Una dominica bella

From yesterday

Fire hydrant  cupcake holder. The decorations on half of them are chocolate paw prints, not dog poop as Naomi guessed.

Today was beautiful and I got a lot done so all is fine in ex-Cancerland. I went on a long bike ride in ideal conditions. Only downside, a cab, just for fun, tried to play chicken with me coming within inches. I have his number (25!!!) though I haven't done anything with this info yet. I found some beautiful orange cosmos, half of which have gone to seed on public property so I felt entitled to collect the seed heads so I can have my own orange cosmos next year. With a coupon that was about to expire I made a photo collage for my grand baby wall in Naomi's old room. I signed up for a trail ride next weekend. Extra bonus: Josh will ride with me. Oh and I finally made an itinerary for the Italian trip leaving out going to Slovenia. We just will not have enough time.

What I didn't do....look at houses though I was certainly asked. Naomi went with Steve. The first house seemed to have a creepy dungeon complete with chains. Nein danke. And then he took her to a beautiful but impractical house built by Josh's best friend's father that we saw a month ago.

Allie's party was very fun.Julie had lots of clever, dog themed decorations. Paw prints leading from the street to the door; dog dishes full of 'kibble', a dog carved out of a watermelon for the centerpiece, dog ears for all the young guests, doggie bags to take home full of favors and of course a ball to take home too. And Sunny, their half-time German Shepherd was there thrilled to have lots of eager ball throwers for her.
Technically she won't be one until tomorrow. She took her first steps at the party toddling back and forth between her fans. I think 4 steps is the record. I never would have guessed she'd walk before one. Josh was out buying her a potty today, about one to two years earlier than necessary. She presumably is using a potty at school. Well maybe they just caught her at the right time.

One of the party guests was a young man who as a boy, I took on two of those bike rides. I hadn't seen him in person since the last ride, though I've seen pictures. He was there with his pregnant wife. Josh had met Julie because of their wedding. He was one of my favorite Josh buddies so it was fun to talk to him. He was born a half hour after Josh and delivered by the same doctor.

Time does fly....

More photos:

Allie walking between Naomi and Josh

Oliver getting his dog on

Shanna's family with the dog balls lined up behind them

Note bedraggled begonias I planted about 5 weeks ago. It took a while for them to be noticed

Sunny dressed for the occasion