Shannon's favorite presents were probably the Playmobil zoo set, her new Zhu Zhu pet beauty shop, and her princess dress and cloak. Try not to pay too much attention to the lovely pale blue sweater paired with raspberry pants.

We had a great Christmas. Tom's parents came down for Christmas and I had to work the whole weekend so Santa came a few days early. Shannon got some great presents, and Calvin even got his own stocking. No stocking for Alex though - I think Santa is going to skip him for years!

So I didn't get a lot of sleep last night and ended up sleeping on the blow up mattress. Then in my sleep deprived state today it seemed like a good idea to let Shannon play on it. The only problem we had was that Calvin eventually had to be put in his kennel because he insisted on playing on it too, generally while Shannon was in mid-jump.

So right before I took this picture Alex and Calvin were having a great time playing. In this picture they just look like they are causing trouble. And the reason there aren't any more pictures? Because Calvin had just backed Alex into a corner and smacked him with a paw.

I had several pictures of Shannon decorating the tree (and of a Christmas puppy) but for some reason they all came out blurry. So this is all we have.

As usual, we went Trick or Treating with Sammy. This year, Mattea and Arun came along as well.

Shannon's 5th birthday party a little early. It didn't really seem like we got any good pictures. However, I did finally manage to make her a pretty cake that actually turned out well.

And just so no one thinks that we are just ignoring our old pet...

Look at that face!

Shannon and Calvin really get along well, although Calvin mostly thinks that she is just another puppy.

Shannon and her Meep.

Chloe and Calvin sitting so nicely. One last picture of Chloe.

New Puppies

This chronicles our first week with the new family members. There so cute...!

Shannon the Puppy and all of her friends. Too bad the face painting got done about 2 hours before bedtime. I doubt it will look so good tomorrow!

We went to Valley Fair and only got to be there for about 2 hours before a huge thunderstorm rolled in. Still, we had fun for those 2 hours.

Shannon's preferred tea party outfit today was black shorts, a plain white T-shirt (all at her specific request), and a nice long doubled up "pearl" necklace.

Shannon and her friend Audra decided to play dress up. Shannon was Princess Jasmine, while Audra was Christine.

More car washing fun. I think we get a picture of this every year.

Just in case anyone wondered, Alex does not enjoy wearing Meepie's skirts.

We got to take a ride on a large sailboat, although sadly it was so calm they actually had the little motor on the entire time and I don't think any actual sailing occurred. The skipper did let Shannon steer back into the harbor and he had her doing an obstacle course through all the berths. I am sure the owners of all those boats would have been thrilled to know that a 4 year old was driving this large sailboat right next to their boats.

Just up the river from our campsite was Hidden Falls. The whole park was full of these areas where the river narrowed to around a foot across and went through some very turbulent falls. There weren't many walls or barriers either so we spent most of the trip hanging on very tightly to Shannon's hand (or else sitting her somewhere with strict warnings about NOT MOVING).