Daisy and her Heartworm Treatment

This is Daisy Saturday night after her treatment.

Daisy started her heartworm treatment on Friday morning. We had to take her to the vet early in the morning, and then pick her up in the evening. They gave her a shot in her hind end that travels through her blood stream, and kills the heartworms. The process was repeated again on Saturday. The injections kill the adult heartworms which eventually dissolve. While the heartworms are being broken down and dissolved the dog must stay very calm and sedentary. If the dog gets too excited or worked up, they run the risk of having a heart attack. We have to keep this dog quiet for six weeks. No walks, no playing fetch, no barking when the doorbell rings. We even have to put her on a leash when she goes out to relieve herself. The injections are very painful, and can make them sore for quite a while. We were initially told that she would be given pain pills that would keep her in a semi-sedated state for about two weeks. I figured that the first two weeks would be a breeze. How hard is it to keep a sleeping dog calm? We were misinformed. She acted like she didn't feel well on Saturday night, but she seems to have made a full recovery. It's going to be a long six weeks.

Out of the Nest

We can't believe how much these little birds have grown. They seem to make significant changes each day. I took this photo on Saturday, June 21st.
Sunday morning Lance heard some commotion, and when he eventually went to investigate, there was only one little bird sitting in the tree's pot. We were worried that something bad had happened, but have now come to the conclusion that the parent birds kicked them out of the nest. The babies have been hopping around the yard eating bugs, and hiding in the bushes. They are really rather noisy. We haven't let the cats out, and probably won't until we're sure that the babies are all gone, or able to fly. There were six eggs, but only five hatched. The other egg was still at the bottom of the nest. It's been a fun process to watch, but I'm kind of hoping that we don't have a repeat performance next year.

Toads

Sophie and Brennan have become awfully fond of the toads that roam freely here. Somehow they found their way into these PVC tubes that are in our front yard, and the kids have kept them trapped there. They do let some go when they find new ones, and somehow the toads survive. They have spent so much time playing with them, that the neighbor has started referring to the kids as "Toadologists".

These are two especially large ones that Brennan named Billy Bob, and Billy Boo. All of the toads have names, but we won't take the time to list them. I will mention though, that one evening Brennan and a friend caught 37 of them.

Eggs Hatched

The eggs have now hatched, so now we have a pile of fuzzy, ugly, hungry, critters in the not so very big tree on our front porch.

Beach Vacation

For our first summer vacation (hopefully there will be another), we went to South Padre Island, TX for a few days. This is one of Wade and Jodie's annual trips that they take with some of their friends. We had a good time getting to know those families, and relaxing on the beach. We passed the time by studying the local sea creatures,
feeding the seagulls,
making a giant sea turtle out of sand (Lance and I didn't help at all),
playing la cross and frisbee (This is Wade and Jodie's friend Julie Gill in action. We now consider her our friend as well.),



collecting seashells,
playing in the sand,
playing in the sand some more,
playing in the water,

and reading, and eating (only healthy fruits and vegetables of course). We also went out to eat a few times, and had fun crab hunting after dark. Regardless of multiple applications of sun screen, we all came home tired and burned. Nonetheless, it was a great time, and we can't wait to go again sometime.

Daisy wants to play with Gunther

Daisy is really interested in playing with the cats. She doesn't seem to want to harm them, just play. We really haven't made much more progress than this. The other night one of the cats was brave enough to come right up to Daisy and smell her head while she was sleeping.

Aiden's Court of Honor

Aiden received his Scout Badge, and his Tenderfoot rank the other night at the Scout Court of Honor.
Next time I'll remember to wear a shirt with a collar. Aiden couldn't put the pins on me without reaching down my shirt, so I had to do it myself.
As parents, we are both very proud of him. He's a great kid.

This is the not so very big hibiscus tree that sits on our front porch.

This is the little bird that built her nest in the not so very big hibiscus tree that sits on our porch.

These are four of the six eggs that the little bird laid in the nest that she built in the not so very big hibiscus tree that sits on our porch.

We just hope that the cats don't discover it. They probably won't considering that they haven't hardly set foot downstairs in the two weeks that we've had the dog.

We're starting to grow accustomed to the bird flying out of the tree every time that we open the front door. How long before these babies are big enough to fly away? We're considering opening a zoo.