But I don't want to leave.

Keller's facial expressions don't need words to describe them. This morning her sad, half-perked ears said it all: "But I don't want to leave........"
Much like Keller, I wish camping would last forever. We had such a great time with the Brocks when they joined us at Great River Bluffs State Park Saturday night-Sunday morning. The weather was perfect, the trees were just about peaking, and the company was excellent. Camping is great even when illness strikes - Keller picked up her fair share of ticks (12? 15?), one that bit her being a deer tick. I got sick Saturday, Owen was ill, and the rest remained unharmed. It doesn't matter. What matters is that we had a terrific time and we look forward to another adventure with them again (Keller and Duncan would have to agree). Keller had so much fun she wanted to go home with Duncan, instead.

Time to play Mouse Trap

Apparently we have a mouse in the house. Or, we had one. Apparently Keller found one upstairs in the guest bedroom. When Dave found it, it was a goner.

Gross.

Gosh, I hope that's all.

Teaching Keller new tricks

Here's Keller doing one of the things she does best - chasing smells in the field behind our house. Her and Pete also had some snuggle time at Adam's a month back.

I'm sorry for the lackluster posts as of late. I've had to re-shift priorities with starting up school again, working full time, and Dave still being gone a lot (funny enough, my priority shifting never seems to maintain hold for long).

But I have adjusted to sitting in the late evening and doing homework. Keller, at first, was probably thinking "What are you doing?????", but she will adjust, and is. The shorter daylight in the evening is helping us both adjust to more inside quiet time in the evening. But I still need to wear her out as much as possible when I get home from work so she's not a squirrely mess for the next couple of hours (meaning I can read and concentrate). Normally, she ends up on the couch next to me or in Dave's chair, happily sighing (another thing she does well). :)

I am working on teaching Keller how to shake her tail feather. That means, shake her tail. You know that rap song? Yeah. I thought it would be really funny. She's good with sit, stay, come, shake; we're working on heel, she's quasi on Fetch, will do DOWN and OFF when forced, and looooooooooves the stretch command. The stretch one is by far the funniest. I'm trying to teach her "Tail feather!" now. She's not a fan of rolling over.

What other tricks would be good? I would like to teach her how to do my homework, or fold the laundry. Maybe feed herself. Maybe use utinsels. Maybe how to turn on the lights. But she definitely knows when it's bed time, and she always finds the right spot to curl up nearly on top of me.