2014 Birthday Olympics

The house that we rented for daddy's birthday had a wonderful back patio with a pool and views down into the valley, with vineyards as far as I could see. The best thing about the patio though was the "swing-ball"/ What an amazing invention - a tennis ball on a string attached to a pole!!

Daddy and I had a great time recreating our very own 2014 Birthday Olympics with the swing-ball that was out on the pool patio at the house in Carmel Valley. 

As you can see, I have a much better technic than daddy. I am much more athletic, leaping for every shot. Daddy, on the other hand, seems a little afraid to tackle my shots. I guess it's because he is getting older....

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Every year, mummy and I plan a fun way to celebrate daddy's birthday. This year we decided to spend the weekend at a wonderful house in Carmel Valley. 

There was even a special place for me to park my car!

I knew this was a dog friendly house but imagine my joy and surprise at finding a metal sculpture of myself in the garden!

On the day of daddy's birthday I gave him a birthday card that mummy and I had made for him. 

Then I helped him unwrap the big box of presents that mummy had carefully wrapped up.

Mummy said that I was having so much fun helping daddy unwrap presents that she wasn't sure whose birthday it was! I got so excited about all the colours and rustling of the paper that I had to take a time-out to calm down.

To celebrate his birthday, daddy went on a long bicycle ride. 

Mummy and I went for a hike. We explored unknown paths...

I wondered if I would make a good wine maker...mummy said the only wine I did had an "h" in it....what did she mean?!

Then I hung out by the pool and got a tan.

That evening we celebrated daddy's birthday out on the patio. I wanted to give him a big birthday kiss to wish him a very happy day!

Eventually I was able to give daddy the biggest kiss when he was least expecting it!

We celebrated daddy's birthday all weekend long. It was all about sun, swimming, tennis balls, fun and food. By the end of it, daddy and I were so tired that we had to have a birthday nap!!!

Snooze Hounds

It's always time to snooze...

Selfie's!

Check us out! Mummy and I went to the marshes for our walk this morning. After chasing the tennis ball for a while, we sat down and took pictures of ourselves - 'selfies'!

How cute are we?!!

After the "selfies", mummy took photos of me. Personally, I think these are much cuter.

In this photo, the tennis ball and I are having a stare down. I'm waiting patiently for it to roll itself over to me....

 ...but no matter how long I wait, tennis balls never seem to roll themselves. So I have to help them.

Chocolate Chums!!

Look at me and my new friends!!! I'm hanging out with a different dog-walking crowd this week and I keeping seeing double...or triple! I can't tell where my head starts and my tail ends in this pack!!! It's a chocolate Fest!!

At least I can tell which one is my new pal, Chewy!! 

Oh What A Beautiful Morning!

Daddy and I got up early today and while everyone else stayed sleeping in bed, we took a stroll along the beach to watch the sun come up. 

I really love this place. Here I am thinking about all the fun things we did this week, but you know what I am thinking the most? 

Life in Carmel sure is good. 

Surfer Dawg

Today we went and explored another wonderful beach! 

It is called Monastery Beach and while I have no idea what that means, I think it must mean something good. Just look at this beautiful sand.

It's ideal for digging and hiding tennis balls so that I can re-discover them over and over and over again.

Best of all though, this beach is great for surfing!! 
Now surfing takes a lot of skill. 

First you have to time the entry, bounding over the incoming waves at just the right moment so that you can leap over it without getting a muzzle full of salt water.

Then you have to fetch the target. In this case it was one of mummy's flip flops. She lost the other one in the waves. She blamed it on me but really it was her fault as she just wasn't timing the waves properly.

Once you have the flip flop, you need to start cruising slowly into shore. Again, the timing is critical. You need to make sure you catch a wave at just the right moment.

If you catch it right, it will lift you up and carry you forward.

You will pick up speed and whoosh! You are carried safely into shore.

At this point, you can saunter out of the surf with all the swagger befitting a surfer dawg!

And because everyone loves a surfer dawg, you get to chill out afterwards with your groupies!