A truly georgeous weekend - light wind, crystal blue sky, and 75 degrees...not your usual October weather.
So after lunch Anne, dogs, and I wandered down to the dock. After adjusting her adirondack chair and foot bench, Anne set out to crack the NY Times crosswords.
I set out apply fairing compound to several dings and holes in our Sunfish. Georgia, River, and Maggie set out to what water dogs do best; swimming, diving, shaking off, and fetching tennis balls (all three dogs fetch). River, the family's sole rock-diving dog, collects big rocks from the bottom of the lake.
After making sure that what I was getting ready to do wouldn't shake Anne's crossword puzzle-solving neurons loose, I plopped the CD of the opera Carmen, which our friend Daniel Hassell loaned us, into our boombox.
With no other human within five docks on either side, I cranked up Carmen about as loud as she would go. Any wineglass on the opposite shore would have surely shattered, had there been any. Our dogs, who actually like classical music (don't ask me how I know), got to hear their first opera; all I can tell you is that they lapped it up. And so did we, who didn't move off the dock, except for when I paused Act III to climb the steps back to the house to fetch a chilled bottle of Edna Valley Chard, and two wine glasses.
And three hours into Carmen, the Sunfish just about done, Carmen just about done in (literally) and the heavy orange sun accellerating downward , I said the four words every water dog loves to hear, "Get in the boat."
And get in the boat they did. A sunset cruise with three dogs and my wonderful and beautiful wife. A perfect ending to a perfect day. Did I tell you she is the best boat driver? She is.
The Canine passengers -
River, in his own thoughts:
Maggie, thinking abour River:
Georgia Brown, thinking about nothing, passed out from swimming all day:
Three dogs wearing three pink bandannas, in honor of Grayson, patiently sitting as Momma gives out "cookies.". Georgia's attention span wanders, see here looking at the camera 
morning. My Daddy and Momma should be at work in less than 40 minutes. Instead, my brother River and I are flying down the lake, smooth as glass. The wind in my hair makes my top curl fly to one side. In a rare moment, I look straight into the camera. I'm no fool. I'm Georgia Brown and this is how we start our workday. 
One of the things my Peeps lets me do is to play in MayMay's fountain. Here I am splashing...hugging....kissing...and feeling all there is to do here at CTH. PS there was a BIG party going on for my Uncle Houst and Aunt Mimi and my soon to arrive cousin ---we don't know yet whether it will be a boy cousin or girl cousin---Susie(one of MayMay's bestest friends does this kewl thing called a ring test and it sez it will be a boycousin) Susie claims that she has a 50% chance of being correct. I don't understand percents yet but when she says it everyone smiles and some laugh so it must be something funny. Susie always likes to see me when she is around when I am. I call her Susie and she likes that I know her name. I think she is the one they say is like a second mama to my mama and my uncle Houst and I don't know how all that works but it must be kewl. 
Here I am cruising the crowd of Mimi's and Houst's good friends from college who came over for a cousin shower. Kristen is holding me now with Hannah and Amy looking on. I am showing off how good I can be so all of them will have little ones soon. Amy and Brad have already joined the trend. Yea kids! 
Four huffs assemble just outside the makeshift gate announcing that today is brought to us by the number four (for four dogs) and the letter b (as in blackberry) and that they're reporting for "housekeeping" duty. Georgia Brown, the shortest houskeeper, is "locked and loaded" on the first target, a chunk of flat egg and a handful of Cheerios. The big dogs have not a clue what's going on, they mostly play "follow the leader." Georgia has somewhat of an advantage as she can skinny thruough the wire wickets, something these big dogs can't quite do. 
Hi Mommie Hi Daddy, Peeps is putting everyone at Toad Hall to work...you might want to stay down in the islands a little longer...Love, Avery
HighFivin with the Chick-Fil-A Cow----Need I say more than this. We followed the cow all over the parking lot with 1,000,000 huffs being said with shrills of laughter and many smiles...oops...is it bedtime yet? This is MUCH MORE fun than going to bed on time...which is highly overrated. We didn't miss it by too much and we had more fun than the legal limit.
Jason's Deli _ Yum. I just love to go to Friendly Center. Today's outing took us to REI then to Jason's for lunch. Everyone there was in a big hurry but us. We just sat outside and ate our turkey and wheat thins, our animal crackers, and some fruit. A little SoyYo makes everything more fun. The day is brought to you by the letter J for Jelly Jam Jonathan and Justin also Jason's and Jubilant - that's me. I am having fun with Peeps and MayMay who don't seem to have much to do but play with me. I wonder what they do while I am sleeping?
, and for God, and that "the boundary lines of our lives have fallen in pleasant places."
