Summer's here

While Pepper was enjoying his new doggie pool (well, he was walking in it - he's not a fan of getting the rest of his body wet!)

the cats were complaining about their imprisonment.

Happy Birthday Jan!

I love you.

Unwrapping the presents.

No-bake cheese cake with strawberries. Yummy!

Making a wish.

Enjoying the afternoon sun.

Silverfalls state park

Last Saturday, Amy, Nathan, Jan, Pepper and I went to Silverfalls State Park. Amy and Nathan were here to hunt for an apartment for the fall, which they found in record time, freeing some time on Saturday. And with the beautiful weather finally here that made for a fun 9-mile hike.

Unfortunately, we could not walk along the waterfall route (no dogs allowed there!). On the plus side, that "forced" us to walk through the woods - something Jan and I haven't done before.

Pepper did very well, too. He carried his backpack most of the way (I took it off when he got too slow uphills).

Meet "The Nose"

Today we went to the smaller area of the dog park (the doberman that gets annoyed by Pepper and gets very intense then was in the bigger one). As you can see, the grass is pretty high there, which made for some fun sniffing adventure. Meet: The Nose.

What really cracks me up is that little tail wag whenever he smells something really, REALLY interesting. Got to love this dog!

Cuddle Time

Pepper and Daisy (Rick's labradoodle) were cuddling and napping together in Pepper's crate this morning.

Champoeg State Park

We went to Champoeg State Park this morning for a 2-hour walk. That, and the added half an hour or so in the dog park afterward makes for a happy dog (and yes, we enjoyed the walk too!).

The beasties

Cuddling with the kitties (note that Abby only *looks* bigger because this was taken with the cell phone and she was much closer. No, she has not turned into a monster cat!):

And playing fetch with Pepper (sorry for the pixels - the original is much better but we have a size limitation for the website). The black lab is Mitch, a good friend of Pepper. When Mitch is around, Pepper plays fetch beautifully. When Mitch is not around, Pepper just tags the ball and does not retrieve it! And funny enough, here Pepper is playing with Mitch's ball while Mitch is playing with Pepper's. And neither dog had interest in their own ball!

And per popular demand - two smaller parts of the video in slightly higher quality.