Happy Birthday Little Brother!

Today is my little brother's 17th birthday and I can't believe how much he has grown up!

 

It seems like just yesterday he was a cute little baby, sleeping on the couch (between bouts of wild mayhem!)

Now he carries around our doberman Shadow like she is a toy chihuahua...

...instead of being chased by our old doberman Brandy when she was only a few months old. Her favorite game was chasing my brother and knocking him down.

Only three years ago on a family vacation, I was still taller than my brother.

Now he towers over all of us!

These days he drives his own boat...

...but back in the day he could barely see over the front dash.

So it turns out that my little brother isn't so little after all. But he is still as funny, sweet and caring as ever...when he wants to be ;)

So on this day when he gets one year older, I think of how lucky I've been to be his sister and share the last 17 years of his life. Here's to many more birthdays to celebrate to together.

Happy Birthday Buddy!

Water Dogs

As I mentioned the other day, one of my favorite things to do in the Summer is head out on the water. When I was growing up our boat was like our cottage in the Summer. We're lucky enough to have a dock down at the end of our yard, so it was just a matter of grabbing some swimsuits and towels and running down to the boat. Mom would pack up food to head out on the water, whether it was freshly baked muffins or sandwiches and homemade cookies. Occasionally we'd go for an evening run and order a pizza from the pizza shop I used to work at near the river. We'd call in our order and it would be waiting for us by the time we reached them on our way out to the lake. I can't think of better takeout than that. I have many happy memories of laying in the back with my siblings, reading my beloved Archie comics in the sunshine.

Thankfully our dogs are just as happy to head out into the water.

Whiskey and Shadow have taken to guarding the river as we motor on down it.

Shadow tends to protect us against other barking dogs...

..while Whiskey snaps at flies, dragonflies, bees, really any type of wayward bug.

Before you know it we're out on the lake. Something about the feeling of the water rushing past us with the wind hiting my face and the sun warming my legs brings me back to being a little kid while we blasted around the lake.

The only difference now is that instead of dragging us around on an inner tube, our new favorite family sport is wakeboarding. My sister has done it for years, but now my brother had taken to the sport.

I, on the other hand, prefer to watch from the boat and spot for them. I'll probably try it soon enough, but I swear I still have water in my nostrils from trying waterskiing a couple of years ago.

Nice air, bud!

Shadow loves to watch them wakeboarding as well.

Whiskey on the other hand is happy to be cuddled in with my dad in the front seat.

You know those trick dogs that you see go waterskiing or surfing? Well, Whiskey will never be one of them. He's happier in the boat, bundled up in his little lifejacket.

...and hunting bugs. Yum. Eww....

The Jolly Roger

One of my favorite summer activities is going out for a boat ride. I think it goes back to when I was a baby, and lets just say I was very, um, difficult, and my poor parents had a horrible time getting me to calm down/nap/behave/etc (Sorry Mom & Dad! I love you! Thanks for putting up with me!) One of their tried and true methods to get me to sleep in the summer was to take me out on our boat for a ride along the lake. Within minutes I'd be out like a light. To this day I still get sleepy whenever I'm in a boat. Its like I've been conditioned to sleep in them.

However, there is one boat that I don't think I could ever fall asleep in and that is our dear friend's beloved Jolly Rogers. For years he has lovingly cared for this antique wooden boat and it shows in not only how it looks, but also how it feels when you go for a ride. Its like you're gliding on water at neck breaking speeds....no nap time here! :)

All the details on the boat really make it stand out, including these little skull and cross bone ornaments, and a big pirate flag off the back.

My brother and his friend sitting in the very back, bundled up from the wind.

And look who is tucked into my brother's hoodie? Why, its none other than my beloved pooch, Whiskey. He's loves boat rides. I even caught him falling asleep in my dad's arms on our boat this weekend even when we were going through choppy water. I guess he and I are more alike than I think ;)

Maybe its from listening to Brad Paisley's song "Water" on the radio so much lately, but its got me thinking about how much I love being out of the water, relaxing on a dock or going for a dip. If I could find a nice happy medium between getting work done at the office and sitting with my feet in the pool I'd be a happy girl...think I can rig up a blackberry charging station and filing system on the pool deck? ;)

True Patriot Love

You may be wondering why I am posting this at 3:00 in the morning! Well, that's because I am heading off for a week in Florida. Looking forward to some fun and sun! But, don't worry I still have lots of posts lined up while I'm away and I can't wait to tell you about about the trip when I get back.

In the meantime, I thought I'd share some photos from the other night when my brother, sister and I got into the Olympic spirit and laced up our skates for some fun on the rink. We are lucky to have grown up with a river running behind our backyard, which makes for the best skating rinks. After shoveling off 6 inches of heavy snow (phew!) we finally got to have some fun.

First of all I'd like to apologize for the hideous snowpants. I couldn't find my awesome ones (is that even possible?) and I had to jump in an old pair of my dad's last minute. They made that horrible swish-swish noise when I moved, and all the fabric and the giant elastic band made me look 15 pounds heavier.

The faceoff!

Sis wanted to show off all the skills that she was picking up watching figure skating all day while she was supposed to be studying for midterms. Looks like its paying off though ;)

 

 Even Whiskey came down for a little bit of fun on the rink.

 

But his excitement was shortlived. I think he'd rather be on the couch, with the fire going and the Olympics on :)

Birds of a Feather

As my vacation comes to an end, I know that I'm going to start going into withdrawl...for turkey sandwiches, sleeping in, watching movies, eating way too much junk food and using all my mushy brain power to kick butt in Scattegories. The thought of actually having to attend work meetings and maintain intellectual conversations is just too far beyond my mental capacity right now.

But as things start to wind down, I realize that what I'm going to miss the most is hanging out with my little brother and sister. Between work, school and university we are all over the place, so its rare that everyone is home together.

We're all four years apart so just as one of us left for kindergarten the next one was born, leading us all to believe that we were only children. And this meant that we all became independent thinkers, which of course leads to a lot of conflict, but at the root of it we all love each other and have a great time together. No one can make you laugh (or cry for that matter) like your siblings can. Someone once told me that the people you know the longest in your life are your siblings. And when you think about it, its true. They have known you since you were just a wee little thing, long before friends and significant others came around and they'll be there even after your parents have passed away. So even as we are having a heated argument about who should take the garbage out or fighting over the last piece cherry cheesecake, I know that we're really lucky to have each other.

(Ask me that question again when I go in the kitchen and find out that they DID eat the last piece of the cherry cheesecake...)

A Boy and A Dog

What is it about boys and dogs? As soon as we came home for the holidays Whiskey ran to my little brother like he had his pockets full of bacon (which he very well might have)

They proceeded to roll around on the kitchen floor and make grumbling noises at each other.  Enjoy the linoleum while you can, boys, because its being replaced with tile post-Christmas. It will no longer be able to operate as a comfortable wrestling arena.

Look its SIMBA!

And a Shar-pei?

Whiskey forgets about me while we're here because he is in love with my family. They give him treats and let him walk all over them - literally. I don't let him in the bed at home, but when he's here he sleeps with my brother. They curl up and snuggle and act all cute until the play fighting starts up again. No wonder Whiskey sleeps for days when we get back to the city!