4th of July fun

Monday Question: What happens when you get an awesome camera to support your obsession with love of photography, but don't get around to downloading pictures off of it for a couple months? 

Answer: You end up with a tun of great shots to upload, blog, Facebook, share, etc. all at once!  The reader I use for my small digital camera won't pull files off of the cards I use in the Nikon (I think the files are far too large for it to read fast enough), so I have to find time to download them to the laptop. 

Today was one of those "ooohhh" and "aahhh" surprise days of viewing pictures I totally forgot I took!  As a result, a month later, I have 4th of July cook out pictures to share.  I had fun taking some "candraits" (candid portraits?) of the kids...

Little Miss Emma is growing up (and will have a new little sister in the coming weeks)...

My sister's double trouble adorable twosome, Amber and Austin...

I caught my Dad cooking... or maybe it was bothering Mom while she cooked...

 

More Emma ... because who can resist such a cute little face?

 

I have a feeling this might be a week of picture heavy posts... stay tuned!

REVIEW: Bright Bites

Bright Bites

Bright Bites Daily Dental Dog Treats, Cool Peppermint, Small (4 Packs of 12 Treats)

I never thought dogs would be so excited about dental treats until the box of Bright Bites arrived for review!  The packages immediately peaked everyone's interest.

 

Bright Bites make dental hygiene fun - and tasty - for dogs.  The star-shaped treats were developed by veterinarians to help keep your dog's teeth free of plaque and tarter, thus working to prevent gingivitis and gum disease.  Both the shape and texture of the dental treats play an essential role and promote an overall healthier mouth.

Bright Bites are available in three flavors - Cinnamon, Peppermint and Spearmint - and each flavor comes in Small (for dogs up to 15lbs), Medium (for dogs 15 - 40lbs) and Large (for dogs over 40lbs).

Lola was quick to grab a bag (perhaps trying to stash it before her siblings noticed) and she was first in line when we opened the Cinnamon treats.        

Don't worry about Zeus' pathetic sad look above... he got his very own Bright Bites star soon enough! 

 

Bright Bites are 100% soluble, which means that as a concerned dog Mom, I can feel confident about safely giving these treats to the Lapdogs!  Even better is the fact that this is more than just words on a package or a creative marketing slogan.  The 100% soluble fact is based on results of a two-stage gastrointestinal digestibility study performed at the University of Illinois. In order to achieve this, the material left behind must be what we would expect to leave the small intestine and go into the colon (to be expelled as feces) at the end of the 18 hour digestion period. What was left? Nothing!  

If that wasn't enough to convince you to give Bright Bites a try, the fact that they recently obtained the Veterinary Oral Health Council (VOHC) seal of approval might!  After going through rigorous testing, results came back clinically proven the treats are effective in controlling plaque and tartar on dogs' teeth.  

Sophie thinks these nifty star-shaped treats are delightful... especially because they help to keep her pearly whites out of the v-e-t's office! 

All four Lapdogs love Bright Bites and give their official 16 Paws Up Lapdog Seal of Approval.  They are excited that a lucky dog (or pack) out there will have the chance to try Bright Bites (see contest below), but hope that all the doggy parents will go out and get some yummy star-shaped treats for their furbabies.  After all, unlike a trip to the v-e-t, your pooch will be begging for more "cleaning" via Bright Bites!

 

We received these treats, free of charge, in exchange for review purposes. This post contains affiliate links. If you click on one and make a purchase, I may receive a few pennies to assist in maintaining this blog.

CONTEST WINNER! Official Vick's Dog Chew Toy

Thank you to everyone who entered to win The Official Vick's Dog Chew Toy!

Zeus hates all things Vick

The winner has been selected by random number generator...

Here are your random numbers: 7
Timestamp: 2010-08-06

Congratulations to Kathy!  Zeus says he hopes Lucy will chew 'em up and spit 'em out (just be sure to supervise... I don't love that this toy is Made in China, however in this case it is more about the awareness than a high quality toy)! 

Lola says even his feet stink!

Chew on This

Happy Dogs On Thursday, aka Little Friday!  If you haven't already, don't forget to enter to win a Vick's Dog Chew Toy - just in time for preseason football!

I'm happy to report that Bingo is settling in very nicely with his new forever family!  It sounds like he sure is keeping them busy with tossing that ball...

Sophie & Lola checking out Bingo

I'll be posting a review of Wapiti Labs elk antler chews and supplements soon, but in the meantime I have photos of the Lapdogs enjoying their very first taste of elk and moose antlers.  They have always enjoyed beef marrow bones, but are really loving antlers!  I purchased one each of another brand's elk and moose before Wapiti sent theirs for review.

While all four dogs love them, Sophie has can-NOT-put-it-down syndrome.  This is an elk antler...

Zeus the Moose enjoying an antler from his nicknamesake...

Lola taste testing the moose antler... 

When I picked these up, I only grabbed one of each, so the kids had to take turns.  Mean Mommy wasn't so popular that day. Although I swear if I had bought four, they wouldn't have been interested in them... because that's just how things work, right?  Tut patiently watched Zeus with the moose antler, while he guarded his ho-hum nylabone.

Stay tuned for the Wapiti review soon!  I actually have quite the backlog of review items right now, so stay tuned for Wapiti and lots of other great products!

Hoppy Wednesday

It's a hoppy kind of Wordless Wednesday today!  I came home from work a couple weeks ago and spotted our resident bunny playing on the side of the house...

He (or she?) actually let me get pretty close.  Yesterday Sophie had a close encounter of her own, but thankfully she was on the leash with me and the bunny was smart enough to hop away when she started barking.  Unfortunately I didn't have my camera yesterday, or last week when the adorable baby bunny was in the front yard.

Ten on Tuesday

I've seen several friends doing the Ten on Tuesday posts lately, so I thought I'd give it a shot (read: I don't have a review ready to post today or any knitting content to show you). 

This week's theme is 10 Things to Bring on Vacation (did someone just say vacation... because I could really use one right now!)

1. Camera - I never leave home without one anymore (even if it's just my cell phone camera)!  Photography is one of my hobbies...

2. Knitting - This is a must.  Great to pass the time on the plane, in the car, relaxing pool/ocean side, etc.  I have found that no-brainer knitting tends to work best while on vacation however.  A list of the local yarn shops to visit while on vacation is a must too...

  

3. Book/Magazine - Again, a must.  If you don't want to knit, you need something to read!

4. Favorite Snacks - Whether you're flying or driving, you need you favorite snack foods with you!  For me, it's usually a mix of salty and sweet... Swedish Fish, Trail Mix, Peanut Butter Cups, Baked Chips, etc.

5. Comfortable Shoes - You need at least 3 pair of shoes on vacation... sneakers, flip flops and a dressier sandal.  If you come across this, by all means, remove said shoes...

6. Sense of Adventure - You never know what the open road might throw at you... be adventurous and discover fun places that you might not have mapped out from home!  Try new foods as well, especially the local faves.  I found a love for fried pickles in Charlotte 3 years ago!

7. Tickets/Paperwork - You can't get too far without airline tickets, hotel confirmations, etc.  Make sure you have everything you need in a folder before you go!

8. Companion - You're other half, best friend, Mom, Furbaby.... whatever works for you! 

9. Umbrella - You never know when you might need one.  Get yourself a good travel size and tuck it in your bag!

10. Pictures of the Dogs - Or your actual dogs if you can.  I always have several photos of my kids with me.  I use them as my bookmarks!  If you can't bring your own dogs, try to show some love to the 4-legged babies that you meet while on vacation...

B-I-N-G-O... and Bingo was his name-o

Dear Weekend.... where did you go so fast?  Seriously, I think I blinked and poof, it was Monday morning.  

I might not have gotten to photograph the review items as planned, nor to that knitting I wanted to do, but we did have a fun-filled start to our weekend with a sweet six year old Springer Spaniel named Bingo!

Bingo came up on Saturday to his forever home in MA, however his adopters weren't able to meet the transport in the morning so we volunteered to foster the cutie for about 4 1/2 hours...

Talk about a ball full of energy!  Bingo loves to play fetch.  In fact, he'll play fetch for as long as longer than you can stand it!  He'll set that ball right in your lap or hand when he brings it back... just watch out, it might be wet!  He has an interesting game of taking the ball over to the water bowl and tossing it in before bringing it back to you!  Look closely at the photo on the right below... see the round circles?  Easily made from a bouncing wet ball!  He also found the squeaky fishy (in his mouth) in our kids' toy basket that he loved so much, we sent him home with it!  He carried it to the car all by himself when he went with his new Dad too!

Bingo was unusually camera shy though... I'm not sure if it is the sound or flash that he doesn't like, but he would promptly turn his back to me or go into the other room if he noticed the camera.  Getting some cute shots took a little creativeness on my part.  Lola coulnd't figure out why he wouldn't pose with her...

Zeus did his best poses and big smiles for the camera.  "Mom, Iz dun undahstandz why dis lil dude won't sitz and lookz at ur flashy-thingy wit mehz!"

"Realyzz Mom... whaz IZ wrong wit him?"

The Lapdogs all had fun with their houseguest, but were glad to see the ball-of-energy move on.  After all, he really made them look l-a-z-y!  I actually managed this picture of all five dogs in one shot...

Since we can't really foster for real right now, this was a great way to help out!  We'll actually be picking up another dog from transport next weekend.  Her name is Izzie and she needed a place to crash overnight until her adoptive family can pick her up on Sunday.  We're just doing the pick up and friends of ours will take care of her overnight.

It was a pleasure to entertain Bingo for the morning on Saturday.  He truly is a great boy and I'm sure he'll have a wonderful life with his new forever family!