Naughty Puppy Thursday: Walks

In the past few weeks Chester and I have started going on morning walks. We usually also go in the evening when I get home, but some days it's raining or too hot out to go. Going in the morning guarantees that he'll get at least one walk a day. Due to his luxating patella and the heat, we only go around the block. This takes us about ten minutes. He usually goes to the bathroom on them, so it's an added bonus that I don't have to stand out in the yard waiting for him to go. This way we both get a little bit of exercise before it gets hot out, and it helps me wake up in the mornings.

I thought our little morning walks would wear him out, but they seem to give him more energy. He's pretty cute about walks. When you ask him, "Chester, do you want to go for a walk?" he gets really excited and does a little spin (in a circle) like "yeah! yeah! let's go!" It's adorable. Then he impatiently waits for you to get your shoes on and leash on him. He has a special leash we just use for walks (blue plaid with bones on it), so when he sees it, he automatically assumes we're going for a walk. This is bad when you can't find his normal leash and just want to take him out to the bathroom...

Chester has actually gotten a lot better about pulling on his leash. He still does it when you first start out, and if he sees a squirrel, but otherwise it's not bad. Often he'll run a little ahead until the leash is tight, stop and wait for me to catch up, and then run ahead again. It's like he can't stand to go if it's not at full speed. He's also really good at not barking at things on walks - that is unless he sees a big dog. I don't know what it is about big dogs that makes him bark. We pass little ones all the time and he doesn't make a peep. I think it's because the old neighbors had a large dog that was CONSTANTLY barking at him and us whenever we were in the yard. I don't know if he'll ever get over it. He was fine at obedience once he got used to seeing the other big dogs, but if he doesn't recognize the dog, he barks. Super annoying and embarrassing..

Ok so this post really isn't about Chester being naughty, but it's Thursday so I had to blog about him. Adam complains that Chester gets all the attention in this blog. Poor Adam. He's such a good husband.

More from Chester's First Swim

I know I posted a bunch of photos from Chester's first boat ride and swim yesterday, but it was such a momentous occasion and he looked so darn cute, how can I not share more? These photos were taken by Robin.

No, he wasn't trying to jump out, he just wanted to feel the wind in his fur!

There's nothing like the feeling of wind through the fur!

Splashing around

I'm swimming!

Weekend Recap: Grad Party, Cabin, Chester's FIRST Swim!

On Friday night, I got home from work, took Chester for a quick walk, and then we left right away for Adam's parents. Aaron graduated, and they had a party for him. There was great food - a nacho bar with pulled pork! - and as always, it was fun to see everyone. Chester especially enjoyed all the attention he received from Adam's younger cousins. He crashed hard in his kennel on the way home!

Saturday morning we got up, packed, and hit the road a little after 9 for the cabin. We had planned on going to Duluth, but that didn't work out, so we went to Adam's parent's cabin with them instead. It was a great time and really nice to see the recently finished off porch space. Chester loved running around and barking at everything. No really, everything. A bug? Better bark. Dogs barking in the distance? Bark. Bark. Birds? BARK!

After lunch, we put Chester in his fancy new lifejacket and went out on the pontoon. Chester liked the boat ride. When we were moving, he would sit on your lap to get as high as he could. He loved the feeling of the wind through his fur.

We stopped at the sand bar to give Chester his first swimming experience. The water was a little cold, so it was a short one, and only Adam went in. Hopefully it will be warmer next weekend so we can all be in the water together. I really think he liked it though! He was really fast and super cute scooting around in his little orange life jacket. He used his tail as a propeller of sorts.

Hey mom, I'm swimming!!! splash splash splash

After his swim when the guys were trying to fish, he was a naughty boy. He was super hyper and barking at everything again - a bug, eagles, another dog in the distance, jet-skis, other boats, etc. He drove us crazy and wouldn't sit still or relax. I know he was just overstimulated with so many new things, but it was still annoying...

Back at the cabin, he was still a hyper boy and had to have a little quiet time alone in his kennel while we ate. He finally relaxed a bit and took a nap on my lap while we chatted in the porch.

Sunday morning Adam and his dad went fishing while Chester and I slept in. He was actually very well behaved on Sunday. Curt and Robin took him for a nice long walk which I think helped get out some energy. We had to leave him behind for an hour when we went to lunch at a root beer stand, but he was fine when we got back. We left at about 3 and he was very well behaved on the way home.

We also discovered that Chester is a tick magnet! We were constantly pulling them off him. It was crazy. He had his Frontline Plus on and he has a Lyme shot so he should be okay though. We were even finding them on ourselves so it must just be a bad time for them. This morning on my way to work I felt something crawling on my hand - it was a tick. Yuck! I threw it out the window.

It was a fun weekend at the cabin despite Chester's hyperactivity. Hopefully he's getting used to it and will be better when we go up there next weekend. 

Foodie Friday Fail - Plants instead

I forgot to take pictures of any of our meals this week, so I will post some photos I took a few weeks ago when I was playing around with a new lens in the yard. I never quite got around to posting them before.

Peonies in our back yard

We have chives growing everywhere - like randomly in the middle of the grass and on the patio...

It's funny to me how the pesky dandelion can be so beautiful

The fam drops by for a visit

My fam was in town for the State High School Baseball Championship at Target Field, so after the game, they dropped by for pizza. We of course had our favorite, Savoy. Yum. It's so good. They were only over for an hour, but it was really nice to see them. Chester really enjoyed having company and whined when they left!

Chester and Aunt Christine

Chester and Grandma Jill

If Chester disappears and is quiet, you know he's up to no good. He's been really into sandals lately...

Chester's New Life Jacket

We've been meaning to get Chester a life jacket for a while now, but were waiting until we thought he was done growing. With a trip to the lake coming up, I decided to get the life jacket and hope he's reached his full size. When I went to PetSmart yesterday after work, they only had 3 left. Luckily, one was in his size. The small fits him perfectly. I had to tighten it up, so there's a lot of room to expand it if he grows. There's velcro AND clips, so I don't think he'll be able to get out of it.

Isn't he darling in it? When I first put it on, he froze in place, as if it was so terrible to have on that he couldn't even move. Pretty soon he was racing around the house in it. I think it'll be perfect for weekends at Adam's parent's cabin. I would be nervous to have him out on the water and in the boat without it. He's never had a chance to swim, so I don't know how he'll react and he's just so little.

I'm pretty sure he was eager to try out his new life jacket because he was fascinated by the bath tub last night. Then, this morning I couldn't find him - guess where he was...

Hey mom! I'm ready to go for a swim!

Father's Day Dinner

Last night we went over to Adam's parents to celebrate Father's Day. We had a nice dinner together. Chester of course enjoyed racing around the carpet in their basement and exploring. It was just fun to get together!

Weekend Recap: Dave & Megan's Wedding

The highlight of this weekend was the wedding of one of Adam's friends, Dave.
Fun fact- I actually met Dave before I met Adam as he was one of Sean's roommates in college. He and Megan were both there the first night Adam and I met back in 2006.

But back to the weekend recap-
Friday night I ran some errands after work before heading home. Adam grilled out steaks and asparagus, while I did some weeding of the garden and puppy ate grass.

Saturday morning we ventured to the St. Paul Farmer's Market. It was VERY crowded, but they had a lot of great stuff. We had a hard time deciding what to get, and finally settled on some cilantro, strawberries and small red potatoes. There were a lot of radishes, lettuce, green onions, garlic and onions to choose from as well as lots of plants. Part of the fun is just walking around and seeing everything. I so enjoy going to the Farmer's Market when we happen to be around. It seems like we're gone so often in the summer that we don't get there very much.

I dragged Adam to a few vintage shops, which he described as "painful" before returning home to get ready for the wedding. It was an outdoor wedding, and unfortunately Saturday was a very rainy day. There was some confusion as we had read on the website that in the case of rain the ceremony would be at the same location as the reception. It wasn't. I was worried we would be late to the ceremony and miss it, but it worked out fine. I felt so bad for Dave and Megan that they couldn't have the ceremony they had planned because of the weather. However, they made the most of it and it was still lovely. I especially enjoyed the string trio; it reminded me of the quartet at our wedding.

Waiting in the rain for the ceremony. Luckily we both had umbrellas with!

Megan and her father

They improvised and held the ceremony in a small shelter instead of the garden as planned.

After the ceremony, we made our way to the reception location which was the Blaisdell Manor in Minneapolis. The Blaisdell Manor is an old house that was converted into an event center (and added on to?). As such, it has a very cozy feel. The cocktail hour took place in small reception rooms on the first and second floors. We really enjoyed the wonderful apps during cocktail hour including bruschetta, a fruit and cheese platter, and walleye bites. Yum.

I was excited that Adam wore his new tie that I picked out for him all by myself!

Once it was dinner time, we were seated in the ball room. Our assigned table was with all of Adam's friends and their significant others. A reception is always so much more fun when you are seated by people you know!

Salad

Dinner

The dessert was also the centerpiece

After the meal, we watched a slideshow and listened to the speeches. Then it was time for Megan and Dave's first dance, followed by the father-daughter dance. The live band had good energy and seemed to specialize in Motown hits.

Adam with Dave, the groom

Adam is a dancing machine

Last song of the night

Our favorites songs were played at the very end of the reception - "You Shook Me All Night Long" by AC/DC, "Sweet Caroline" by Neil Diamond, and of course they saved the best for last, "Don't Stop Believin'" by Journey. We were so glad we stayed for the very end. It was a lovely wedding and a fun night.

I really wish I would have taken more photos, but I only had my point-and-shoot, not the Cannon, and just wasn't feeling it. Sadly, this is the only wedding we'll be going to this summer. Apparently if you don't invite people to your wedding they don't invite you to theirs?

Sunday was basically the ideal Sunday. We relaxed around the house, did some housework, laundry, and lounged with the pug. Just another great weekend in the Dang household!

Foodie Friday: Kansas City BBQ

Today is a very special edition of Foodie Friday as I’ve finally gotten around to writing our reviews of the three Kansas City BBQ places we tried.

1. Oklahoma Joe’s

Visited: Friday, June 3 at 1 pm

What we ordered-

Adam: Z-Man Brisket sandwich and side of creamy coleslaw

Stef: Pulled-pork sandwich

Shared: Fries, Barq’s Red Cream Soda

Thoughts

Line: We pulled up at 1 and the parking lot was full so we parked across the street. The line was out the door and down the side of the building. It’s like Disney where you think you’ve reached the front of the line, but then you get inside and it wraps around in the building. It took an hour to get through it. When we left around 2:30, the line was still out the door.

Atmosphere: It’s in a gas station, which seems really odd, but it’s very modern and clean inside with lots of seating.

Food: My pulled pork sandwich was great and I loved their BBQ sauce. The fires were good and a huge order, but slightly salty because they were covered in seasoning salt. Adam loved them. The pop was huge, which was great because I discovered the glory that is Barq’s Red Cream Soda. AMAZING! Adam really enjoyed his brisket sandwich and said it had a good smoke ring. They had really good quality meat.

Pulled pork sandwich and fries

Really good quality meat

Z-man Brisket sandwich and side of coleslaw

Verdict: Best BBQ food and experience we had despite the line. It was well worth the wait!

2. Arthur Bryant’s

Visited: Saturday, June 4 at 1 pm

What we ordered-

Adam: Brisket sandwich

Stef: Burnt ends open faced sandwich

Shared: Fries, Red Cream Soda

Thoughts

Line: We went to the original location by downtown Kansas City. There was plenty of parking in the lot. The line was pretty short, only halfway through the building. It took about 25 minutes to get through. When we left though, the line was much longer; out the door and down the sidewalk.

Atmosphere: Old, rundown, dirty and cramped. While we were waiting in line, we were constantly being asked to move, rather rudely, by the hostess cleaning up the tables. Her dish bin was right between the line and the wall. The kitchen area is visible through a window when you’re in line. It was really unappetizing as you could see random chunks of meat and juices all over the counters. Cooked ribs were just sitting out on the counter, with no warmers, waiting to be cut and plated as people ordered them.

Food: Not very good. The meat quality was definitely lacking. My favorite item was the red cream soda. I was really excited to try burnt ends, but was disappointed with them. They were chopped up and covered in sauce. They were REALLY fatty. The fries were cold. I did really like their original sauce though, but none of the others. Adam said his brisket was okay.

Fatty chewy burnt ends and fries

Adam's brisket

 Verdict: You may be tempted to go here because of all the history, but skip it. It was kind of gross.

3. Gates

Visited: Sunday, June 5 at 11:30 am

What we ordered-

Adam: Burnt ends sandwich

Stef: Brisket

Shared: Fries

Line: Really short. It was kind of confusing to us though, because as soon as we walked in we were greeted by two different women bellering “How MAY I HELP you!” They were waiting on other customers, so it appears to be just something they do. It was slightly overwhelming though. There were 2 different lines to keep things moving. We were through the line with our food in about 10 minutes.

Atmosphere: Really dark and slightly rundown, but clean. It was annoying to hear all the “How may I help you” shouting while we ate.

Food: My brisket was really fatty and chewy, but Adam liked his burnt end sandwich. My favorite part was the fries. They were really hot and crispy. I also liked the BBQ sauce, but was disappointed they didn’t have red cream soda!

Brisket sandwich and awesome fries

Adam's burnt ends sandwich

 Verdict: Pretty good if you’re in the area like we were, but try something other than the brisket

Our ranking:

#1 Oklahoma Joe’s (BY FAR)

#2 Gates

#3 Arthur Bryant’s (a very distant third)

Naughty Puppy Thursday: Climbing & Shoes

Lately Chester has fancied himself to be a little explorer and mountain climber. When I was getting ready this morning, he was out in the living room getting a toy out of his toy box - or so I thought. I heard him make a little noise, so I went to check on him. I came out to see him standing on the couch armrest. As soon as he saw me he jumped right down and off the couch and hid under the dining room table. I went back to getting ready, and heard a crashing sound. I went to investigate and found one of the coasters, normally on the side table, on the floor. Chester was right next to it on the floor looking at the coaster innocently like "how did that get there??" By a naughty puppy climbing on top of the couch and side table of course!

The last straw was when he was supposed to be eating, but I caught him in the act - standing on the side table with his 2 front legs and 2 back legs on the couch armrest. He was just standing their sniffing, dangerously close to the lamp on the side table. As a result, Chester has lost all of his unsupervised time in the mornings. Granted, he's not usually out of my sight because he likes to be by me ALL THE TIME, but if he wandered into the living room for a few minutes I didn't think much of it. He usually would return with a toy or his bone. Now I don't trust him to not get into mischief and climb onto things he's not supposed to. He could hurt himself or break something quite easily. Though I must admit he looked pretty darn cute standing there on the armrest and side table.

Another bad habit of his lately is shoes, in particular MY shoes. When we first got him he loved shoes, but he finally got over that obsession in the late fall. However, the past few weeks he's been really into them again. I thought we were past the stage of having to put them up out of his reach, but apparently not. He usually doesn't chew on them much, just has the shoe in his mouth until you notice and then runs around and tries to hide with it (under the dining room table where we can't get him of course). I know he knows he shouldn't do it, and he does it for attention, but we can't just ignore him when he has a shoe or he'll destroy it.

Today at work I thought I had a smudge on my shoe, but no, it was a HOLE. Thanks a lot Chester. He's such a naughty little ball of fur at times! But so cute he's impossible to ever be mad at.

An Early First Anniversary Gift

I'm going to apologize right now for this short post. I have a sick husband and not much time to post.

I would like to share a photo of the antique secretary we received from my parents as an early First Anniversary gift. We've been eying it up at their house for a while, so when my dad came across a second lighter colored one, he decided to give us this one. We LOVE it! It fits so well with our old house and the dark wood is perfect (dark wood is my favorite). The best part is that we finally have something to display some of our beautiful wedding gifts in so they're not sitting in boxes upstairs.

We've already started playing around with putting different items in the glass display. I'll have to post some more photos once it's done. Thank you mom and dad!

Weekend Recap: Action Packed Fam Visit

Last weekend my mom, dad and sister came to visit and brought Chester back with. We had an action packed weekend planned, and it didn't disappoint. We did a lot of fun things, but it left Adam and I feeling completely exhausted!

They got into town around 3:30 on Friday. I was off of work early, and anxiously awaiting their arrival with Chester. I kept looking out the window and waiting for them to pull up. When they pulled into the driveway and got out, I raced out to see Chester. He was so excited to see us! Oh my goodness. He is always happy to see us, but this was beyond excited. He was shaking and racing back and forth between Adam and I jumping up and giving kisses. I don't think he knew what to do with himself he was that excited. I was pretty excited too!

It's so good to have our little guy back home!!!

 We went inside while Adam and dad brought in our new antique secretary that mom and dad gave us as an early First Anniversary gift. It goes perfectly in our house. I will have to take some photos of it tonight to share. We were celebrating my dad's birthday earlier this week, so he opened his gifts.

Then, I finished up making the rhubarb crisp while Adam prepared the Juicy Lucy's. He's really good at making them, and they were excellent.

After spending a little more time with Chester, we left for the Mall of America. Christine wanted to look at a few stores before we all went to OVO by Cirque du Soleil. The tents are all set up in the MOA parking lot (in front). The show was really fun to watch. My favorites were the ants that did all the tricks balancing giant kiwi drums on their feet, and the grasshoppers with the trampolines and wall at the end. Adam and I agreed we both could have done without the stupid story line involving the egg, visitor, and super annoying ladybug. But it seems all Cirque shows have these narratives that I think are pointless - I'd rather just watch the acts instead of a few actors speaking gibberish and making weird noises that are supposed to be funny(?). It was a great show though and I'm glad we went! It was 2 1/2 hours long, with a half hour of it being intermission.

Saturday morning we slept in, and had a big breakfast. Dad and Adam ran an errand, while we lounged. Then it was time to head to the Twins game. We got there about an hour early which allowed us to walk around, get food, and watch the Jim Perry Twins Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony.

We had great seats right behind home plate, and despite being a little chilly, the sun was out. The Twins won in very convincing fashion (8-1), and Ben Revere had an AMAZING catch which was really exciting to see.

Photo by Adam

photo by Adam

Photo by my mom!

Larry Fitzgerald (Arizona Cardinals) was in the section right ahead of us. I felt like a paparazza!

Casilla in the dugout

Twins won 8-1 AND Baker pitched a complete game!

Ben Revere's interview after the game

We returned home for an hour, played with Chester, and had a drink out on the patio. Then, it was time for dinner at Osaka in Roseville. I hadn't been to a hibachi grill since DisneyWorld, so it was a fun experience. It was definitely a show, but the food was very good as well. I especially loved the fried rice and swordfish.

Fire!

Adam liked the sake... a lot

Sunday morning we arrived at the Science Museum of Minnesota right when it opened at 9:30 and got our tickets for the King Tut exhibit. We watched the IMAX movie about mummies, and then went through the King Tut exhibit at 11. It was fascinating. I was really interested in Ancient Egypt and King Tut when I was younger, so it was neat to see all these artifacts up close and in person. I loved it. It took us about an hour to go through.

You can't take photos inside the King Tut exhibit for obvious reasons, so we settled for a few photos in the lobby

After leaving the Science Museum, we stopped at Cosetta's to get lunch for my family. Adam and I got something too for dinner as we were going to his cousin's graduation party after my family left. Once my family left, I changed into something warmer since it was so chilly out, and we left for the grad party. We were feeling completely exhausted after so many activities, but it was nice to see everyone. Chester came too and had way more energy than the both of us combined. He was really excited to see people and explore. When we got home that afternoon, we all took a nap, which was glorious!

What a busy but great weekend! I love having my family visit! I can't believe that I won't see Christine again until after she returns from France and we leave for our Montana trip. Wow.