Super Bowl Playdate

If you want more pics of the playdate, you can check them out at Trina’s blog. I will try not to repeat too many photos. Since I have quite a few pics, I will keep the commentary short.

Dante with Diego the Whippet’s muzzle on. This may stop him from his poo-eating ways.
The requisite pic of Stella thinking she’s so pretty.
Parker decides to join the big dogs.
Playing follow the leader, or is that follow the stuffie.
Stella and Dana posing in the yard.
Dolly enjoys a head scritch from her mommy.

When everyone else was inside, Stanley decided to spend some quality time with the octopus.
The chase goes clockwise.
Amanda kisses on Blue with admirers Hemingway and Diego.
Dana rooing for everyone to come back out and play.
Stella and Dolly stalking Dante. Dante standing his ground.
A recent adoptee, Smoke, enjoying time with his new friends.
Diego was the Houdini of getting his muzzle off.
Princess Ana thought it safer just to stay with her daddy. Kenney loves having a daddy’s girl.
Hemingway is so happy that he got invited to the party.
Blue says ‘Look what I can do if I have a yard“. Mommy, Daddy!
Stanley is tired and needs the toy basket to hold his head.

Eleanor Visits

We had a houseguest last week. Eleanor is an only dog, and she was showing signs of separation anxiety. So she came to stay with us for a week to see if she was inherently neurotic or just needed some company. Lucky for us, she just missed being around other greys. She got along with just fine with our kids. And there were no mishaps.

She seemed a bit wary of the camera at first.

She seemed more comfortable in the house.
Hey mister! Enough with the camera already!

Playing in the Snow

Unlike some people in the southern hemisphere who are on their summer vacation, we got our first real snow of the year. The last snow we had when Alex was here was just a dusting. This was a good three inches. Kris came home early from work, and we played with the kids in the yard. We only got one day to get good pics. The following day was in the 50s, so most of the yard melted in a day.
Kris threw the toy, and Stanley got to it first. The girls then took off. This confused poor Stanley, so he just stood there with the toy in his mouth.
Once again, the girls see that Stanley is indisposed, so they take off. Poor Stanley.
Jaime is kicking up some powder as she rips around the yard.
Not sure if Kris threw a snowball at her butt, but she whipped around to see what it was.
The snow was making Jaime especially frisky.
Of course the snow turns Stella into a crazy woman.
Jaime calmed down for long enough to take a composed shot.
Stanley decided to pose for the shot during mid-run.
Parker admires Jaime’s ability to catch the Booda bone in mid-air.
When she wasn’t looking, Parker snatched the Booda bone and made a run for it.

Parker also managed to sneek a Booda bear while the greys weren’t paying attention.
Stanley finally got his act together and made a run around the yard with the potato head.

Back to the Greys

We did a bit of babysitting over the Holidays while people went on vacation. Our kids enjoy having company over. Jaime enjoyed sharing the couch with Zoey.
Zoey’s sister Dora enjoyed snuggling on the couch with our kids. Stella is not in the picture because she wanted no part of this whole ‘sharing the couch with strangers’ business.

Another boarder was Luna. She stayed with us for week while her family was in New Hampshire. She got along just swell with our kids. Everyone wanted to be seen with Luna. Stanley with Luna.

Stella decides it’s ok to be seen with Luna.
Jaime does her impression of Tamale’s up-the-skirt peekaboo. Looks more like, ‘leave me alone daddy, I’m trying to get some sleep here’.
Jack (aka Woody Jack the Galgo) posing at our first Meet ‘n Greet of the year with his sisters Tallie and Topaz. We had 24 greys show up for the event. Greyhounds wherever you turned.
Look out cute I am. Everyone says so. I look smashing in my camouflage coat!
I love you so much Stella. Do you mind if I breathe on your eye? It’s a sign of affection. I promise.
Jaime has many ways of showing her affection for Stella. Sure sis, you can get me in a headlock. If that’s what makes you happy. Jaime is always putting other peoples happiness before hers. She’s such a sweetie.
This is what happens when greys fall asleep on the couch while sniffing each other’s butts. I guess the aroma made them narcoleptic.

A parting shot of Stanley and his football. His new favorite toy. Though he may be sliding off the dog bed, he will save the football. He has dreams making the NFL draft and becoming a Hall of Fame linebacker.

Back from Brasil

Bom Dia! Wish I had learned a little more Portuguese before the trip. I felt like my kids when I talk to them. Waiting for the few words they understand. Blah, blah, blah, treat, blah, blah, blah, walk... Luckily, my Brazilian coworkers spoke English.
I started at a meeting in Salvador, Bahia in northeast Brazil. Went from cold and dreary at home to the sun beating down at 5 am. On the last night of the meeting, they had a little party. This is a local woman who was making a very traditional Bahian dish called acaraje. It’s deep fried manioc containing shrimp and hot peppers. Darn good. After some caipirinhas (the Brazilian national cocktail), I was actually out on the dance floor doing some samba.

In Sao Paulo (pronounced San Paulo), we ate at churrascaria. Not only do they come around with the meat on skewers, they have a full fledge buffet with everything from salad to sushi. When the guys came around, I tried the chicken hearts and Brahma cow hump meat. Yummy on both counts.
Sao Paulo traffic. What can I say. Just scary. The rain didn’t help. I’m not used to the guys on motorcycles just weaving in and out of traffic.

Traffic is bad pretty much all the time. A city of 11 million people. There is a policy where depending on whether your license plate starts with an even or odd number, you can’t drive from 7-10am and 5-8pm on alternating days.

Jody found out an old high school friend he hadn’t seen in 10 years was going to be in town. Small world. We had dinner with him, and our marketing manager and his wife joined us too. We ate at ‘Badejo’ in the Moema section of town. We had ‘Bobo’ which is a Bahian-style seafood dish. Yummy!

Here is Jody with our Brazilian counterparts. Clockwise left to right is Michele, Roberta, Renata, and Carla. We had to get used to ‘R’s sounding like ‘H’s, so it was ‘Hoberta’ and ‘Henata’.
I spent the weekend in Rio de Janeiro before returning to Sao Paulo. Jody stayed in Rio for the week. We visited the two major tourist attractions: Cristo Redentor (Christ the Redeemer) and Pao de Acucar (Sugarloaf Mountain). It was a very foggy day on Corcovado mountain, so this was the best shot I could get.

A shot of Sugarloaf from the nearby beach.
As impressive at the statue is, I think it gives more perspective to see it from the other side of Rio from Sugarloaf.
Another shot from Sugarloaf. If you enlarge the picture, you can see Cristo in the top right corner.

We headed off to the beaches. Couldn’t go to Rio without at least going to Copacabana and Ipanema beaches. Having a beer at one of the stands on the beach is a great way to wind down the day.

The Samba band which played at the restaurant where we had dinner that night was led by a colorful character. Jody referred to him as ‘Huggy Bear’ (from Starsky and Hutch). After a few beers, Jody felt the need to have a picture with him.
Unlike the States, Brazil has payphones on every block. ‘Oi’ is slang for ‘Hi’.
We loved the little mom and pop beer shops that lined the streets. Catch up with friends over a beer and watch the world go by. I could definitely become a regular. We tried some Brazilian brews: Skol, Itaipava, Brahma. And I quickly learned that 'chopp' means 'draft'. My first time in the Southern Hemisphere. Would definitely visit again. The people are very nice and the food is fabulous. Practicing my Portuguese. Australia is on my list of Southern Hemisphere countries to visit. Don't even have to learn a new language :)