Family Outing

Before Ava came into our lives, Eric and I spent many outdoors with our dogs - hiking, camping, swimming- they were essentially our kids at the time. Now that our world revolves around Ava, our dogs are lucky we remember to feed them twice a day. Once the weekend rolls around I get a double dose of guilt from not spending enough time with the dogs and not spending enough time cleaning the house. I decided to bring the dogs and Ava to Green Lakes State Park - entertain everyone at the same time-one of our favorite places to visit in Syracuse. Luckily we have an SUV (hybrid of course) with enough room to fit two dogs a baby, stroller, cooler, and other miscellaneous stuff. The dogs were thrilled to finally go for a car ride - and Ava was equally happy to have company in the back seat. Of course when we arrived to the Park, she was covered in doggy drool. We were meeting friends at the Park for a BBQ picnic and a hike to the lake afterwards.

Watching two wiley dogs and holding a baby was a bit much, especially since Tazu kept running circles around everyone while he was tied to a tree which caused many kids to fall like flies after he clotheslined them with his retractable leash - I decided to let Ava roam around in the grass. She loved her new found freedom and was excited to crawl on the grassy surface. She was intrigued by the texture of the grass and enjoyed exploring the new landscape. After our picnic we decided to head down to the Lake and let the kids swim as we had 5 kids under the age of four in our group that needed to be worn down. I decided to tie one dog to my waist and hold the other dog and push the umbrella stroller with Ava in. This plan worked out well until we came to a steep hill with trail steps leading to the Lake. What a bummer! After attempting to go down a few steps with stroller and dogs - I decided to let one dog and hold on the other while carrying the stroller with Ava in it down the hill - each step I took I couldn't see where I was going except down. At the time it seemed like a good idea until I made it half way down and realized what a bad decision this actually was - I could easily lose balance and tumble down the hill with two dogs. I finally made it and to my big surprise Ava was a sleep. How she slept through the awkward movements and me screaming at my dogs to slow down.

She is proving to quite the trooper lately and hope she will continue to surprise us!