an am-bee-lee-ance to take her to the hospital to get better. Me then explaining to the EMT's that her version of hurt and need of medical attention is a bit different than mine. But to stick around as she may now need some medical attention for calling.