Tuesday, June 30, 2009

A Day with The Newmans - vacation recap part 1

Finally... I've managed to find the time download, sort, tweak (i.e. photoshop fixing) and upload all 350+ pictures from our Charlotte vacation last month! In case you missed it, I posted the kids' vacation pics a couple weeks ago.

The morning after we flew into town, we headed off to Stewart-Hass Racing for the Ryan Newman fan club picnic. This was the first Newman event I've attended and was very impressed! They gave everyone a goody bag which contained all sorts of sponsor items (baseball hat, leatherman tool, can cozy, Old Spice products & shower bag, trading card, a zipper bag full of office products from Office Depot, etc.), had a free raffle for loads of Ryan items (we all got 3 tickets and then had to choose which items to put them in for) and fed us a really yummy lunch ... and it was completely free for fan club members and a guest (you're welcome honey...)!

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We also got up-close and personal tours of Stewart-Haas by either Ryan or his Dad (sorry no pics - they asked us not to take any inside). We were his Dad's first tour of the day, in a group of about 10 people. I may've been laughed at for a paying a little too much attention to an adorable little yorkie who was on the other side of the glass (visitor's window at the front of the shop) with his human parents, but that's okay.... If people are going to gawk through the visitor's window at you, you need to gawk back, right?

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For those of you who know me well, you know that Stewart-Hass Racing is my dream team! Tony and Ryan have been my two favorite drivers for years and its wonderful to see them as teammates now! So, needless to say, this was an extra cool way to see the brand new Stewart-Hass shop for the first time.

Here's Ryan doing some Q&A and calling the raffle winners (we didn't win)...

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Ryan & Krissie really put on a fabulous event and made us all feel like a part of their family. Of course, the only thing missing was their pack... which may have grown by another. Ryan told us how Krissie had just brought yet another stray dog home that she had found at Dunkin Donuts... he kept trying to give the dog away during the raffle, which was very amusing. For those of you who don't know, Ryan & Krissie are both very active in dog rescue and working with shelters. Be sure to check out Pit Road Pets - a second edition is coming soon!

Here we are with Ryan...

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A couple more shots from the day...

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After lunch, the crew got back to work and had brought one of the #39 cars outside to fire up (the event took place behind the shop in what was obviously their work area)...

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If you have the chance to attend one of Ryan & Krissie's events, go!!!! You will not be disappointed! I can't thank them enough for the amazing time we had!

Stay tuned for more Charlotte stories and pictures...

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Who Stole Sophie's Sunshine?

Another doggy day already? Excellent... that means its almost the weekend! Be sure to hop on over to Dogs on Thursday and check out Chan's great review of Pedi Paws. I have nail duty in our house and have been fortunate enough to get all 4 kids trained on letting me trim their nails with no great antics, but it sounds like Pedi Paws is a great tool for those who don't like to trim with clippers!

So, I've been playing catch up with downloading pics from the camera (even got the vacation pics sorted out... all 352 of them, but that does include the dogs pics of going & coming from their vacation and our trip to the amazing Tiger World where we might've both been uber shutter bugs... but I'll save those for another day), and although these photos are actually from last month, they are quite fitting of the kids' moods! Its been raining here for at least 2 weeks straight now (although the sun is trying to peak thru today), which makes for some drab doggy days.

Queen Lola, who decided the coffee table made quite a fine headrest...

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Sophie has been pulling out her Princess card lately when it comes to not wanting to walk in the wet grass, yet despite Mommy's horror, she doesn't seem to mind dining on the bountiful slugs hanging out on the steps and in the driveway! Here she is dreaming of her sunshine and wondering just who had the nerve to steal it!

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Zeus just keeps giving the "is it still wet out there?" and "please Daddy, mow the lawn!" looks...

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Tut's been doing a whole lot of lounging... when he's not being his annoying self and trying to climb into someone's lap... or making sure he gets between Mommy & Daddy on the couch so they are sure not to pay attention to each other instead of him...

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Is it still raining where you are? Here's to finding some sunshine soon........

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Wordless Wednesday Knitting

Happy Wordless Wednesday! This one is for those of you who forget that this crazy dog lady also knits!

Not quite a FO yet, but soon... these are for a friend's Christmas 2008 gift birthday in a couple weeks...

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Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Owls and Otters and a Gibbon... What a Wild Affair!

Let me start off first by pointing out that I missed my own Blogiversary this year (apparently I was more on top of things last year), which was June 15th (I must have been preoccupied with telling you about those Buddy Cases!). So... please join me in wishing a bleated 3 year Blogiversary to Lapdog Creations ... this is post #567! Although I didn't have a contest this year, I do have another ASPCA fundraiser banner at the top of my blog for anyone who's interested in donating or becoming a member with them. Won't you help me raise funds for the animals?

This past Saturday evening we attended Stone Zoo's A Wild Affair for the second year in a row. The rain held off and it was a wonderful night for fun, food and friends... especially the furry ones! I made sure to remember my camera this year and snapped a few cute pics.

These guys & gals were at the entrance greeting folks as we arrived...

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Isn't this snow owl one of the most beautiful creatures you've ever seen? I think so!

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As you know (especially if you scrolled back to last year's post), I love otters. I can sit and watch them frolic for hours... I managed to make one of these guys squint and shake his little head after the camera flashed in his face.

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There is a brand new Gibbon exhibit/enclosure this year, which (so far) features just one female gibbon who was very energetic!

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When she wasn't zipping around, she was hanging around...

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Speaking of zipping, as we were walking out we poked into the bat exhibit once more and boy were they zipping... a little too fast for the camera to catch them in flight though, so you get more of that hanging around...

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This lazy porcupine reminded me of our dogs... just lounging and giving the "leave me alone, I'm sleeping here" look.

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It was a fun night for a good cause! I did try my luck at the $25 bears again this year and wound up with a $30 LL Bean gift card. Not bad!

Friday, June 19, 2009

Pharaoh's Gold & Fill-Ins

Happy Friday! I figured today was a good day for some randomness blogging and a little bit of catch-up (read: she's finally starting to download, touch-up and upload pictures from last month)...

If you read regularly, you'll remember that we found a second set of robin eggs shortly before we left for vacation... here they are!

First to hatch on May 15th...
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By the next morning, all 3 had hatched ~ May 16, 2009.

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Sadly that's it for photos of set #2, since we went on vacation and they had flown the coop by the time we returned... So, how about a couple more tulip pictures from the same time (of course they are long gone now)?

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I got my hair done earlier this week... nothing new really, just the usual covering of the greys color and a trim. I remembered to take a couple pictures the next morning since I still had the nice blow-out going (right now its one frizzy mess!). Lola seemed to approve of Mommy stealing her color...

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Yesterday I stopped at a favorite spot to shop for a certain someone's upcoming birthday and couldn't leave without snatching up this for myself...


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I don't normally lean towards gold colors (the photo to the right and below are more true to color), but I couldn't resist this skein of Sereknity Good Harbor in Pharaoh's Gold... gorgeous!!! I think Sophie really liked it too... my baby girl's got taste!

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Happy Friday... I'll leave you with some fill-ins.

1. All children alarm their parents, if only because you are forever expecting them to steal the steaks off the stove (remember... my children all have 4 legs).

2. Show me a good loser and I will show you a person who's just having a good 'ole time.

3. Chasing vodka with hot chocolate is like eating an entire box of chocolate liqueurs at one time.

4. Too bad that all the people who know how to run the country are busy passing the blame and arguing about stupid stuff.

5. I have yet to hear a man ask for advice on how to combine work and family.

6. It is impossible to think of any good meal, no matter how plain or elegant, without seasoning or cheese in it.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to relaxing, tomorrow my plans include Stone Zoo's Wild Affair and Sunday, I want to see Matt race... if only the rain would go away (once again, its looking to be another wash-out)!

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Doggone Vacation

Wow... finally Thursday... almost Friday... almost the weekend!

Be sure to hop on over to Dogs on Thursday today - Sue has a great post this week with alot of information on what you can do to protect pets in the event that they get lost. Don't miss it!

As most of you know, we went on vacation last month and I've been lazy not had a chance to download pictures yet.... Well, I finally started and of course who comes first? The kids...

The car ride on their way to the doggy country club...

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This was a huge step for Sophie... who for the first time actually seemd to enjoy a car ride! She still drooled a little bit, but no where near the amount she has in the past.... and she moved around in the car!

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If I didn't know better, I might think Zeus was all too happy to be going on vacation and leaving us!

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These shots were on the ride home... after vacation, when everyone was a little more pooped... and maybe a little bit crammed, since Mommy & Daddy had all their pesky luggage in the car!


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Zeus, still happy as a clam...

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Some tired hooey hounds...

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