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My birthday girl

Posted on February 2, 2016 by parksway

I know I’ve missed some other birthdays and events because I haven’t blogged in a while, but I couldn’t miss Feb 2nd because it’s my puppy’s birthday – and there’s a special bond between a boy and his dog, right? GiGi turns 1 today and OMG has she grown the past year. She’s grown into a 58 lb lap dog, but she’s still all puppy – always wanting to play. I think she’s a bit stubborn too, but my parents say she is nothing compared to how stubborn I am – we’ve agreed to disagree on that one. The one thing that is clear – she’s my dog because she is always wanting to be right near me even if it means being a beanbag hog.

she knows she did something wrong

why am I on the floor??

tired girl

not sure if she loves me or the fire

Well….at least her butt is comfortable

Looks like she’s smoking a cigar

She loves her belly rubbed

Filed under: Dog, Family, Uncategorized | Tagged: GiGi, Happy Birthday | 1 Comment »

Real life Minecraft

Posted on July 21, 2015 by parksway

This past weekend, I got the chance to experience something totally new and totally cool. I got to basically be in my own personal Minecraft game because I went digging for diamonds! Grannie and I packed our gear and headed out on a road trip to the Crater of Diamonds State Park in Murfreesboro, AR to get us some bling. My plan was to get enough diamonds to make mommy some new earrings, a necklace, and maybe a bracelet. Of course, that was after I cashed out a few diamonds to buy Toys-R-Us and, yes dad, pay for my college.

Well, Toys-R-Us is safe, mommy will have to make due with CZ’s, and don’t cash out the savings account just yet dad because we came up completely diamond free. We did, however, have a great time. It was HOT!! Grannie made me drink so much water I thought I was going to pop, but that was the right thing to do, I know. There was a water park right next to the dig site so we dug until we couldn’t dig anymore and then cooled off by playing in the water.

After leaving the diamond park, we went to another place in Arkansas where we could dig for crystals. This may have actually been cooler than the diamond place because we actually found stuff we were looking for. We found so many I could barely lift the bucket we carried them in so Grannie had to carry it the whole way – she sure is strong for a “mature” lady. We found quartz, smoke quartz, jasper, and lots of red dirt that we have all over the house now. In fact, we found so much quarts we could make mommy earrings and a necklace! I hope she likes the quartz jewelry and doesn’t take it for GRANITE — bazinga — see what I did there — Geology humor

Even though we didn’t find diamonds, we found a lot of riches in the new experiences and quality time with my Grannie. I will remember it for the rest of my life and hope she does too!

Filed under: Family, Grannie, vacation | Tagged: Crater of Diamonds State Park, Diamonds, Road Trip | 1 Comment »

It’s a girl….

Posted on May 27, 2015 by parksway

Yep, after years of having emotional discussions about whether or not we were ready for another mouth to feed…..it would complete our family……the sleepless nights……the joy it would bring……the potty training……and how it would mean I would have to share my parent’s attention……my parents finally concluded the positives outweighed the challenges we could face and decided we could get a puppy!

So then, we had to decide what kind of puppy we wanted. It had to be something we all agreed on. I wanted a little puppy so I could play and cuddle with it and also have it sleep with me — we’ll get to that later. So my dad didn’t want a little dog like a Chihuahua — he wanted a Labrador Retriever like Old Yeller (of course, I think he was hoping for a better ending). Mommy didn’t want a big dog — she wanted a little dog that would have little poops. So here is where I came in and said we should get a medium-sized dog — it’s not rocket science people. So we researched which breeds were good with kids, personable, and easy to train, then we went to the SPCA (Russell H. Perry Animal Care Center) and just picked the prettiest one we saw — research out the window.

We did luck out though because we got a Boxer mix. Mixed with what? Who knows – papa was a rollin’ stone. They think she is most likely mixed with an Australian Shepherd or Australian Cattle Dog because she has a blue eye. The Boxer side of her means she will be very smart, personable, playful, and puppy-like for longer than most dogs. The Aussie side means she will be even smarter, but needs to be challenged mentally or she will create her own little tasks that we may or may not like. Oh, and the Aussie in her means she likes to herd so she has a tendency to nip at our feet when we don’t do what she is wanting.

Remember all of the cute little expectations I had for a puppy — cuddling, playing, sleeping, yadda, yadda, yadda — well, she certainly loves to play, but there is no chance I would let her sleep with me because she uses the bathroom too much. AND it has been raining ever since we got her so she always smells like a wet dog. She also likes to chew a lot even if it’s on me which is natural, but she doesn’t know how sharp her little teeth are so I have to be careful about that. Overall, she’s been a good girl and lots of fun.

Oh and as for how big she will get, we are telling mommy she will be smaller than an average Boxer, but her poop is definitely bigger than a Chihuahua’s.

And now, here’s GiGi — stands for Good Girl, but daddy calls her DD sometimes for Darn Dog (PG version)….

: First time at her new home

: First walk

: She tried to make us think she was sweet….

: She loves my bean bag

: We’ve become those cheesy pet owners

: Looks like she’s smoking a cigar

: She loves her belly rubbed

: She started out so smart about how to lay in her bed

: Then she realized she could stretch out a bit

: then she started getting carried away

: Well….at least her butt is comfortable

Filed under: Dog, Family | Tagged: GiGi, Puppy | Leave a comment »

I’ve been here….

Posted on May 24, 2015 by parksway

….where have you been? Okay, okay, perhaps one could point to me as the weak link in this relationship, but let’s not split hairs — bygones. Anyway, since I last checked in I’ve been across the country on Spring Break (to the Grand Canyon and back), advanced to yellow belt in tae kwon do, gotten a puppy, and managed to ride out the school year to on 8 school days left before summer.

I’ll post about all of these over the next week or so, but here are some shots of family road trip to the Grand Canyon — we made a few stops along the way. Daddy kept saying he felt like Clark Griswald, but I have absolutely no clue who that was since that is like a reference from some movie from the 1980’s — and it’s not even available on Netflix.

My world…

Petrified Forest

Watchtower (Grand Canyon)

Grand Canyon

Pensive Parker

Painted Desert

Petrified — two different ways

Filed under: Family, vacation | Tagged: Cadillac Ranch, Grand Canyon, Painted Desert, Palo Duro Canyon, Petrified Forest, Road Trip | Leave a comment »

It’s been a while…

Posted on February 14, 2015 by parksway

…since the last time I posted, but it was a busy holiday season and I had to take the month of January to recoup. Now it’s Valentine’s Day and there’s pics I never posted that I probably should so I can satisfy my need for order (in this case, sequential order). So below are some holiday pics so we can continue on schedule.

I also should include some pics of me at Tio’s farm where we caught over 20 fish(weighing maybe a total of 2 lbs). Now, when I say fishing I really mean drop my line in the water and pull the fish out – no hooking worms or getting the fish off the hook. I let daddy do that gross stuff for me. It got kind of cold when we went (daddy was unprepared so I had to wear on eof his sweatshirts), but we rode 4-wheelers until our face was numb. I couldn’t stop smiling the whole time and had to warm up next to the fire to melt my smile away. We also had an epic bonfire to burn off some old branches and stuff. That was cool enough, but we also started throwing firecrackers into the fire and scaring everyone. Daddy wouldn’t let me light the firecrackers because he was worried I would hurt myself so we could only throw them. He failed to mention he used to light them all the time when he was my age and he survived with all his fingers. Anyway, can’t wait until we go back.

Christmas

Farm

Filed under: Family, Holiday | Tagged: Bonfire, Christmas, Farm, Fishing, Holiday, Tio | Leave a comment »

5 Things

Posted on September 14, 2014 by parksway

One of our first assignments at school was to put 5 items that help identify us as being who we are in a brown lunch bag. My first thought was that I could not possibly be defined by only 5 items that would fit in a lunch bag – I am soooo much more than that, but I played by the rules and complied.

Item 1: Iron Golem action figure from Minecraft – this is my obsession right now. I’m all about Minecraft. My folks thought they would get a few more years out of me before I became fixated on video games, but they need to realize the times they are a changin’ and us kids are growing up faster (and have more expensive taste).

Item 2: Paintbrush because I love to paint and want to be an artist when I get older. I know I need to learn the various techniques out there and find my own personal style, but for now it is a way I can be creative and not feel inhibited.

Item 3: Golf ball because right now this is my favorite sport and one I am pretty good at for just starting out. It’s also great quality time for me and my dad.

: My parents’ fav

: Any sponsors?

: My Phoebe kitty

: Heaven on earth

Item 4: Picture of me and Phoebe who was the best and sweetest cat ever. She’s in heaven now, but I dream about her from time to time so I know she is trying to say hello to me.

Item 5: Picture of my favorite meal – Campisi’s pizza with double Candian Bacon. To me, there is nothing better.

While I would need a bigger bag to give the full picture of who I am, these should help give a little insight.

Filed under: Family, School | Tagged: 5 Things, Art, Campisi's, Golf, Iron Golem, Minecraft, painting, Phoebe | Leave a comment »

Ball, tracks, is enough, and me…

Posted on August 17, 2014 by parksway

What do all these have in common? If you throw an 8 in front of them, you have a classic….I’m 8 yrs old now, baby!!!

My birthday week is about to come to an end – yes, I said week because that’s how I roll. I get the run of my proverbial castle which means, presents, pizza, and just about any kind of junk food you can think of.

On the day of my actual birthday, I grabbed a couple of my friends and we went bowling and played video games all day. I’m not into cake so I’ve started the tradition of getting Campisi’s pizza loaded with so much Canadian bacon it looks like a pig sleeping on pizza dough.

After that, mommy, daddy, and I went to a cabin in Beaver’s Bend, OK for some rest and relaxation. It was a blast and we had some great quality time playing games, fishing, hiking around the area and shooting my new BB gun my dad bought me – he shot it more than I did – something about working out unfulfilled childhood dreams he was deprived of – I guess the BB gun was cheaper than a shrink, but he may want to consider springing for some therapy.

Anyway, it was a great week and I plan on making each following week better than the last.

I’m a sharp shooter…..

….from 2 feet away so stay out of my sweet spot.

Filed under: Family, Friends, Happy Birthday | Tagged: Beaver's Bend, Birthday, bowling, Camping | Leave a comment »

Completely batty….

Posted on July 21, 2014 by parksway

The weekend before this past one daddy, Grannie, and I (mommy had to work) took a short road trip to Austin to see 1.5 million bats fly out from the Congress Avenue Bridge. The bats migrate from Mexico every year during the summer months and always make their way to this bridge. They then have babies and fly back to Mexico in the winter months. They fly out each day right at sunset to go looking for food and return at dawn. It really is a pretty cool sight. We watched from the bridge, but you can also watch from a nearby hill or on the river. The whole area was packed with people. We stayed and watched for almost an hour and the bats were still flying out. You could hear their wings flapping and some hitting the bridge – they say don’t try to catch them because they may bite – no problems here because I’m not trying to get rabies.

Anyway, the bats were cool and since we didn’t really have a plan for the trip other than be in Austin by sunset to see the bats, we stopped by Inner Space Caverns in Georgetown on the way there to go spelunking. Daddy and I have gone into other caverns, but this was the first time for Grannie to go into any caverns. She thought it was pretty cool, but was a little concerned about falling on her butt since it was slippery – luckily, she didn’t fall.

In all, I had a great time with daddy and Grannie – we laughed a lot and learned a lot, e.g., Grannie isn’t that good at swimming under water. I also realized those two are nuts so it is up to mommy to be the sane one for me.