A fun-filled day of parks and puppies

Kristie with her girls Sarah and Grace, and us.

This past Tuesday my friend Kristie and I took our kids to Oaks Park for the day, a Portland area amusement park. We wanted to get an early start so we planned to meet there at 9:30 am sharp (translation: as close to 10:00 am as possible). 

Fact: It's always a good idea to check online for park info about the day you're going... in case you show up and find they are having a special PRESCHOOL ONLY morning, for 6-year-olds and younger. 

Bummer Summer. 

We decided to pay the entrance for Blake and Kristie's 3-year-old daughter, Grace, so they could go on all the kiddie rides while waiting for the full park to open to the general public at noon. Kendall, Cooper, and Sarah (Kristie's older daughter) were excellent sports about this, watching from the sidelines, and we rewarded them with delicious deep-fried carnival food and cotton candy for lunch.

(Or at least, that was our excuse so we could eat some ourselves.)

And then the real fun began!

Fact: I LOVE ROLLER COASTERS.

Kendall braved her first full-loop coaster and lived to tell the tale, while Cooper was kicked out of the line for being too short. He made up for it by going on the Screamin' Eagle however, something his sister was not quite up for. And Kristie and I made sure to get our fill of rides too, since we won't have great equilibrium forever.

After every ride Cooper would announce that he "hated it!" and was "never going on it again!". 5 minutes later he'd decide, "actually, that was kinda fun". And then 5 minutes after that it was, "Awesome! My favorite ride EVER!".

Fact: Cooper loves roller coasters after the initial terror has faded from his memory.

We had a really fun day and came home exhausted, only to leave again within an hour to go visit some puppies!

(My years of putting off getting a dog because I had children in diapers were finally over after Blake was potty trained in March. I'd dragged it out as long as I could, 12 years in fact, and the time had come; Russell declared this "the summer of the puppy.")

Fact: I am not a natural-born animal lover. I'm sorry. It's just the way it is.

But after a lengthy process of searching online, I decided what kind of dog I was willing to put up with I thought I would like, and we set up an appointment for 6:00 pm in Portland to see some mini schnoodle puppies that would be ready to take home Sept. 3rd.

Fact: mini schnoodles are a mini schnauzer/mini poodle mix - making for a small, non-shedding, affectionate, kid-loving, easily trained, extremely intelligent dog. Or so they say.

Back to our appointment Tuesday night though, when I did a last minute check online before leaving, we found a new listing for schnoodles much closer to home and for HALF THE PRICE. They were ready to go home immediately, and we drove there first "just to see them". In the process we forgot Blake's shoes at home because we got him up from a quick nap to go, and while out, one of Russ's flip flops broke and he couldn't wear it anymore.

Fact #1: We looked like rednecks.

Fact #2: It is virtually impossible to visit adorable puppies and not buy one.

Which is how we left with a new puppy and not a single thing for it yet! Never fear, off to Petco - with a still-shoeless Blake and single-sandalled husband, to buy $90.00 worth of puppy food and equipment!


Fact #1: We still looked like rednecks, DANG IT.

Fact #2: Despite our questionable appearance, Petco loooved us because we bought whatever they said to. 

And we didn't mind either... we were all in puppy-love and totally besotted by our sweet new girl.

We still are. She's the sweetest thing ever.

(translation: we're still in the baby puppy/sleeps all the time stage... check back later for my thoughts on toddler puppies ;)