Dad got Ran Over by a School Bus

     By the title you can probably assume Dad was ran over by a bus. Well, you are slightly correct. Dad was biking to work last Thursday, the last day of school, when he was hit by a school bus. He hurt his knee and is a little sore but other than that, he is okay. The thing I find most funny about about this is we actually made it into the local newspaper. I will always remember my last day of sixth grade.
     Maybe you remember Wesley the wild pup. It has been a little over a year since we talked about him. He was a very mischievous puppy. Well, we have met another crazy boy. His name is Gabe and he is a basset hound mix about 10 months old. We decided to take him outside because he has such an adorable face. He turned out to be an unstoppable bundle of energy. I started running around to get him to play. He didn't need much encouragement. He loved chasing the ball, but not the part where he was to give it back. He was wound up and didn't listen to anything we said. He chased me and nipped at my bottom a couple of times. Gabe also turned out to be a thief. He tried to steal mum's phone out of her pocket, but she caught him and he stopped. He then tried to make off with my Godzilla paperback. Mum caught him again and told him no. He did leave it. After several laps around the yard, Gabe began to tire. It was time to take him back to his kennel. We had many laughs with Gabe. Good luck to his new family! It will be exciting.
     Hoover's birthday happened on the same day dad was hit by the bus. Hoover is now a seven year old. I can't believe he is now considered a senior. I got him the perfect gift, mum's not so sure. We got Hoover a pig that can squeal. Mum has taken plenty of video of Hoover playing with his toy. Hoover was kind of scared of his toy at first. Hoover wanted the toy when he saw Lizzie checking it out. Now he growls at it as he squeaks it. It is the first toy he growls at. We're not sure Lizzie likes the toy or enjoys keeping it away from Hoover. Do any of your pets enjoy keeping toys away from their pack mates? 

    Stay tuned because summer adventures are about to begin!

The End of an Era

    Last week I went to my school's sixth grade party. I had the time of my life! It was mostly filled with dancing, but there were many competitions and it was hilarious to watch and compete in. There was also a huge table that carried so much food it would take several people to eat it. My night was further improved when mum had to go back to work to finish up something.  I got to talk with mum's coworkers, Lora. It is always fun to geek out with Lora. It truly was a great night. 
      On Thursday we celebrated 6th grade in a calmer fashion. We had a graduation and we all got a certificate sending us off to middle school. We also were able to see a slideshow made by mum showing all of our baby pictures. It was very nice. I'm excited to head to middle school. It is going to be a great new experience. I will miss University Elementary, but I can always go back to visit and maybe volunteer at the Learning Festival. 
      In dog related news, mum's garden is still being trampled by dogs. First, it was Lizzie. She would lay in the garden and torment mum. Soon, Hoover followed in her footsteps. And now Nikita is hopping into the garden and rummaging through it as well. This is quite extraordinary for Nikita to climb over the stone's surrounding mum's garden. As you know, Nikita isn't as spry as she use to be. She has been known to get tripped up on the grass. Mum's poor garden will never thrive with all the dogs destroying it. I have a confession to make, I sometimes accidentally
kick my soccer ball into the garden. So, four organisms hinder the gardens progress. 
     As we've told you before, we found a husky named Chloe located at our local animal shelter. She was a very overzealous dog, who had enough energy to run around the world four times. I'm excited to announce that Chloe was adopted! I'm glad she got a forever home.
     The dogs sure like to be involved in our exercises. Mum and I do 20 sit ups every day and try  to do 10 push ups every other day. Sometimes the dogs head over and try to give us kisses. Luckily we can shield our head with our arms. I was getting ready one time when Lizzie crawled under my legs and laid down. That night it was a little harder to get up.  
      I have a lot to look forward to this summer. My summer will be filled with soccer, soccer, and more soccer.  I'm excited to have some relatives from Minnesota visiting. Mum and I are also planning our bus trip around town this summer.

Lizzie's Big Outing

 
    As part of the Mother's Day celebration, mum and I took Lizzie on a walk to Bryan Park. Hoover went to Bell Trace with dad so he wouldn't be jealous. Nikita enjoyed the peace and quiet at home. Lizzie enjoyed walking around and sniffing all the plants. We also got to see something extra, too. We were able to watch some LARPers LARP. LARP means live action role playing. Basically you watch people battle with foam weapons. Lizzie wasn't too keen on watching them. She kept tugging on her leash and wanting to explore. We eventually listened to her and finished our walk.
     Afterwards we took Lizzie to the Chocolate Moose for some ice cream.  We got a bit of ice cream in a cup for Lizzie. Mum fed her some by a spoon. I had a HUGE ice cream sandwich. Lizzie was the first one to finish. Although Lizzie did have the smallest portion of ice cream. 
    When we returned home, Lizzie was dog tired. She barely moved the rest of the night. Hoover was also a very tired boy. The next morning we discovered something very funny. Hoover and  Lizzie were both downstairs trying to sleep in. We found Lizzie on the couch and Hoover was in the office. Dad and I kept calling for both of them to come upstairs to go outside. For once, Nikita was the first one outside.  Hoover finally came into our view but he just sat back down and looked up at us. Finally he came up because he was out of ideas for procrastinating. Lizzie was completely ignoring us. I went downstairs and threw a blanket on her to see if that would get her to move. She slowly got off the sofa and took her time stretching. She then sauntered up the steps and finally made her way outside. 
     Lizzie will only eat PetSmart biscuits. She doesn't bother with other good biscuits we give her. Mum has decided to not even give Lizzie a biscuit when we leave. Dad will still leave one with her. The other two dogs take advantage of this and swipe her biscuit. Yes, even Nikita. Recently Nikita was getting up to go outside when dad came home at noon. He watched as Nikita spotted Lizzie's biscuit on the dog bed. Nikita plodded over to it, took the biscuit and turned around to head out the door with the biscuit in her mouth. We can only assume she took it out there to eat without the other dogs knowing what happened. I'm surprised Hoover didn't get to the biscuit first. 
     The end of the school year is approaching very quickly. We did our Inquiry Fair last Friday. My topic this year was the causes and effects of the crusades. I really enjoyed this topic. I made a stop-motion about the crusades. I loved dressing up as a crusader. We also had the school Learning Festival last Friday. This Friday is the sixth grade party! I don't care for this year's theme (Black and White), but I'm still going to have a blast. I wanted the theme to be '70s disco. To top all this off is the sixth grade promotion next Thursday.