Blake just loves Ashley to pieces.  He’s like a giant teddy bear to her.  He gets poked, prodded, stepped on, hair pulled, drueled on, and he doesn’t flinch.  He’s such a good big brother!  He showers her with kisses and acts like a protective brother when he senses Toby getting aggravated with her.  He will run in between them. 

Toby however, likes his own space.  Poor thing is constantly chased around the house or she will follow him to his couch and torment him there.  Anywhere Toby goes, Ashley is not far behind.  So it’s hard separating them sometimes.  He loves her, too though.  He would just rather love her from a distance. 

My main issue with them lately is dealing with their boredom.  I don’t have time to exercise them like I used to, so they get bored a lot.  I know, it’s my fault.  They have destroyed three of my plants in the backyard.  Which makes me cry because I have spent a lot of time and money back there.  And the other night, Blake ate Ashley’s baby comb.  So aside from a few destructive behaviors, they are doing just fine.  I still love ‘em!

Meanwhile, Van and I took the boys to the beach.  Since it was getting dark, my pictures didn’t turn out very good.  But the boys had a great time!  We threw their bumper in the ocean for them to fetch.  They love jumping through the waves!  It makes me so happy to see them having fun.  I love my boys

On a sad note though, there is a lady here on vacation who lost her dog.  She is from Atlanta.  Her dog got spooked by fireworks and ran away.  It’s a Bernese Mountain dog.  So she has posted fliers everywhere and people have been searching for him.  Someone came up to us last night as we were walking to see if we had seen her dog.  I feel so bad for her.  Since I almost lost Blake 2 years ago in the same circumstance, I know that lump in your throat feeling.  It just breaks my heart.  I really hope her doggie  finds his way back home!

And I’m not the only one who has problems with fireworks.  Toby can’t stand them.  He barks, pants, and runs around the yard in circles. He gets all worked up.  There is no rationalizing with him.  It’s like he is in a trance, another state of mind. This year we locked Toby and Blake up in the garage under the house.  A few of you may remember the story a couple years ago when Toby was going bizerk at the fireworks so Blake thought he would “stop” the fireworks for him.  Blake proceeded to jump in the waterway, during the pitch black night, and swim up the waterway towards the fireworks.  Long story short, we barely got him back, and it was a nightmare I will never forget.  So tonight, Toby is on anti-anxiety medication and they are both locked up downstairs.

Anyways, it was a pretty chill day.  We really didn’t do much.  Perfect for a vacation huh?  Played ball with the boys, they swam, and I read a book sitting by the pool (I’m just now getting in on the Twilight craze!).  Played with Ashley and gave her some watermelon.  Van relaxed and enjoyed himself.  I don’t think I saw him open his laptop until tonight – which is a first!  And even then, it was just to download pictures.  We watched the fireworks from the waterway.  Very pretty.  And Ashley did good.  The noise didn’t bother her and she really didn’t show much of a reaction.  She was pretty indifferent to the whole thing.  Well, until you tried to put her to bed.  But overall, a wonderful holiday!

Here are some pictures from July 4th 2010…