Welcome home, Daisy Purdy!

Well...we just didn't make it that long without a dog.  While I think Kyle could have gone forever without replacing our beloved beagle, the girls and I were not holding up so well in a dog-less house.  And there are just SO MANY that need to be rescued!  We are just doing our civic duty...or at least that's what I kept telling my husband.  (The poor man never stood a chance in resisting the house full of dog-loving women he lives with).  

I scoured the rescue sites almost daily, looking for *something* that screamed "THIS DOG SHOULD BE YOUR DOG!"  We didn't necessarily want a puppy, preferably wanted a female, and weren't set on a breed, which narrowed the search down to a mere 450 million choices.  With a trip to Disney World planned for late April, we ideally wouldn't have located a replacement pooch for another month.  Isn't that how things always seem to work?  Just a few days into my post-Florida searching, I saw this girl...

That face!  Those eyes!  This was the *something* I had been looking for.  And her name was Daisy.  Daisy Purdy?!  Come on.  How does that not work?!

Daisy came over to meet us on a Thursday night.  Friday night found us at Meijer printing dog tags and picking up food and snacks, so yeah, I'd say the meeting went well.

Daisy arrived with just the fur on her back, a daisy print dog collar (seriously awesome) and this little stuffed beagle - the exact same version of the stuffed beagle that I'd bought for the girls to remember Lacey by.  What are the odds?!?

She's here!  And she's real sweet and kind of perfect.

She weighs approx 65 lbs, which is 2.5 times the size of Lacey.  Much bigger than we ideally wanted, but again, there was no turning this sweetheart away.

Driving Miss Daisy (tee-hee).  Daisy reportedly loves car rides.  We took her for a spin to Petco to get a sturdier leash.

After a big first day, she settled into her bed with her baby beagle.

I may have watched her sleep for a lot longer than necessary.  It was entertaining to see her take her beagle with her every time she turned.

Day 2 - Daisy's belly is getting lots of attention with us

A couple of happy campers

But that was the biggest bed they had at Home Goods!

The cats are doing well enough with the new addition, but that Jordan is a real instigator

The best sleep of his life at Daisy's expense...

What a jerk.

A daisy blanket for a sleepy Daisy Purdy (who reclaimed her bed from that bully the cat)

Cats are not Dogs

The cats have been EVERYWHERE since we lost Lacey.  I am not sure if they are sticking close to us to make sure we're ok, or reveling in their new elevated status of being the primary pets in the house (Mr. Rick the goldfish does not give them a lot of competition for our attention), but they are always out and about when we are home, and jumping on us to cuddle the moment we sit down.  Bless their little hearts, but it is kind of making me a tad insane!

Jordan does not miss an opportunity to snuggle

,,,and Joey is the first one to knock him out of his seat and take over.

Joey went so far as to try to accompany me on my first dog-less walk of the spring.  While her heart is in the right place, I simply will not be seen walking my cat.  There are many ways in which she is not my beagle.  This is one of those ways.

Florida, Day 8 - Home to Daddy

After 8 days of perfect weather (and lots and lots of dolphins), it was time for us to head home to Daddy.

Gluten-free airport snacking

World travelers

It was not easy to return home to a house without a doggy (sniff, sniff), but we made it home just in time to celebrate the THIRTEENTH birthday of our kitty cats:

Joey...

...and Jordan.  Happy birthday kitties!

Florida, Day 7 - St Patrick's Day, in shorts!

We have been so spoiled with amazing weather.  It is not often that we get to spend our St Partrick's Day wearing shorts, and we took full advantage on the last full day of our vacation.

Today's festivities included miniature golf, which is not necessarily Irish but is always a lot of fun

After golf, it was one last trip to the beach

Grandma Dee took Bucket Head and her big sister home from the beach, so Mom could relax a little.

THANK YOU, GRANDMA!

We took Grandma out for ice cream on our last night in Anna Maria - it's a shame she has rotten grandchildren that wouldn't keep their eyes open for a nice photo...

Florida, Day 6 - Swimming with Manatees!

Our next adventure was a trip to Crystal Springs, which is home to one of the largest manatee populations...and people are allowed to swim with them!  (While this seems like a case of poor judgment on behalf of the National Parks Service or whoever is in charge, manatees are second only to dolphins in the eyes of my kids, and we were certainly going to take advantage of this situation while the law still permits us to do so).  We were up and at 'em bright and early in order to catch our boat ride to the manatees.

Diver Megan, ready for action

She ain't bad looking in a wetsuit, is she?

All suited up with Grandma Dee

Mom & Megan in the water, manatee hunting

This is the guy we were after, but we never did connect with him in the water

We enjoyed watching him from the boat and moved on to the next area...

Where this happened!  That is a playful baby manatee under the water.  My leg is just to the right of him.

He kept surfacing to give kisses.  I am the on the far right.  The kissy-faced manatee is just left of me.

That's his little baby face.  Are they not the cutest things?

Megan is the terrified looking swimmer on the far right.  She did enter the water, the manatee did come find her, and she did live to tell the tale.

The trip's success definitely varied by swimmer.  My experience was unforgettable.  We only had a close encounter with one manatee, but I think I got about 25 hugs (he literally wraps his front flippers around your legs)...and I believe he may have also stolen my [borrowed] underwater camera.  No hard feelings.  I couldn't be prouder of Megan for going in the water.  It was really, really hard to see and a little scary swimming with these giant animals, no mater how sweet their demeanor may be.  Hannah couldn't quite conquer her fear of swimming in the murky water with animals ten times her size (go figure), and Grandma Dee has always been more of a land lubber.

Florida, Day 5 - Clearwater Marine Aquarium

Megan is mildly obsessed (read: totally insane) about dolphins.  We introduced her to the Dolphin Tale movies last fall, and immediately determined a visit to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium (where the movies are based) was in order during our next trip to Florida.  Day 5 of our vacation found us doing just that.  As if that wasn't exciting enough, Lauren and Logan came to join us too!

Our first encounter with Winter!  This was a digital screen image, but the kids were nonetheless very excited

Making cards for Winter, who has her own mailbox at CMA

Riding the shuttle boat to see Winter (the real one this time)

We spotted dolphins in the bay while enjoying our ride

We've arrived!

Hope and Winter!  Hope and Winter!!

Letting Winter know how far we traveled to meet her

These guys played Rufus in the first movie (the real star of the Dolphin Tale movies according to Hannah)

Posing in front of the houseboat

Meeting Winter...well, the plush version anyway

The captain let the girls drive on the way back to the other CMA facility (grievous error in judgment if you ask me)

Rufus!

We can't get enough of this guy

They offered some pretty impressive face painting - Hannah chose Hope

...and Megan went with Rufus

We now own 3/4 of the gift shop!