More Water...the Deep Kind

Dear Everett,

This past weekend, Paisle and Gopher went up north for the second time. Two weekends in a row, frolicking with Trooper and Gus! Jenner was amazed to learn that yes, the Old Man Trooper was playing a game of Catch Me, onshore, with the young pups.

Jenner and I accompanied her aunt, Renie, and her friend Karen up to the lake. Four ladies, four dogs! We had great meals, great conversation, and of course great weather. And I do mean great--thankfully it FINALLY rained though the heavy stuff held off until Sunday afternoon.

But I digress. What I really came to tell you today, was what fun we had in the water. Two weekends in a row, playing on, off, under, and around the dock and boat.

Here are the ladies, Renie and Karen, after proudly paddling themselves around the small bay.

Here are Paisle and Gopher, with me on the same paddle boat (Paisle up in front with me, Gopher in the kiddie seat behind me)

We only went on a short paddle. There were other things to do! Like learn from the master, Trooper, on retrieving balls in the water. Note the students are on the dock, while Trooper is in the water. Then there is the Orka Blue Thing, which does float, but is harder to grab than a ball...
Paisle showing off her retrieving skills which really are very good for an 8 month old, unless the object lands in Deep Water (she still doesn't know how to swim). In this photo, she is looking at Trooper, who is swimming under them at the end of the dock.

Here is Trooper, in the water. It is hard to tell, but he is standing on the bottom with his back feet, and treading water with his front feet, while he waits for the ball to be thrown. Isn't he just amazing!!

And is it just too cute that she seemed to prefer the pink ball? Of course, its attraction was probably the super short nap, which made it harder to peel off--one of her favorite occupations is stripping tennis balls then demolishing the ball itself.

Can you see Paisle here, jumping onto the dock with Trooper? For a while, she went toe to toe with him, chasing balls and retrieving together. Though light in frame he is a tall boy, much bigger than the Bean. Gus, the other crazy fetch dog, is on the dock.
And I don't have a single good shot of all four pups from this weekend, so I will close with my favorite shot from the previous weekend. This is almost the last photo I took as we packed up the dogs and left for home July 27. Left to right they are Gus, Paisle, Gopher, and Trooper.
And then there was the drive home...this is a girl after Jerome's heart...