I have so many things to blog about...I just, well, don't get around to it! How does that happen? And I even have the summer off. Crazy. I finished Donald Miller's new book "A Million Miles in a Thousand Years" and absolutely, 110% LOVED it. Please read it. You will also love it. I would love to do a blog on that book, but I'm having a hard time allowing my mind to settle and write about it. There is just so much in it! OK, another time...
Today we took Nala and Coco to the park in an attempt to teach Coco how to swim. Now you may be thinking (which is what we were thinking), but Coco is supposedly part lab, right? And don't labs naturally know how to swim? Check! And yes, she does. However, she hates it. I mean she swims like her tail is on fire all the way back to shore. A few weeks ago, we were down at the dock at Leslie Groves Park (where we usually take them). Nala loves to jump off the dock at full sprint to retrieve her ball from the icy throes of the Columbia River. Coco would get really excited and then kind of think about jumping in and maybe put a toe in the water. Finally, after about five times watching Nala leap without fear Coco jumped in. Oh boy, did she freak out. Luckily, Steven had her on the leash and was able to haul her back onto the dock. So today we set out to remedy our "water dog" who doesn't like to swim.
We started on a rocky beach and put Coco on a long rope. Richland has been in an uproar over the past year about dogs being on leashes. There are signs all over the park. Nala does really well and heals (mostly), which is somewhat allowed and tolerated. However, history has proven that Coco runs hilly-nilly all over the place and never returns. That is her game, so the leash is her doom. Haha! So there we are, Nala trying to play fetch and us trying to teach Coco that it's OK to go in past her stomach and Coco trying to avoid us. Finally, Steven picked her up and carried her out to deeper (and colder) water. Who knew a dog could swim so fast? She didn't get mad or try to bite Steven (thankfully she's not that kind of dog), but she definitely fought on the way out. And yes, we did it multiple times. After some of that, and a few failed attempts at getting her to swim out past her comfort zone to chase the ball (Nala had to be restrained from chasing it, my scraped feet and sore arms tell that story!), we decided to try the dock.
Obviously, Coco wasn't going to go in on her own. I walked over to the shore and stood in the water near where Nala usually exits the river to get back on the dock. I was talking to Coco and she got excited and totally saw me, really. I know she did. And then Steven, he is so mean, he threw her in. She tried three times to go back to the dock. I was yelling and whistling and clapping. Nope. She continued to unsuccessfully try to get back up on the dock. Finally, Steven had to pull her out because she couldn't hear me calling her over her panic! Poor girl. This whole time Nala was so confused. She was probably making fun of Coco! Steven turned around and threw her right back in, this time closer towards shore with her nose pointing at me. She finally figured it out and swam as fast as her doggy-paddlin' legs could carry her back to shore. Haha, poor dog. She didn't like it at all. We threw her in once more and actually got video of that one. I would upload it, but it will have to later because it's either on Steven's computer (which is turned off) or still on camera. Too funny! And, just to prove she didn't like being thrown in, Coco refused to give kisses for almost two hours after the park! She never does that. In fact, I have never asked for a kiss and not received multiples from her. Haha! Too funny. She was so mad.
In other news, I have also had time to try new recipes! Yay! Just this week we tried two new recipes...I know, Steven is great for letting me try new things on him. I got them out of my latest Real Simple and was inspired. There are definitely things I would do to change them up, but so far so good! I'll post those in another post.
Tomorrow Steven is going on a fishing trip with a buddy from work. He has to be at his friend's house at 4:30am! Wowza! I'm taking the opportunity and going to Prosser to make yummy strawberry freezer jam and pit pie cherries to freeze for pies with my Mama. We haven't gotten our hands on pie cherries in, gosh, five years? And nothing beats a REAL cherry pie! No more canned filling - yuck! And no more having to add food coloring to actually make the canned pie filling look red! Haha. I got the pie cherries from the Richland Farmer's Market - they only have fresh in July! Gotta get 'em while they're hot!
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