Dear Diary, despite my attempts, the dog has returned...

The Kid and I took advantage of our last few days of Vacation (from the puppy). One evening, we drove up to Montshire Museum of Science in Norwich, VT for Members' Night. Food trucks!! We had delicious Munchie-Rollz - like egg rolls but with all kinds of things inside, and Kona Shaved Ice - and we sat on the amphitheater seats outside watching all the little kids playing in the Science Water Park. It was heaven. We took a quick look at the current exhibit about excavating the permafrost in the Artic...

... and then we found the bubble tea shop in Hanover on the way home. Lilah had the classic Thai Boba Tea - with chewy pearls on the bottom. I had a Strawberry Slush w/Jelly that had crunchy slugs that were oddly very satisfying.

And the best part - yes, better than Boba Tea! - was that Lilah read to me while I drove. She does the best voices and we end up laughing so hard and getting really distracted (from the story, not driving).

She reads Mother Goose with the voice of a chronic smoker and drinker, "I haven’t had this much fun since I was sober and young and played rub-a-dub-dub with three men in a tub." Although that's not what it said exactly... I like to misinterpret what I hear and it tends to stick through all the stories. The words were actually "so very young" instead of "sober and young" - but honestly, my version makes more sense.

It's taken her a few years, but she has read me the whole series of The Land of Stories (I LOVED the ending!) The Audible version is... terrible. Oddly, it's read by the author, Chris Colfer, who played Kurt Hummel on Glee. He's a great Actor, and a better Writer, but my kid is a better Reader! Also, the book has some great drawings you have to see.

Saturday morning, we saw the Junior Interns performance of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at the New London Barn Playhouse. Lilah had been a JI last summer and a few of her friends were performing. It was so much better than I'd expected - the Oompa Loompas' song and dance each time a kid is eliminated - had me roaring with laughter. And it was only about an hour. I can just about sit still that long. A lot of these kids were in the Percy Jackson performance done during Spring Break (Lilah played Percy! :-) ), so I shouldn't have been surprised - but my expectations for Middle School aged actors is generally very low. (Only a few were in HS). Anyway. Another nice day, followed by ice cream and ... OH! The puppy came home too!

She'd been away for THREE WEEKS!!! My rotator cuffs are not healed, but I missed her so much and decided I would have to find some creative ways to train with her AND heal myself. I'm going to take another medical sabbatical and cancel all the tests. But, anyway... Mark brought her back. He looked relieved. And reluctant. He's going to miss her, but now appreciates his "old, retired pup" much more. After he left, Elsa Bear searched the whole house for him before collapsing in her playpen. It broke my heart.

Lilah had not been looking forward to the return of the dog. She adjusted quickly...

Minou did not change her opinion...

And Elsa Bear remembered how much she adores ME!

While writing this, I got a very rare photo opp! Minou is asleep on the bench on one side of me and Elsa Bear climbed up next to me on the other. They were two feet apart and not fighting!! Whoa.

Today... I got up crazy early (6:30am) to take a covetted spot at the dog groomer, Bark Now, in Concord (at 8am?!!! I must really love this dog!?)

Before grooming:

After Grooming:

Seriously!! The groomers took this picture.

After 8 hours of rolling in the grass, chasing a ball (and the cat), digging a new hole in the garden, being petted by kids in the library, and hugged (because OMG she's so soft!!):

If you need a visual to prove her activity level, I took a little video - this is in actual time, NOT sped up! Note the lovely play pen that my friend Jules helped me assemble! I added a privacy panel (for some shade) and lovely string lights for late night Bio-Breaks. This means I can let her off leash to get some exercise without her tearing my rotator cuffs even more!

This next pic is just so stinkin' cute. Those weird legs...

I'm so glad she's home. And, yes, I'm exhausted. :-)