Daily Walk: Still Walking

People that do not know the pooches are always amazed to hear that Miss M is 12 years old and Mr. B is 13. We credit their health to their diet (a post for another day: we prepare their meals the night before and it takes over 10 minutes to set up and place in the refrigerator) and our long walks.

Even with the arrival of Baby K, we still get the pooches out for their daily walks. In fact, we go on extended daily walks more often now, but unlike their 5 mile walks in the past, our walks are now at most 3 miles. Like Mr. B, Baby K loves the outdoor and cannot get enough of it.

Unlike before, it takes us a lot of planning to get out the door for our walks. As we have written before, I use a baby carrier, because a stroller is just too hard to navigate through the sometimes crowded streets of Chicago with a social butterfly pulling one arm to meet every human.

Not only do we have to make sure that the water bottle and bags of treats are filled for the pooches, we now have a diaper bag to maintain and a mat to carry for impromptu picnics, movies or plays.

But once we are out the door, our walks are pretty much the same as they were in the past, only a lot slower. Miss M still meets all of her people and it seems like more people are approaching the pooches than in the past, we think Baby K is making the pooches even more approachable.

Though Miss M would rather stay at home,

We don't think Miss M could go a day without saying hi to all of her adoring fans, which can be quite exhausting.

Daily Walk: The New Family Walk

Now that we have Baby K, life has become a bit more complicated.
We have heard horror stories of how people's beloved pets were pushed to the side when a baby came into their lives and even read blogs that went from a lifestyle blog to a baby blog.
Though we knew that babies changed people's lives, we were not prepared for how much our lives have changed with Baby K.
Luckily for us, the pooches are patient and amenable. We had met with a trainer and prepared for how  to make the introduction to the pups, but the moment we walked in and handed them their high-value treat, they went on with their lives.
Mr. B will still run around the house like usual, and we never leave Baby K on the floor.
Miss M will still whine and cry in the morning for her breakfast despite waking up Baby K.

We have tried to ensure that most aspects of their lives remain the same: the morning breakfast, the mid-morning dinner and the long family walks on the weekends. It is during these long family walks that we realize that nothing has really changed.

Though on our very first family walk we attempted to use a stroller with the pooches, and it was quite difficult to nearly impossible. Despite training Mr. B to walk nicely on leash, Mr B still didn't understand the concept of walking on one side and spent much of his walk trying to dodge the stroller.

A and I had a pact that since she carried him for 9 months, I would be carrying Baby K on all of our walks sans stroller after birth. Now that I tote Baby K in a carrier, our daily walks are pretty much the same as they have been before birth. The pooches are back to being the center of attention.

It is funny how often we hear "what cute babies" on our daily walk.
It's really meant for the pooches, and a lot of people don't realize we have an actual baby with us.

On one of our walks, someone commented how it was nice of me to carry the dog's stuffed animal, not realizing that it was an actual baby in a bear suit.
Despite taking a lot longer to get ready for our walks, the walks have provided some normalcy to our now hectic life. Plus we ran into Marcus Kruger and Bobby Hull in the Wicker Park field house while changing Baby K 's diaper.

Black Friday Shopping?!

Despite our photos and videos showing us and the pooches in crowds, Mr. B, A and I are very much opposed to crowds. On the other hand, Miss M loves crowds and will even drag her poor family into any and all groups of people. This past weekend we found a good balance and went on a family walk via the Bloomingdale Trail

and got a little post-Thanksgiving shopping in. We love shopping near our neighborhood because there are so many stores that are dog-friendly and even dog-loving. 

After a long day of shopping, posing for photographs, hanging out in the park, and meeting friends. We were all excited to head back home to enjoy the last several hours of our Thanksgiving break. 

Daily Walk: A Thanksgiving Walk

After a great Thanksgiving dinner with our family, we took advantage of the great post-Thanksgiving weather and went on a couple family Thanksgiving walks on the Bloomingdale Trail. In the summer, there were times when the trail was too hot for the pooches and they would struggle a bit on their family walks.

Now that the weather is cooler, Miss M and Mr. B were excited to take on the trail. On one walk they even spotted their good friend and foster extraordinaire Kathy, with Max and newly adopted Bill. Bill, Max, Mr. B and Miss M even formed a jam band to entertain fellow Bloomingdale Trailers.

On another walk they met friends from Safe Humane Chicago and Brew City Bully Club and A and I  finally had a chance to try the Nutella S'mores donut from Glazed and Infused.

Miss M took in some local street art at Violet Hour and Mr. B posed for some candid street-style photos. We even had a chance to do some impromptu Black Friday shopping on Sunday.

The Bloomingdale Trail

We were so excited when the Bloomingdale Trail AKA The 606 opened earlier this summer. We knew that it would be a nice addition to our weekend walks, little did we know that it would be an essential part of our walks.

Initially it was a novelty to walk above the streets of Chicago, but now we use it whenever we go on our family walks to explore neighborhoods to the west of us or east to get something to eat at our familiar spots with the pooches.

We love that our walks are no longer interrupted by stop signs, stop lights, turning cars or any sort of motor vehicle. Rather than taking a whole day taking the pooches on our weekend walks, our weekend walks only take a few hours as we walk uninterrupted.

When A's family was in town, we, including the pooches, went on a nice family walk on the Bloomingdale Trail. A's mom commented that it must be the happiest place on Earth because everyone was smiling as they ran, biked or walked the trail.

It is one of our favorite places in Chicago, and all of us, including Miss M can be seen smiling as we traverse the Bloomingdale Trail.

Pooches: View of a Blizzard

We had a blizzard on Sunday.
Which is funny, because we really didn't know it was going to happen until the day before.
Even then, they just told us it was going to snow.
But, that ended up being over 19 inches of snow. And ranking as one of the top 5 biggest snowstorms in Chicago's history.
And for those of you who reading this from your 70+ degree weather locales, this is what that looks like:

Thank goodness for snow tunnels!

They called off school, and we spent the day working with our neighbors to shovel out the cars that were parked on our street, push the cars that kept getting stuck, and shovel out the alley where many of the cars live.

Actually, it was E that did all of that shoveling and pushing.

I spent the day watching the plow tracker (I saw them come a record 3 times on our side street!). And trying to acclimate the pups to the snow. We even had some snow drifts in our yard and in the gangway that were over 4 feet tall.

It was nice seeing the neighbors come together. There is even someone outside right now (at 9:30 at night!) with a snowblower working to snowplow the remaining snow on our street so the cars can park.

Dibs! I think it was fair to call dibs this time.

How has everyone else been doing with the snow?

Also:

The snow was definitely better than this.

The pups are prepared with these when it all starts melting.

The pups in this one ranked third worst in Chicago history. 

Daily Walk: City Dog, Country Dog

We know a lot of people feel bad for City Dogs who don't have their own backyard to romp and roam, but we feel we have the best situation with so many options to keep the pups mentally stimulated, especially in our new neighborhood.

Sometimes the pups feel like City Dogs blending among the crowds with plenty of opportunities to meet people for petting and being invited into local stores:

Or we can head over to our (huge!!) historical park complete with duck-filled lagoons, weeping willows, and plenty of paths and grass-filled space. You barely realize you're in the city anymore.

Miss M's favorite thing is to watch the ducks; I think she is just waiting for them to make more duck poo for her consumption.

Also:

The secret of how City Dogs use the restroom

The City as your obstacle course

Check our Facebook page for more photos, comments, and story lines beyond the blog.

A Week In Chicago

So much can change in a week. On Monday of last week, we were excited to get home when it was still light out so we could take the pooches on a walk around our new fantastic park. The weather was so warm that the pooches went sans coats and A and I went sans scarves and gloves. Mr. B enjoyed a nice evening duck and rat watching.

Then comes Sunday, the pooches were bundled up in their Chicago team hoodies and A and I had on our heavy scarves and gloves.

At least the temperature indoors stays the same and the pooches can enjoy a nice nap in their new favorite bed.

Check our Facebook page for more photos, comments, and story lines beyond the blog.

The Best of Both Worlds

When A first suggested that we sell our condo for a single family home, I was adamantly opposed to the idea of leaving the comfortable life of our home and neighborhood. I didn't think it was possible, but I absolutely love our new neighborhood and I cannot imagine going back to our old life.

We are a short walk from the hustle and bustle of all the action, where the pooches can meet new people, say hi to their old friends and catch up on any treats they might have missed.

Luckily for the pooches, we moved even closer to their favorite treat spots.

When we want a bit of nature, we are a short walk from this immense 219 acre park that have something going on almost every night. On any given night you will find people engaged in a whole host of activities such as fishing, jogging, walking, couples sitting by the lagoons, fans cheering at soccer games and little league games to name a few.

Even though we have been here less than a month, we have become great friends with all of our neighbors. Everyone has been so welcoming and we are excited to be part of this our new neighborhood.
It is safe to say that I was wrong and A was right. We truly love our new home and neighborhood. Also it doesn't hurt that we have our own outdoor sanctuary and

 the pooches even have their own designated outdoor seating area.

Stay tuned as we continue to explore our neighborhood and turn our house into our forever home.

Family Walk: By the Numbers

While I originally thought it would be hard to have dogs without a backyard, we have realized that our walks help us create better connections with our pups and spend more quality time together as a family.
Here are some fun facts about an average family walk 'by the numbers':

Number of Miles Walked: About 3

Most Common Things People Said About the Pooches: 
"They are so beautiful!"
"They are so cute!"
"Look, they're posing for the camera."
"What kind of dogs are they?"
"Can I pet them?"

Most Common Incorrect Questions Asked about the Pooches: 
"Are they twins?"
"Are they brothers"?

Number of People We Met on This Walk Who Recognized the Dogs from Online: Three. Thanks for saying hi!

Number of Coats Worn: Zero! After one of the toughest winters ever, we finally deserved it.
Number of Hats Worn: One, shared between Mr. B and E.

Number of Grown Men Making Kissy-Noises at Miss M: Two! One was so enamored with "the dog with the beautiful brown-striped fur". The second man was waiting at the bus-stop and thought making kiss-noises would attract Miss M.
She was not impressed. 

Number of Stores/Restaurants Actually Leaving Dog Treats Outside: 4

Number of Stores/Restaurants Mr. B Anticipated Leaving Dog Treats Outside: 7!  Mr. B seems to remember all the places where the treats are normally kept. If the treats aren't in their proper location, he will stare uncomfortably at whichever person just happens to be standing there in the expectation that they are holding the treat for him.

Also:
Like dating.
Next time.
Oh, Mr. B!

Check our Facebook page for more photos, comments, and story lines beyond the blog.

Daily Walk in 10 Pictures 04.02.14

Lucky for us we live in the beautiful city of Chicago. Unlucky for us we live in Chicago weather. The Irrational Optimism Art Print by Sarah L perfectly explains Chicago weather:

That one day in March came and went this past weekend and we, meaning all of Chicago, made the most of that beautiful day.

The whole city was out taking advantage of every open city space. The pooches were excited to head out sans snoods, hoodies, coats, boots, and slush suits and enjoy our city in just their birthday fur.

 They met their many fans and reluctantly sat through photo shoot after photo shoot. Even though we missed most of the Elite 8 games, we are pretty grateful that we took advantage of that one day, because we are back to another week of winter.