He Used to Call It His Chair....

I remember growing up in the late 50's, when working men coveted a reclining chair.   They worked hard all day and part of the reward was to come home, have dinner and then settle in a comfortable chair where the man of the house could put his feet up and watch TV.  The "kids" could sit in the chair during the day, but when dad came home, it was his chair. Just his.

 

Tony used to have one of those chairs.   He called it "his" chair.  

 

 

 

 

 

Now he calls it "our chair!"

 

 

Father's Day

 

For Father's Day, David came up from Tampa and Tony, Marie and Cole came from Charlotte.  We all had a nice time.  The "kids" went to the beach and while Cole was napping, they went to the pool here. 

 

We had great food, thanks to Tony and did a lot of hanging around, playing cornhole and keeping the dogs apart.   Dixie may have been the smallest dog here, but she was definitely the most aggressive!  She nipped at Bernie just like she did to Tyson when he was here.  Bernie took the bait and chased Dixie and barked and growled at her.  Tyson, ever the gentleman, decided to protect Dixie, so he chased Bernie.   Dixie would exit the chase and sit on the sidelines watching them growl and bark each other.  Sometimes, while all of this was going on, she would eat Bernie's food.  So, like I said, she may be the youngest, she may be the smallest, but she really knows how to use her feminine wiles!    I was taking antihistamines all weekend, but it was worth it.

 

Coleton continued to be an absolute charmer.  No matter where we went, strangers smiled at him, waved and even did "peek a boo" for him.  In return, he gifted them all with toothy smiles and shrill giggles.  He was a doll.

 

Here are some highlights of our visit.

 

 

 

Godfather David plays with Cole's toys

 

Daddy and Cole

 

The Swegle Men and Their Babies

 

In order to get this picture, David and Tony had to hold treats in front of Tyson and Bernie to get them to stay.  Check out Dixie.....she is saying, "stay, my ass, I get the treat for just being as cute as I am."

 

More Swegle Men

 

Here's Cole ready to rip off Tony's glasses.....

 

 

And there they go....down on to the porch...

 

Papa says, "I love you anyway....."

 

Mr. Clean playing with the water...

 

How much he reminds me of Ben's first bath at our house.

 

 

Mr. Personality

Every once in a while Tony and Marie's travel schedule has them out of town at the same time.  When that happens, we get to babysit for Cole.

We spent Wednesday with him and had a blast.  He's doing the army crawl, but is close to using his knees.  He likes to pull himself up so he is standing, and as always, he was full of smiles, except when his teeth were bothering him.  When he woke up, he reminded me of that picture, "The Scream," as he was holding his head and crying.  A little Motrin fixed him right up and he was back to being Mr. Personality.

Tyson and Dixie got along pretty well.  We could see Tyson telling Dixie that this was his turf and not to pull any of the tricks she did when he was at our house. 

We will see Cole again in a few days when Tony, Marie and David come in for Father's Day.

Here are the many faces of Cole:

Downward--Facing the Dog

I've been having some new occurrences of Psoriasis lately and someone mentioned that stress is a trigger and that I should try to "de-stress."  Well, let's see, I've been unemployed for  a year and a half, I'm getting older and I have yucky skin.  De-stress?  Right.

 

But, I decided to try Yoga and Meditation again.   I used to do these years ago and always felt better after I had,  so, I decided to try again.

 

OH BOY....how many years has it been since I did Yoga?   My warrior pose was weak, just like my legs,  my tree pose was bent and  my Downward Facing Dog put me right in Dixie's path.  She had been sleeping for over an hour when I started, but as soon as I put the mat down, there she was--sitting on it.  Every time I did Downward Facing Dog, she was in my face, licking  my ears and my chin.  Needless to say, Yoga didn't go so well. 

 

I moved on to Meditation.  As I sat in the traditional cross-legged position, Dixie crawled right up in my lap.  As I tried to breathe deeply and exhale fully, Dixie was biting my fingers and barking in my ear.  I tried laying flat with my arms at my sides.  She liked this pose because she crawled up my legs and layed down.   She seemed very relaxed.  I, on the other hand, was not.

 

I gave up my relaxation ideas and started to put the tapes away....Dixie just layed on the mat, happy as a clam. 

 

I will try again....this time, during her nap--that way we will both relax.

 

Here she is:

 

 

 

Laying on the mat

 

Getting ready for my Downward Facing Dog

 

In my lap for Meditation

 

Laying across my legs as I am trying to do Child pose

 

Wondering how I can relax when I'm yelling at her....