Watch It, The Yellow Ones Don't Stop.....

Anyone remember in Elf when he went to NYC? Well, that's where Jason and I went this past weekend. We had so much fun. I honestly have never walked so much in my life. I would have loved to have a pedometer on me to see exactly how many miles we walked.

We left the house at 5:30 and filled up in Jersey before heading in. Most of you don't know this but in Jersey it's illegal to pump your own gas. Weird.....Ok, moving on. We got into the city around 8:30 and headed for Central Park. We started off at the Heckscher Playground, which was really cool and then continued up to the Jaqueline Kennedy Onasis Reservoir which is near the top of Central Park. We stopped for lunch on the Great Lawn around 12:00 and decided to walk down town and see some of the sites. It took us around 1 hour to get down to the tip of Central Park. We began our tour of the city at the Apple (Mac) store. Which is the coolest store ever. Since that's my next computer we've spent a few minutes goofing around on it. Then off to FAO Swartz to get my picture taken with the guard. Then we walked past the Trump tower and headed toward St Patrick Cathedral. We stopped at a few cathedrals along the way and they were all amazing. Then we headed to Grand Central Station. Keep in mind we have already walked 10 blocks just city blocks. Not counting Central Park. After St Patricks it was on to Grand Central Station (another 11 blocks). Then off to the Chrysler Building. We forgot that these buildings are huge so when we got their taking a photo of the building was nearly impossible. So we headed over toward Times Square and stopped at the NY Public Library (seen in Day after Tomorrow, 4 blocks) We sat their and watched a few old men playing boce ball. Then off to Times Square (2 blocks). Times Square was so cool but we had to keep walking because by that time it was getting close to check out time at the garage. But, we stopped at the COOLEST diner ever Stardust Diner and had lunch/dinner. The wait staffers sing and perform while you eat. They all had amazing voices. We both wanted to stay longer but knew we had to get going. Then we walked another 16 blocks back to our car. I cannot wait to go back in July when my family is in town.

Check out these photos:

Central Park Skyline
Belvedere Castle in Central Park

FAO Swartz Guy

One of the Cathedrals

Grand Central Station

Chrysler Building (I think I seen King Kong)

Bryant Park
Times SquareThe coolest diner ever

For more pictures of our trip please check out my album on yahoo photos. If the link doesn't work please let me know
http://new.photos.yahoo.com/tonyamckenna/album/576460762402936427

Also some trivia. Does anyone know what state the Giants stadium is in? Answer to come on Wednesday.

Check back with Blogger tomorrow. I'm working on uploading photos right now and I'll write all about our weekend tomorrow.

No JACK! DON'T JUMP!

Ok, did anyone think Jack was going to jump tonight and all of 24 would end? Good thing he didn't. I'm looking forward to January! Welcome back both my favorite shows Prison Break and 24.

Congrats to all you lucky pooches and handlers on a good Q'ing Weekend! I'm so happy Bay did great and can continue to run. She always looks like she's having a ball. Way to go Cajun on your second ever agility trial.

Now for my weekend. Jason was in Memphis all week hanging out with Crazy Carie and Chris. Chris, did you show Jason your prego stomach? I about said Peanut, he he he. Carie, Jason said your Peanut is getting pretty big :-) I wish I was their to see it. Anyway, all you people thinking bad thoughts, shame on you. Ha!

So, let's see. I had Date night on Friday night. Without Jay, boo hoo. I went out with a friend and we had a great time eating at Quaker Steak. On Saturday my adoptive family invited me to a CD release party. It has been a while since I've seen a band play and I had a great time. One of the guys was playing a Steel guitar and I kept staring at him. He was amazing. I totally want one now. Sunday, well, let's just say "I'm SORRY GOD!" I woke up to barking dogs around 8:30. I put them out and then climbed back in bed. About 30 minutes later I got up and put them back to sleep and I went back to sleep as well, of course after watching Twister first. Then at 1:30 I woke up and had dinner. Let the kids out and went back to bed and watched Crimson Tide. Then the kids relaxed with me again for another few hours. Come 7:30PM I decided I needed to get up and go out or I was going to die. So, I went to Blockbuster and then Giant and picked up some chips and chip dip. Now I really don't like Chips and dip so I have no idea why I bought it. I should have bought cream horns or something. Umm, that sounds so good. I ended up watching over 1/2 of the Notebook and then headed to bed around 11:00.

I have several things to thank God for:
- My husband is coming home, I've missed him. God keep him safe on the final drive home.
- Jason's mom finally got a dog for their family. I am so thankful for this because dogs make a huge impact on families. So far they are loving her and I can't wait to meet her myself.
- Jack's dad, my grandpa, is still alive and doing much better than this weekend
- I mowed the grass and the mower didn't tip on me
- Now this may seem weird but I LOVE TURKEYS. One flew over my head this weekend and I was just so amazed. Isn't life and all God's Creation wonderful? TURKEYS ROCK! I can't wait to see another one so I can take a photo.
- Last but not least, I thank GOD for the friends that I have made here. Especially Cheryl! Cheryl you mean so much to me and I appreciate you welcoming me into your family. Your family is wonderful and I love you all! I also thank GOD for my other friends I've made at church Nikki, Colleen. I'm just getting to know you both but I'm very thankful I've met you.

I'm very sorry my Blog has been boring lately with no photos. That will change after this weekend. We're heading to NYC for the day. Sammy will probably be going with us to hang out downtown, ride the Staten Island ferry, walk around central park and visit some Pet Boutiques. Woo Hoo!

Another Agility Weekend

Good luck to all my agility buddies heading to Decatur this weekend for the agility trial. Be sure to send an email letting me know how everyone did!

Sam the Q'ing Queen

If you can believe my title it's so very true. Sam beat all the shelties this weekend at the DOCNA trial. Woo Hoo for Sam 3 great Q's. Since I'm exhausted I'll keep this short and sweet.

Helped Jacqui (I'll get your name spelled right one of these days. Am I right?) load up the trial equipment and take it to the fairgrounds on Thursday.

Friday we hooked up the Doggie Motel to the Fur X Fur Jeep. I took a 1/2 day so I could help set up the trial.

Friday evening: Show N Go. It was fun. Only about 20 or so dogs but we ran Gamblers and Snakes and Ladders

Saturday morning up at 5:45 to get the kids pottied and ready to set up the course for the trial. Tay was nervous on Saturday but stayed in the ring and did well on all her runs. All 6 that is. (Yep, 6 instead of our normal 2). She Q'd in jumpers. Chase missed all her contacts and received a lot of Whoa's when doing so. She had a beautiful jumpers run with a Q.

On Sunday Jason woke me up 1 hour earlier than needed. I think he felt really bad for doing so (testing out the alarm at 5:30 to see if it worked, bad idea). So, he ended up taking all the kids potty without me having to ask. I think he knew I was really mad though! :-) Still love you baby! Sam was the first up. She had a little flirtation time with Jynx, the new love of her life, so I think she was a little wound up before running. I say this because she left the start like and ran around the ring as fast as she could. I'm not kidding either. Then she ran out of the ring hunting for something to kill. Then back into the ring for more laps. The judge asked me if I could get her to sit or down. I told her I didn't know because she had never did this before EVER! I totally wished I had it on tape. Friends in MS, you wouldn't believe what you would have saw. After words she was so worked up it was time to drink a LOT of water. Chase missed those dreaded contacts again. Tay Q'd. Now onto my new FAVORITE event Trigility. We competed with each of our dogs in the same ring. Kind of a relay race. Jay ran Taylor on the Standard course, I ran Sam on the jumpers and Jacqui ran Chase. Poor Chase didn't know what to do. She ran with Jacqui, then she ran to me wondering why I was just standing their. I ignored her and Jacqui got her back. Then out of the tunnel over a jump and back to her mommy. It was the cutest thing ever. She just loves me too much I guess. Thank you Jacqui for running her. I really appreciate it. We didn't Q but it was the best and the funnest run I think I have ever did. I came out of the ring, dogs in hand and got all kinds of loving and gave it all back!

Anyway, that was our great weekend. DOCNA is awesome and I can't wait to compete again. Even though I ran a total of 12 runs each day I had the best time.

Thanks to Jacqui again for running Chase and for hosting the DOCNA trial. I cannot wait for our next trial in July!

As for the dogs.............Each one of them crashed on the floor when we got home and have been asleep since!

Now I wasn't able to post this on Friday but I hope everyone down in MS had a great Q'ing weekend at the Priceville agility show. I expect a full report!

One Hiking Dog in Training


This weekend Jason and I headed out to our favorite hiking spot for a new challenge, our longest hike yet. We decided to get up really early Saturday morning and attempt the 7.2 mile hike around the falls trail at Ricketts Glen State Park. Along for the ride was our veteran hiking dog Kenzie and our hiking dog in training, Taylor. Now most of you do not know I've been having problems with my hips lately but I still told Jason I wanted to try it out. It's the most difficult trail at the park and has around 30+ waterfalls. We started out at 9:20am, not too early. It was going to be a fabulous day with sunny skies and a high of 70. Things had changed a bit since our last hike at Ricketts. NO SNOW! So I was able to see a lot of the ground and the flowers, etc starting to bloom. Jason took his camera and we planned on taking tons of photos. When we arrived at the second set of falls it totally looked different from the last time we saw it. Here's the falls back in March.Here's a photo of the same falls today:

When we reached where the two rivers meet we had to decide which direction to head. Since we're both left handed of course we chose to go left :-). The falls were stunning and the rivers were running quite quickly. Actually Taylor got into the water at one point, slipped and started to get carried away. So she thought, we had her on leash :-). Here's some photos of some of the other falls:

While sitting on a rock at the falls directly above I was able to shoot my favorite photo of Jason.....I was so excited and it turned out perfect and not blurry (which is one of my photo taking problems). Aren't they so cute?
Now by the time we reached the 3rd trail at the ridge line poor Taylor was starting to slow down. The ridgeline hike was 1.2 miles and totally welcoming. I say welcoming because the falls trail is straight up jagged slippery rocks the WHOLE way. So we was able to hike on somewhat level ground. Once we reached the second branch of the falls trail we started our way down. By this point the trails were crowded and not that enjoyable. We still enjoyed seeing the falls though. After about 5 miles it was time to find a shady spot to have lunch at and rest. I pulled out my butterfinger granola bars and Jason his trail mix. Both Tay and Kenzie was treated to some doggie bones and we just laid back and relaxed. Taylor was so tired I was able to shoot this cute picture. (the photo was blurry but still cute)
Finally at 2:30 we reached the car. My legs were jelly and the kids were exhausted. What a wonderful day hike though. BEAUTIFUL! It's so hard to believe that we live here.

Anyway, I'm leaving you with one last photo. It's called BUDDIES

Dearly beloved we are gathered here today to say farewell to a good friend. "KC" the bird has passed and will be dearly missed. We have fond memories of good ol' KC. Him Sqawking at Carie, Sam trying to eat him, and KC taking cover under Chris's shirt with his little head sticking out the top.

Farewell KC and we'll see you in HEAVEN!