Big Green Egg

Author's Note to original post added on 6/1.

Well, I finally got my Big Green Egg. I have always been a gas grill man. Charcoal was too much work. But now I am a statistic. I was just reading that a lot of people are getting charcoal grills as a second grill to their gas grill. I still plan on using my gas grill, but a lot of time will be spent experimenting with my Big Green Egg. The BGE is a kamado-style ceramic cooker. Here is Parker guarding the BGE. He knows yummy food will come out of it.




























It uses hardwood lump charcoal so there is very little ash to clean up. And with their great heat retention, you can smoke a brisket for 20-30 hours without having to lift the cover and add additional fuel. I’m looking forward to some real barbecuing. The verb, not the noun. I have in my sights, a brisket, a pork butt/shoulder, smoked duck, and a smoked turkey to start. I have already cooked some Tri-tip, chicken thighs, kielbasa and chicken wings on it. I need more practice with the temperature regulation, but the results were quite respectable. At least all the kids thought so ☺

Author's Note: Who is that climbing out of my grill? He says when I do a beer-butt chicken, I should use Foster's. That's Australian for beeyuh!

Honeysuckle Blooms

Trying to get pictures of the kids with the blooming honeysuckle turned out to be a little harder than I thought.

Stella, go stand next to the honeysuckle so daddy can get a cute picture for his blog. Um, is this far enough daddy?


That’s much better. Good girl Stella. But daddy, it’s hot out here in the sun.


Look daddy, I’m smelling the honeysuckle. You gettin’ a picture of this?





























Stella finally decides to go stand next to the honeysuckle for a full body shot.


Next is Lucas. You ready Lucas? Alright, go stand next to the honeysuckle so daddy can get a cute pic of you. Um, OK. Is this close enough?


How’s this daddy? Is this my good side?


Jaime, would you like to go stand next to the honeysuckle for a cute picture? Ok, daddy. I’m ready for my shot. But the honeysuckle is at the other end of the yard. But I look so cute here. You’re right Jaime. I’ll just take this shot.

VAGA carwash

This is our second annual VAGA carwash at the Culpeper Super Wal-Mart. We raised a good amount of money last year (which Wal-Mart matches), so we gave it another shot this year. Some of the original forecasts called for overcast and possible showers. EEK! But the weather was sunny all day. Lucas has the red bum to prove it. We ended up raising more than we did last year. Woohoo!

We were standing at the main entry from the road with signs for VAGA, a carwash sign, and a greyhound (Lucas) to entice people to get their cars washed.


We had Stella and Jaime working the other entrance. Jaime is wearing her donation jacket. People are much more willing to stick money in the donation jacket than give money to a human who just happens to be holding a greyhound. I only got pictures of my kids working the strip for money. Within a couple of hours of our arrival, we had up to a dozen greys at that point, but I was busy in the back lot washing cars.


We washed quite a few cars. But this was probably the coolest. Ahh, fond memories of the ice cream van. My kids are so used to hearing the one that goes through our neighborhood, they don’t even bother to roo anymore. Our ice cream van still plays Christmas music.


Stella was so tired when we got back that she couldn’t even hold up her head. Working the streets for money is a tiring business.

Rose Leaves & Party at Trina's

Rose left us to go to her new daddy and brother. Gus, the yellow lab, was quite happy she was back. Jaime will miss her. Neither Stella nor Lucas truly plays with Jaime the way Rose did. I’m sure we’ll be organizing some playdates for the two.


Jaime in her attempt to always be touching decided to do a ‘mind-meld’ with Stella.


You can read more about Trina’s party at her blog. Here are just a few pics.

Throw the stuffie already. We can’t chase it until you throw it!


The greys love just running around the yard.


Parker is looking out from the deck wondering if it’s safe to play with the big dogs.




























Blue, Booyah, and Jaime. Is this some kind of black dog conspiracy?

Hunting for Warthog

Rose spent the past weekend with her new dad and brother. He is on a business trip this week, so we are watching her until he gets back. She loves her new brother Gus. Sounds like he’s as playful and energetic as she is. She has figured out that if she is done playing before he’s done, all she has to do is run to the other side of the yard. Being a labrador, he’s not built for the chase. She has adjusted to homelife very well. She just loves to play, eat and sleep. And she has not growled once since she’s been back. What a turnaround. We built a special bed for Rose. It consists of a double-stacked dog bed cushioned with two pillows and two comforters. That sounds pretty comfy.


Rose is just a bundle of energy. Being a two year old, she has energy to burn. She joined Lucas as he was doing laps in the yard.


It’s all fun and games until you throw a warthog in the mix. Then it’s Game On!


Lucas gets the warthog. But that doesn’t mean the others have given up. Especially Rose. Looks like she is still going in for the kill.


Rose manages to grab a bit of it.


Lucas says, No, No! It’s mine! Mine!


The hazards of photographing the greys. They get so caught up in playing. They just about knocked me over. Eek!


Rose managed to get the warthog away. She is a very determined girl. Chase On!


After the big hunt, Lucas needed to cool off! So he decided to help us water the plants.

Rose Is Our Newest Foster & First Fredericksburg MnG

Rose (Erato) is our latest foster. She will be going to her new home in a week or so. She has a lot of energy and is very playful. She should be a great play partner for her new labrador brother. As you can see in the picture, she is quite a cutie.


Not so cute when she is eating. It’s all teeth and spit flying everywhere. You can see all the rice that is already outside of the bowl. Not to worry. Parker will clean up every last piece of rice. He is our little ‘Hoover’.


We had our first downtown Fredericksburg Meet ‘n Greet the other weekend. We always get a great turnout for this event. It really is just an excuse for the humans to get together to talk about how cute their dogs are. Because if we try to talk like that to someone who isn’t a member of the ‘greyhound cult’, you can see their eyes start to glaze over after a couple of minutes of talking about how your grey is so cute when she does this or that. If you look closely at this pic, you can pick out seven hounds. From L to R, the fawn is Allie, the dark brindle in the back is Milo, The brindle with the donation jacket is Goldie, my Jaime has her head resting on Goldie, Goldie’s brother Winston is next to her, you can see Lucas’ head next to Winston, and Stella on the right with Lucas’ butt on the far right. Quite the colorful bunch.


Joining us on the adjacent street corner were a group of college kids giving out ‘Free Hugs’. It’s an international movement that essentially just gives free hugs.



Some of the greys decided that getting petted wasn’t good enough. They wanted their free hugs. Kris took our kids over to receive theirs. Parker (behind Lucas) and Lucas get hugs with their mommy. Jaime is hugging her sister Stella. Stella and Jaime receive a hug from the college girl. Stella is looking back at me like, ‘Dad, are you serious?’ What is this movement you want me to be a part of? People shouldn’t be hugging me, they should be bowing to me. Jeez!

Bank of America Environmental Fair

We attended the Bank of America Environmental Fair in Richmond on Saturday. What a great weekend for it. The weather was absolutely beautiful. After the recent cold bout, this was much anticipated.

This is a group pic of some of the greys and Parker and Shiloh.


Ana was our donation dog. She is working the one-ear method here.


Shiloh and Parker discussing why all the doggie activities have to do with the greyhounds.

























The snake booth was right next to us. The greys didn’t really seem that interested. Except for Dana! She just wanted to get in one lick!







As the day wore on, we began to lose our shade. Except for Dante. Greyhounds make great shade.

























Lucas is a leaner. Jaime is a head-rester. Stella says, ‘ get her off my back, daddy!’
















Lucas is such a momma’s boy. If I’m holding the leash, he is always looking for his mommy. So it’s just easier if he’s with his mommy.

























At the Easter parade, a little girl just had to hug Jaime. At this Environmental Fair, a little girl just had to hug Stella!

My First Non-Grey Post In A While

I wasn’t even going to mention it, but I saw Trina’s blog entry, and felt like I was just side-stepping the issue. I guess it hits close to home. I am speaking of the tragedy at Virginia Tech this past Mon.

In a way, it’s a very local thing. But it’s a national obsession. I’m sure it’s even hit the international airwaves by now. It happened at Va. Tech. Both Kris and I attended Tech, though I graduated in the spring of ‘92 and Kris entered the fall of ‘92. The first two shootings were at West Ambler-Johnston dormitory (West A.J.). Both Kris and I lived in West A.J. during our respective times at Tech. I managed to live there the first year it was Co-Ed. Yeah! I guess what hits me closest to home is that he’s a native South Korean. I was born in South Korea, grew up in the States, faced bourgeois decadence, not religious, a bit anti-social at times, and attended Va. Tech. But, I managed to make it through, get a degree, a job, get married and be a daddy to a gaggle of furkids.

Appreciate everything you have, and every day you have to enjoy it.

It’s too bad that for most people, the name Va. Tech will be grouped with certain other names. Like Kent State, Ruby Ridge, Waco, Oklahoma City, Columbine... Hopefully the name Va. Tech will be able to grow beyond the association with this event.












"We will continue to invent the future through our blood and tears and through all our sadness ... We are the Hokies ..."
-- Nikki Giovanni, University Distinguished Professor, poet, activist

How Come You Never Told Us About This Airbed Thingy?

It was a cold rainy weekend, so we decided to pull out the airbed and camp out in front of the tv and work our way through the DVR. Stacking two king-size airbeds is close to the level of the couch, so the kids were switching between the couch and airbed depending on availability of space. Stella and Lucas have seen the airbed before and love it. I’m sure it’s gotta be cushier for them than the couch or even the pillow top human bed.

Jaime is trying to figure out what this thing is that has just taken over the family room.


It doesn’t take long before she quickly figures out why everyone else is on it.


She’s wondering if this comes in a greyhound-size version.

LuLu Visits & Stella Shares the Couch

We watched Lulu for a few days this past week. Her family took a spring vacation. They got back a day early because beach time is hardly worth it with this cold, windy, rainy weather we’ve been having. She was an absolute breeze to watch. She’s not nutty like all of my kids. She’s calm and demure. While my kids were barking at passersby and running around the yards with stuffies or sticks in their mouths, Lulu was upstairs on her dog bed taking a nap.


I tried to get a few shots of her, but no luck. She was afraid of my camera.








Trina has watched her before and said she is not afraid of cameras. Maybe it has something to do with sticking this big black object up to my head and the lens makes me look like cyclops. I couldn’t even get a clean shot if I laid the camera on the coffee table.


The autofocus takes 0.6s. That’s long enough for Lulu to become a blur.


Stella is the self-proclaimed ‘Queen of the Couch’. She has been known to ‘discourage’ a foster who gets too close to the couch. She doesn’t mind if any family members get on the couch with her. Now she knows Jaime is no longer a foster. But we’re still quite surprised that Stella not only shares the couch with Jaime, but actually allows full-on contact.


Jaime is a very touchy-feely girl when she lays down. Stella seems OK with it.