Life with a Golden

Attention cat people: Skim through the dog portion of this post and you will be rewarded with a funny cat picture.

For those of you who don't know the joys of living with a Golden Retriever, they are friendly, cuddly, and eager to please. The downside? The double coat. Our old lady sheds her undercoat twice a year; once in the spring and once in the fall.

So twice a year we go through a ritual (besides the extra vacuuming): two days of combing followed by a bath. Here's our first day of combing:


If you didn't know Miss Samantha Belle LaRue you would think she is relaxed and calm. Actually she's shutting out the world around her. Brush time is no fun!

And all that brushing yields:


A Jaxon-sized pile of hair! Day two will yield a lot loss fur and then the dreaded bath!

But don't think Samantha gets all the attention around here! Artemis tried to relax in the box bottom while Jaxon was playing Chutes and Ladders. He's a little too big to be inconspicuous.


Once Jaxon discovered him relaxation time was over!

Despite the torment of our pets, we've had a good weekend. Friday evening we welcomed our new graduate student class with a picnic at a colleague's farm. Every year we take a hayride around the farm. This year when we stopped at the crest of a hill, another colleague's daughter decided to go for a run and Jaxon went after her.



They made it pretty far.


And Jaxon was wiped out on the ride back.


Saturday we went to a football game. This was Jaxon's first college football game and he made it until halftime. We stayed long enough to see the marching band, and as a band geek, and an alumnae of this particular marching band, that was fine by me.



Charlie worked all day today, so Jaxon and I spent the day cleaning and crafting. It's amazing how a four-year-old thinks he is the wisest person in the house. As we were straightening up his room he asked "Mommy, I can't find my goggles. I responded, "This room is such a mess, I can't say where they are." Jaxon looked me straight in the eye and as clearly as possible he said, "GOG-GLES."

Oh, that's how you say that.