Merlin's Great Adventure...

OK...I've been meaning to post this for a few days now....but it was a busy holiday weekend followed by a busy week back at work!!

So this past weekend was quite an eventful one for our little family!  We celebrated the 4th of July weekend by visiting Jason's family and so there was lots of fun for everyone....including Merlin who got to go on his first big boy road trip.....AND visit with quite a few puppies---most of whom are part of Merlin's extended family!!

We were leaving on Saturday evening to head to Jason's parents' house in Central NY (about an hour and a half south of Syracuse...so about a 2.5 hour drive from home).   This was going to be the first time that everyone except Jason's step-sister, Bridget, had met Merlin-----AND his parents live in a rural area with lots of trees and tall grass----so we decided we wanted to make him look spiffy by giving him a bath and then also giving him his first flea/tick treatment before we headed up there......

....his first bath was a bit of an adventure!

Merlin checking things out.

We had purchased puppy bath supplies before he ever even came home----a pad to put in the kitchen sink so he didn't slip around, shampoo and conditioner (he has hair that tangles and mats easily so you have to use conditioner on him that will help detangle), a towel, etc.  So once Jason got home from work on Friday night we set up the kitchen sink for a little puppy spa time.

I'm not going to lie and say that Merlin's first bath was a sheer delight...because it wasn't...especially for him! LOL  He managed really well, though.  It was clearly his least favorite part of the day...but he coped and once he realized we weren't going to let him jump out of the sink and run away, he relaxed a bit and just sat there waiting for it to end.  It's amazing how TINY he is.  He's a furball and so when he's dry you get the sense that he's a little bigger than he really is....but in truth he is teeny tiny.....you can start to tell by looking at him all wet:

Seriously....have you ever seen anything more pathetic looking? LOL  Once it was over, it was time to dry off and blow dry.  He thought the blowdryer was a toy I think as he chased and chomped at it...

....and when we were done we had one pretty (clean) little puppy!!  Ready for his big adventure to go visit the in-laws!!

So then we drove down to visit with Jason's family.  Merlin didn't really like riding in his carrier in the car but he coped fairly well and for part of the trip I let him lay on a pillow in my lap and he mostly slept on the car ride there.  One thing I'll say about having a puppy-----it sure doubles your packing even for a weekend trip----between the carrier the food, the toys, his crate (which is separate from his carrier) his playpen, the bowls, etc.....a 2 day trip we had enough stuff to go on a week-long cruise!! (Of course that is due in part, as well, to the fact that he's spoiled rotten.)  

There was lots of stimulation for Merlin there because he wasn't the only Yorkie around! His older sister Maggie lives there with Jason's parents.  Jason's sister, Bridget, was there with her two yorkies: Brutus and Tessa (they are both older siblings of Merlin's, as well...so all 4 puppies are related and have the same parents);  and then Jason's parents' neighbors and friends are a really nice couple named Pat & Mary and they have a yorkie named Mickey and he was up to visit for part of the weekend.  Merlin was beside himself with all the puppy stimulation----and all the dogs were not only older, but much bigger.  We kind of lost concept of how little Merlin is right now until he was standing next to all his other siblings, who we've always thought of as small dogs in their own rite---but compared to Merlin they may as well have all been great danes!! LOL  At first none of the older dogs knew what to make of him because he was a little too excitable...but once they adjusted they all did well.  Merlin also loved it because Jason's family live on a HUGE plot of rural land right on the lake...so there was lots of grass and fields to play in and a dock to run around on.  Here are some pictures of Merlin's fun weekend:

Merlin and I out in the field by the in-law's house.

Jason and Merlin exploring the dock by Jason's dad's boat.

Jason and his older sister, Tessa, "getting to know each other" as only dogs can---sniffing each other's butts! LOL

Merlin and Tessa playing tug of war---you can't see in the picture but they are each biting on one end of a toy and Tessa was basically dragging little Merlin around and they were both growling in delight the whole time!

Merlin and Maggie got great delight out of playing "tag" outside....Maggie was way too fast for poor little Merlin but he sure got a workout!!  (Also, you'll notice Maggie is basically all silver---when she was a puppy she looked exactly like Merlin and he already has a silver mohawk on his head so we anticipate he will probably change color to look more like Maggie as he gets older...but we'll have to see....because his other sister Tessa (above) has not ever changed from black really.)

Merlin and Maggie wrestling in the yard.

Merlin in his playpen on the dock while we were going out on the boat.  We did try to take him out on the boat once but he didn't seem to like it very much so we decided not to traumatize him anymore with it.

Of course, the weekend was not ALL about Merlin----it was a chance to visit with Jason's family.  His dad (Jeff), step-mom (Sheila), two of his step-sisters (Bridget & Abby) and his niece and nephew (Hannah & Micah) were there, too.  Hannah & Micah live with Jason's sister, Angie, in the Atlanta area but were up to visit the grandparents for a couple weeks (and Angie came up later in the week and we got to have lunch with her and her other younger daughter, Sarah, because she flew into Rochester).  We did all the obligatory July 4th things like cookouts and picnics, s'mores by the fire pit, hanging out outside and enjoying the weather, playing in the yard, hiking...and then also some water fun playing on the boat, swimming, water-skiing and even fishing off the dock a little. Here are some pictures:

Jason relaxing on the boat.

Hannah getting ready to go tubing.

Micah is in the tube getting tossed about behind us as we zipped across the lake---we couldn't go fast enough for his taste! LOL

Jason and Jeff swimming in the lake.

Micah swimming with a noodle in the lake.

The whole crew hanging on the boat (and, yes, I took that picture floating on a noodle in the water---because we bought a new underwater digital camera!)

Jason, the kids, and Abby getting ready to fish on the dock.

Hanna and Jason fishing.

Micah caught several little fish (we threw them back)...this was one of his bigger/prettier ones.

This is the fish that I actually caught----it was the biggest fish we caught that day and was about 8 inches long----we put it in a bucket to swim around and take a picture before we released it.

Micah water skiing on training skis for the first time ever!

Me having some s'mores by the fire on the dock----such a glamorous picture! LOL

Jason roasting marshmallows.

Jason and I did tube and water ski, as well, but the battery in our camera died before we could get any pictures.  We forgot to bring the charger with us and because it's new we hadn't known how long the battery would last or not.....but we love the new camera.  As I mentioned above, we got a new one.  On the Alaska trip it was clear that our old camera was on its last leg....and so we decided to invest in a new camera and I knew I wanted one that could go underwater (we had a "dive bag" for our other camera that worked OK but it was bulky).  Jason found us a nice new camera that is small, goes underwater, takes good photos-----AND it's orange, so a huge plus for me.  So I'll close this blog entry with two fun pictures I took with our new camera:

Hannah after just jumping off the back of the boat! :)

Jason doing his best impression of a mermaid (who has to plug her nose and close her eyes underwater LOL).

It was a fabulous weekend with the family-----Merlin and fun and so did we....good food, good fun, fireworks....relaxing!   A great way to spend a long weekend!!