Wrapping up the Last Half of July

Hey look, I'm getting caught up!!! And apparently I forgot my camera existed these last few weeks LOL (that, and the kittens had gone to their new home, so I don't have a gazillion kitten pictures to bore you with).

The weekend of the 24th, Lexie and Ashlyn went to the beach with friends. Little Bit had a taste of being an only child, and wasn't overly impressed. Tracy the cat seemed to miss Lexie and Ashlyn too. She slept on top of me most nights. I was surprised at how much less dishes, and laundry there was with only one kid.

Despite Little Bit's declaration that she didn't like being an only child, she wasn't exactly lonely. Her friend, K came over to play for a few hours on Friday. On Sunday, my parents came up and met us at Chipotle. I told Little Bit I was taking her someplace for supper but wouldn't tell her where. We got there and my parents got out of their car, her reaction was priceless :) And on Monday, we dropped something off at K's house, and her mom and I got to talking, so Little Bit and K got to play for another hour or so.

Lexie and Ashlyn got home from the beach on Monday, and, at the same time, Nina (standard poodle) came to visit for a week. Tracy was much more laid back (for her) about having a dog in the house now that her kittens are gone, but Nina simply could not comprehend that this small furry thing didn't want to be her friend. She did become slightly more wary after Tracy swiped her nose a couple times, but her memory was short, so after a day or so of keeping her distance (Tracy didn't hunt her down, like she had Maggie, but she did stand her ground), Nina would try to make friends again, silly dog. Still as long as we kept an eye on them, Tracy didn't have to spend as much time locked in the bedroom as she did when Maggie was here. I had ASSUMED that the easy solution would be to just let Tracy outside. She spent most of the time the kittens were here, trying to sneak out, but we wouldn't let her for fear she wouldn't come back to her kittens. But silly cat, now that I WANTED her outside, had no interest in being outside. When we DID put her out, she'd sit right outside the sliding door, and Nina would stand right INSIDE the sliding door barking and jumping and trying to figure out how to play with her through the glass (while Tracy did her best to swat Nina through the glass). And Tracy'd come back in as soon as we let her.

And that pretty much sums up the rest of our month. We spent a day helping friends get ready to move. . . Stopped by a friend's house to meet the dog she was dog-sitting (because Ashlyn can never meet too many dogs). . . Enjoyed park days with play days with friends. . .