A Doggone Good Time Was Had by All

One of the best things about our vacation house, was the huge gate we put up across the stairs to the deck. This way Cassie, our 1/2 Irish Setter 1/2 Chocolate Lab could come in and out of the house.. to the deck.. as she pleased. This tickled her to death. She watched the birds. She watched the kids. She slept, a LOT. She likes to be outside, but because she spent her first months living outside around a lake (she was abandoned, and 4 mos old when we got her).. that wild spirit has never left her. She turned 6 in April, and we've yet to break her of the urge to get outside and just take off. She's not a good walking on a leash dog, but we make her anyhow. So for her to be outside, and not tied up, was awesome for both her and us. Seeing her have such a good time, made me forget how much I wanted to take her out back and drown her the first few days.

Because she is mostly "bird dog".. she loves the water. Loves to get in there and just do her thing. Normally we'd let off the leash (we sometimes take her to a private pond where she can just run and enjoy herself).. but the lake had a leash law and we are good law abiding citizens. She will go in the water, but she won't swim. In fact, I don't think I've ever seen her go in deep enough to swim. She kept going to the side of the pier, and making like she was going to jump off.. and getting down on her knees.. but she never actually did it. No one was prepared for swimming Thursday (it was chilly!!!).. but I wonder if she would actually swim out if someone was in the water with her.

After lunch, we decided to take a treck up to North Conway. It was only 40 minutes away, and the kids had asked about playing Mini Golf. Pirates Cove is in North Conway, which rocks and because we are suckers for a trip through the mountains, we agreed. We drove up 16 (Moose Alley).. but saw no wildlife, save some wild turkeys. We went to the Christmas Store before heading across the road to golf, because really.. who can ever resist a store that sells Christmas things ALL YEAR LONG. I think it's called the Christmas Loft. If you're ever up in the area.. go. It's great fun. We thought it might rain, and we'd get wet.. but it never actually did. Which is good if you are outside wanting to play mini-golf.

We did Blackbeard's Challenge, which is 18 holes. You can also do 36 holes, which takes you through our course and to another one. 2 of my brothers and some of their friends have a Pirates Challenge every year on the last Saturday of July. They start early in the am, and play at all the Pirates Cove sites in our state.. all 36 hole courses. They video tape it and it's way cool to watch. Anyhow.. golfing was a good time. The kids are getting much better.. but somehow The Boy managed to win. He got 44 points, which was PAR for the course. Not too shabby.

Oh, and if anyone knows what those red plants are in the photo.. I'd love to plant some in my garden.