athena and bacchus

My in-laws are heading to Sunny Spain (where it rains mainly on the plain) for six weeks.

This means a few things for us as a family.

No more babysitters - which is okay because this is my last week at work anyway and I'll be able to stay home on those days now.

A rather long break in the kids' Spanish lessons (although the Captain does a very good job at talking with them in Spanish at all times).

A shortage of legally and illegally acquired flowers and plants. My mother-in-law is a big fan of a native saying from her birth country - "the best flowers are the stolen ones!"

And it also means we are now the official guardians of Athena and Bacchus.

These two very energetic Tenterfield terriors will be boarding with us. They are so fast it was nearly impossible for me to catch photos of them!!

The very cheeky Athena

The rambo of dogs, Bacchus

These two nuggets of muscle were raised on my in-laws farm before they sold i, so they were efffectively raised as working dogs. Hence their energy. And their muscle. And their energy. Did I mention their muscle? I swear they have not a skerrick of fat on them!

Since my in-laws moved into a much, smaller courtyard house these two have had to curb in their enthusiasm somewhat. But coming to our house means that they can let loose. And who gets tired first? Two energetic, muscly tenterfields or a four year old?

Hmm......

My daughter is, understandably wary of these two. She did however make some progress yesterday when she held Athena's lead. But because they are just so darn excitable and cannot help but jump, and drool and scratch all over you, it's still a bit overwhelming for my little two year old.

Luckily my father-in-law made a little fenced off area in our yard for them, so when we've had enough of "free time" away they go.

I think this might be a good experience for us all. I'd love to have a dog in our family one day, although the Captain and I both agree not until the kids are a bit older. So we'll see how this little trial goes.

And as for Dash? Well, she was disappeared last night and didn't reappear til late this morning after the neighbours opened their garage door. Seems she sought refuge there and got locked in!! And on a -5 night too!! Needless to say, she's stuck pretty close to home today :)

I would say that the whole experience exhausted her, except this is how she normally looks :)

Kids and pets? Who knew it would be so much fun around here??