Floral Top + Camping Trip

Floral Top + Camping Trip

Monday, March 28, 2016

It's Spring time and it seems like the warmer weather left Dallas and the wind took it's place.

Chris and I had to hide in a door niche just for these photos. So... grungy red and metal background, not my original intent. But hey, the blog has photos today so that's a plus! 

Top | Jacket | Earrings | Purse

We weren't even planning on being home early enough on Sunday to take photos but... life happens. 

We went camping on Saturday with the family. My parents recently got an RV and have been dying for all of us to go camping together. For Christmas they got all of the kids a tent along with all of the other camping necessities, including s'mores. I mean, it's not camping without s'mores - right?

Chris and I were slightly worried about how our dogs would act. Let's just put it out there. They are spoiled and wild as hell. Remember this post? 

I felt like we were prepared. We bought long cables and leashes and harnesses so they wouldn't feel "tied up", bought tennis balls to keep them busy, packed plenty of treats - the whole nine yards. 

The car ride there was - well, less than great. Chester was snoozing in my lap (typical) while Ollie was bouncing from back seat to front, digging in the bags we packed, trying to get in Chris's lap and yelping - as if we didn't know she was back there acting a fool. 

We finally made it to the lake and got the cables situated. Not bad. It all worked out and they were actually being decent. Chris and I were pleasantly surprised.

Not long after we got situated we decided to go on a hike. That actually turned out well, too. We even saw a few deer! Back at camp we were just hanging out, talking and eating (of course). As if one hike wasn't enough, my sister, niece and I went on another walk. The dogs got to play in the water for a second and then they were over it. They kept looking back like "guys, is it time to go back yet"? They were tired.

Or so we thought. 

Actually, I think Ollie is like a baby. She was tired and she was not napping so she turned into a crazy dog. Is that how it is with kids? 

Long story short - she wasn't super excited about my grandma's dog. I don't know at what point she decided she didn't like her anymore, but she definitely did not. Every time Patches would walk by Ollie would stare her down and then launch right at her. Now, Ollie is a sweet cuddle bug, but she's also 60ish pounds and sounds like a huge boy dog. 

Pretty much every time she did that it sounded like she might rip her head off, so I had to leap up and pull her back before she had a chance to be dangerous. WHY was she acting like that? Ugh, definitely added the element of stress to the trip that I was hoping to bypass. 

On top of that, she also launched herself at Emma (my youngest niece), scratching her leg and sounding like she was actually snapping at her. Also not great. I still don't know why she was acting like that but all I can guess is she was tired and maybe a little mad that she couldn't have Patches. 

It scarred Emma, who already doesn't like dogs, so I can't imagine that Ollie will be anywhere near her friends list in the future. Poor Emma. And poor Ollie. Two of my favorite girls.

So, after all of that we knew that it wasn't going to be an easy night. We already put our tent together and were determined to make it work. 

I'll try to make the rest quick. We grilled out for dinner - fajitas and they were so good. The dogs were at our feet (what's new) and Chester was mapping out a plan in his tiny head. Little did we know. 

We were literally away from the table for two seconds (post dinner) when Chester climbed up on the bench and snatched him a piece of meat. I guess he was tired of hearing how great it was and wanted to try it himself. The bad news, we thought there might be a bone. 

If you know Chester at all - do not, I repeat, do not mess with his food. Chris didn't get the memo... or maybe he was just being a good Dad. He prepared himself for what he knew was coming but could not let Chester choke on a bone. He reached his hand in and then out, but not before Chester got a good ole bite of his finger. 

So, am I painting the perfect picture of our dogs yet? 

At this point, it couldn't get worse. And it really didn't. We knew sleeping in a tent was going to be a challenge and boy was it. 

We laid down for less than an hour before Ollie was up barking at every noise she heard. Not to mention that people were walking by our camp the entire time. Again, her bark is so freaking loud. Being woken up by that more than once and we were done.

Midnight and we were up packing our goods. Screw the organization we came with, we gathered everything threw it in the truck and got the heck outta there. 

The dogs slept peacefully all the way home and the next day. Such sweet angels. 

We're hoping camping trip #2 goes just slightly better. 

How did you spend Easter weekend?