The best part of daylight savings time is it's actually light again during our morning walk. Here's a glimpse of what the pooches and I see each morning before we start the day.
Mr. B. poses before an ivy wall:
Red trees and mums on the porch:
Window box holiday decor:
Miss M. mugging for the camera:
My favorite porch decked out for the season:
And bikes in cornstalks:
Apparently she was whining, barking and looking all around for us.
Whenever we skated past her, she would start crying and lunging at us.
On the other hand, Mr. B was loving it. He was running along with me. Though this was a great way to get Mr. B some exercise, I do not recommend it and will definitely never do this in the dark again.
Though we were on quiet side streets, we still had to keep an eye out for cars and we had a couple close calls when Mr. B would run right in front of me and cut me off. Hopefully one day we will teach Mr. B to ride the skateboard all by himself.
I had been excitedly waiting for this neighborhood bakery to open, and we were finally able to check it out over the weekend.
We tried a chocolate croissant, chocolate mousse cup, and mango mousse. The chocolate mousse was just ok, but the mango mousse was amazing.
We tried both the pretzel bread and the ciabatta bread. Both were incredible; we're excited to try the ciabatta with our flights of grilled cheese.
This huge piece of broccoli quiche was only $4-5; it was even better than the quiche at Hoosier Mama.
We loaded up my basket with a couple of croissants, a small banana cream pie, we have yet to try, and an entire ciabatta loaf. Between La Farine and Hoosier Mama Chicago Avenue is turning into quite the destination baked goods street.
These are the things I carry on my daily commute. They include:
10. My road ID, A made me get one of these for those just in case times. On my road ID, I have my name and my top three emergency contact numbers. I have never had to use this (knock on wood), but it gives A peace of mind, because if we ever needed to use the road ID, she would be the first to know and then Mr. B.
Since Mr. B was unfortunately left behind during last weekend's dog Halloween party. we were happy to let him join the festivities at this weekend's Chicago Park District Halloween Dog Party.
Mr. B's turtle costume was a hit; it was perfect for him because he's so low to the ground.
He enjoyed checking out the booths and begging for treats.
There were lots of dogs in costumes. This little caveman was even able to keep his wig on the whole time.
We wanted to find this cowboy costume for Mr. B. to wear for this year's Pride parade.
A former inmate:
This pooch challenging Miss M. to a fight:
Almost every time we take the pooches on the walk, someone will ask if they are twins. The funny thing is they are actually completely different breeds of dogs. Sure, they're both "pitbulls", or types of bully breeds, but from what we can gather, Miss M. is mainly American Bulldog with "traces" of Boxer.
Check out Exhibit A: The webbed feet. American Bulldogs were originally used for bull-baiting and bred to cling to bulls. Miss. M is adept at using her paws to clench things; if you shake hands with her she grabs back and it actually feels like shaking hands with real fingers.
Exhibit B: American Bulldogs can be quite lazy and lethargic around the house. Enough said.
Now we're pretty sure Mr. B. is a full-blooded American Staffordshire Terrier.
These dogs were bred to be stocky and muscular. Just check out Mr. B's biceps:
And he is the only dog that I ever met that has a fully defined buttock:
And as a terrier, he also enjoys chasing rats. A trait that has caused us problems as we walk through our fine city of Chicago.
Even though Mr. B. was excluded from the Halloween party, he still did get to go on his own adventure.Knowing Mr. B. loves to help his people, we bought him this backpack so he could help out. Here is Miss M. peering out the window jealously as we're setting off on our walk:
Dogs love having a job; when he has his backpack Mr. B. walks with a purpose and keeps his head held high. He helped carry the package I needed to mail,bought some bread, and even stopped by the dog store to carry his own treats home.
The backpack can also be used as a training tool for dogs who have too much energy. If they carry a heavy load, your walks become twice as effective. Plus, they're great in the summer so the pooches can carry their own water. Mr. B. got nearly as many stares and comments as Miss M. did wearing her ballerina outfit.
Miss M loves to dress up; yesterday she was able to start the season early at DoggyStyle's Halloween Parade of Hounds party. The pooches gathered at DoggyStyle to prepare for their costume parade:
There was a banana:
A trio of chickens:
This former Katrina dog, a Bassethound, Corgi, Lab mix, came as a scarecrow:
And of course Miss M. mugging for the camera:
After the parade, the pooches came back to DoggyStyle for some snacks and games. Those cupcakes were actually for the dogs. They also had bobbing for tennis balls, but Miss M. couldn't understand the concept and kept trying to drink the water instead.
The party was so exciting, when we got home Miss M. passed out still wearing her costume:
Meanwhile, poor Mr. B. was "stood up". He was waiting patiently in his teepee, all dressed up in his new turtle costume, for E. to come get him. Unfortunately, E's school meeting ran overtime so, sadly, poor Mr. B. was left behind.
