The dog days of summer...

Just came off a great weekend, the first weekend of summer and the best one I've had in a while. The weather was good, no rain, sunny skies all the way, just the way I like it. I got to spent a lot of time out doors playing in the yard with Zoe and the bumpy ball, and I even learned how to chase and catch a frisbee. Something totally new to me. I liked it. It was awesome!


In case you're wondering why I've been so quiet lately, it's because I haven't had much time to write, or much to say. The past month and a half has been kind of weird. For one thing, Mom and Dad haven't been around much. Especially Mom. She's been doing a lot of traveling lately so we haven't spent much time together, but I think now that summers here she'll be traveling a little less, hopefully we'll be able to spend a little quality time together over the next few weeks.

Just to give you an idea, here's a little run down of what it's been like around here recently.

May came in with a bang. Very busy month right from the start. Mom had to spent the first couple of weeks flying around from place to place on account of her job, so she wasn't around much.


Then Mom and Dad both went away on vacation for two whole weeks, which meant that Marley, Zoe and I ended up getting shipped off to someplace with a bunch of other dogs we didn't even know. They call it a kennel. A place where dogs have to live in misery while their selfish owners are out having a good time. Mom and Dad like to refer to as doggy camp. Wink- Wink.
Oh yeah, it was a camp alright, a concentration camp. Calling that place a camp would be like calling Guantanamo Bay a religious retreat. I thought going to camp is suppose to be fun, like it is in that TV commercial (Ain't got no bugs on me).
This place was anything but fun. So while Mom and Dad are off playing in a tropical paradise, I'm stuck in a kennel run smelling Marley's bad breath day and night.
What's so fun about that?

Finally after two long weeks they suddenly show up one morning to take us home. What a relief. I was so happy to to get out of there I couldn't even stay mad at them. All I cared about was going home. Thankfully the ordeal was over and somehow we survived. Needless to say, after two weeks in the pens we arrived home in a state of filth. Usually getting dirty doesn't bother me all that much but this reached a new level, even for me. I couldn't wait to get a good hot bath. It took a heck of a good scrubbing and fierce amount of grooming to get the three of us back into shape. And even after all of that Marley still smells like she's been laying in something nasty.
Of course it could just be Marley. Yuck!


Then, no sooner are we home and Mom had to run off to Philadelphia to attend some swanky affair at her Mom's old school, which kept her away over night. Yeah great, hope you had a good time Mom. ...NOT.

The next day she came home and right away had to start packing because the following day she was leaving for a two week trip to China. You know, that place where all the dog toys are made.

So off she went and for the two weeks, leaving just Dad taking care of us. Not that I'm complaining, I love him dearly, he does the best job he can, but he can be, ....well, how do I say this..... a little boring.


Usually when Mom goes to China she's all business. She spends most of her time running around from place to place, meeting with lots of people and eating all kinds of strange food.

Hopefully she didn't eat at this place.

While in China she usually works seven days a week, but on this trip she did manage to sneak away of an hour or two and got to do something really cool, like spending a hour or so talking with a class of kindergarden children.

They wanted to hear a little bit about America, and what the kids here like to do to have fun. Mom doesn't speak very good Chinese and most of the children didn't know much English, but that didn't seem to matter because Mom had lots of pictures to show them, which they enjoyed.

But of all the things Mom told them, the thing they wanted to know about most was me. ...... Reilly.

Okay maybe a little about Marley and Zoe, but from what I hear, I was the one they found most interesting. Mom said the kids were fascinated with my pictures and wanted to know all about me. And who can blame them, it's not often they get to see a dog of my pedigree. Who knows what they're used to over there. Maybe the dogs they have in China are just not as interesting. It could be that they don't like kids, or maybe they bite, or maybe they're just plain weird. I really don't know. All I do know is that they seemed to like my pictures. A lot.
Mom says people in China sometimes read my blog when they can get it. I guess some of them will probably read this. I bet it will give them something else to talk about the next time Mom pays them a visit. Maybe someone will think to name a new dog toy after me. I suppose they could call it a REILLY BONE.

But then again, maybe not.
Now that I think of it the idea seems kind of creepy.

So anyway, that was last week. Mom is home once again and everything is getting back to normal. Like I said, I really enjoyed this past weekend playing in the yard chasing after my new frisbee. I'm looking forward to having a lot more fun this summer. I find the summer much more enjoyable then the winter, although I'm not crazy about the heat it's okay because we have air conditioning. That's something not too many dogs in China can say. Kind of sad actually, -but true. I guess that's just the way it is.

So here are a few more of my weekend pictures. I'm sure there will be plenty more to come soon. Maybe next week I 'll try to talk Mom into taking us to the park. That's always a lot of fun because it's full of great things to smell.

Sometime just can't believe how lucky I am.
LIFE IS GOOD.