Vernon Volumes text

Vernon Volumes text

Sunday, February 28, 2021

Beach day with Millie Mae

 

On Saturday we took Millie Mae to lunch with us at Valley Smoke and then took her to the beach. Millie loved digging in the sand and got her face all down in it a few times. She got to be quite a messy thing, but thankfully the sand didn't seem to get caught up or stuck in her fur. Millie mostly kept her distance from the water and after she got her feet wet she avoided the waves.












Connor's 14th birthday party - Top Golf with friends


On Friday, February 26th 2021, we celebrated Connor's 14th birthday a few days early. Connor invited his friends Jackson, Charlie, Carter, Quinn to come over to the house to play some basketball in the driveway and then we all went to Top Golf for some fun and food. 

The kids enjoyed the basketball possibly as much as the golf. They played 1v1 for a while and then 2v2 when more boys arrived. Paige enjoyed sitting out with Millie Mae and watching the boys until her friend Abby showed up. Paige invited Abby to come along with us so she'd have someone to hang out and talk to instead of a bunch of stinky teenage boys.

Top Golf was as fun as always and this time we were on the 2nd level. We hit a million balls, everyone got some food, and Andrea ordered Connor a bunch of cupcakes from a local bakery. We spared Connor the embarrassment of everyone singing for him, but Andrea brought some special candles for him so he could still make a wish and blow out the candles.



























Happy birthday Connor!

 

Tuesday, February 23, 2021

Paige and Emily at Hannah park

On Sunday, Paige's friend Emily invited her to go with them to Hannah Park. We've never been, but Paige said it was pretty fun and they took some rugged trails through the woods. 



When they got back to the house we got a pic of Paige with Emily and Millie Mae.



 

Second dose COVID19 Vaccine


On Saturday, Andrea and I got our second COVID19 vaccines. While we'd heard that the Moderna vaccine had fairly painful side effects, we'd heard that the Pfizer vaccine's were not quite as severe and we were hopeful that our side effects would be mild. Right after we got our vaccines, Andrea's arm was in a bit of pain already. It seems like either the injection was very close to a nerve, or something happened differently than the first dose. Andrea had trouble even using her right arm for a couple days. My arm was a little sore on Saturday, but it wasn't bad at all. I felt pretty good until Sunday afternoon and then I felt really awful. I was exhausted, cranky, and just felt physically bad all over. By Monday morning I felt much better and I continue to improve. 

We're super thankful we were able to get our vaccines relatively early, so definitely not complaining!

Life with Millie Mae - 1 month

 

It's been a month now since we brought Millie Mae home. She has brought a lot of excitement, fun, happiness and pee pee to our home. She has been growing fast and has been learning how to be a good dog, although she doesn't always make the best choices. She's been doing better and better at using her "puppy pad", however sometimes either she just doesn't make it, or just doesn't care, and we've been cleaning up a lot of pee. Thankfully she is fairly consistent about using her puppy pad for her poops.

Millie Mae has a fun personality and loves to play and attack her toys. Her teeth are like little needles and we've all got little marks on our hands where she missed a toy and caught a bit of your hand in her mouth. She doesn't seem to purposefully hurt us, but she has pretty bad aim at times and we have to be very careful around her. There was one occasion where she started attacking Paige's arm while we were on the floor with her and I don't know if she was just confused or if it was purposeful, but we've been closely monitoring her interactions with Paige subsequently. 

The amount of work involved with Millie is exhausting and while the kids have been helpful, we're all a bit tired of hovering over Millie throughout the day. Hopefully she'll figure out the puppy pads consistently and we can relax a little more around her. 

Millie Mae still doesn't seem to enjoy walks very much. She is reluctant most of the time to get started, but once she gets going she seems to enjoy it a little more and likes to run too. 

We've been taking Millie Mae out with us from time to time, but so far only to restaurants with outdoor seating that allow dogs. Millie does really well relaxing and settling down while we eat and isn't a bother and doesn't beg for food. Hopefully she'll continue to enjoy outings with us, I'd love to take her with us often.













Valentine's Day 2021


On Valentine's Day, Andrea and I got back from our trip to Amelia Island and mostly just relaxed at home. I had some roses delivered for Andrea and she got me some Sugarfina sweets and a card.






Sunday, February 14, 2021

Grandpa Rick's weekend with the kids and puppy

 

Grandpa Rick stayed at our house from Thursday through Sunday. We tried to make our house comfortable for him and although the puppy was quite a bit of work, I think our kids are more self sufficient and hopefully were a good help with Millie Mae. Paige enjoyed cooking some spaghetti with Grandpa's supervision and they also went over to Grandpa and Grandma's house on Saturday night for dinner and games so Grandma could hang out with them too. Thanks so much for being an awesome Grandpa!