All kinds of fun and excitement this week!  We started by finding this nasty looking creature all over our orange tree.  This is the larvae of the Giant Swallowtail Butterfly and they are decimating our tree.  Aren't they hideous??  Mom did a little research to make sure they weren't endangered or anything and then she donned her biohazard suit and started plucking these guys,  leaves and all off the tree.  Into a zip- lock bag and into the trash they go.  We did leave 3 or 4 because they turn into something pretty and we took two into school for my science class.  And we didn't use pesticides.  So we weren't complete savages...

You may have heard of a little hurricane called Odile.  We did.  For about 5 weeks.  Our weather people were giving all kinds of dire predictions about epic flooding in Tucson.  GET YOUR SANDBAGS READY!!  The weather channel was here, the Today show was here, my school was let out early, dat-dat's work booted them all out early and guess what happened?  Nothing.  That's what.  The rain hit Nogales, Mexico pretty hard but completely missed all of the populated areas in Arizona.  This once again proved mom's theory of inverse proportions.  The bigger deal the media makes about the weather, the less impact it will have. Since no one is talking about Hurricane Polo, she figures this will be the one that drowns us all.

We had a nice weekend.  I had my second softball game of the season on Saturday morning.  We played against a very well coached, very good team.  We lost of course and our coaches were kind of not paying a whole lot of attention but they were trying.  I didn't have an especially spectacular game- my pitching was off and I struck out twice.  I can't be perfect every game so this was my off game for the season.  I shook it off pretty quick when the Oreo snack game out though.
Saturday night, my great Uncle Richard had his 70th birthday party.  The whole Goedel clan was there and it was great fun!

I danced with Uncle Richard and he had some good moves...

but I had some good ones too.

Big Richard and Little Richard

You know when the conga line breaks out, its a party!

Then I even danced with dat-dat.  We danced to the same song that mom and Mr. Walker danced to at mom and dat-dat's wedding.  Mom got a little sappy at that one..

And then, I danced some more!  This time with my cousins Ashley and Maggie.  We had a fabulous time and can't wait until Uncle Richard turns 70 again.

Sunday has been nice and quiet.  Mom has started training for another 1/2 marathon so she dragged me out on my bike and Ginger out on her leash to do her short run this morning and then we took Ginger out for a play date with her friend Phoebe, the Boxer.  Everyone is tired and that should make a for a good night sleep.

As promised last week- here are a couple of pictures from dat-dat's mountain biking trip with Mr. Walker last  weekend.  It looks just gorgeous.  We will be there in two weeks and it should be a good time for changing leaves.

Have a good weekend!

Two Week Round Up

Two weeks of catch up and it's almost bed time.  Eeeeck!

Mom's birthday was last Tuesday and she celebrated as she usually does by taking the day off work.  She could not get me out of the house fast enough to start her day.  Once she dropped me off at school, she headed up to Mt. Lemmon with Ginger and they had a great morning hiking.  They picked a new trail and it had beautiful views, shade, water- all the good stuff.

The rest of week went downhill from there.  Haile died on Tuesday night and I was up all night with a nasty cough so I stayed home from school on Wednesday with dad.  We made it through Thursday and then mom went down and was home from work on Friday.  Whew.  Thankfully, it was a short- lived virus and we bounced back in time for a fun Saturday.
First, mom and I met our friend Ms. Christina and Camryn at the HF Coors dinnerware outlet.  This place makes dinner ware for restaurants all over the country and the first Saturday of every month, they put out all the factory seconds and overstocks.  Mom walked away with three good sized platters at $3 a piece.  What a ganga!
After that, we headed down to the U of A to pick up the street car.  This is brand new to Tucson and it runs for several miles from the University, down funky 4th Avenue and then downtown.  We jumped off on 4th Ave and had a yummy lunch and then did some shopping.  We the rode it all the way around and got some nice views of Tucson we hadn't seen before.  Lots of people were riding and we felt almost like a big city.  I loved it!

Last Monday we had an epic rainstorm.  It was so dark at 9 in the morning, it looked like it was 8 at night and it just poured.  Some places in Tucson got 4 inches of rain!  There was actually water in our river so of course everyone in town was out taking photos of it.  This is our contribution.

Friday was a busy night.  Dad left to go camping and mountain biking.  My school had it's "welcome back to school" night.  It was an ice cream social and pizza party.  We were only able to stay for 45 minutes before rushing off to my softball game.  I did manage to catch some time with my friend Lily.

I had my first game with my fall team and mom was impressed.  She was definitely getting snarky about my unorganized coaches and practices but once we took the field, we almost looked like we knew what we were doing!  I got a really nice hit and I FINALLY got to pitch!  Mom was so proud of  me out there on the mound.  I looked calm, cool and collected and was able to strike out two batters!  I told mom after the game that I was nervous but I kept it inside.
Saturday was super fun for me and kind of crappy for mom.  I got to go to my friend Max and Claire's house for a SEVEN. HOUR. PLAYDATE!!!!  So awesome!  We swam most of that time so I was exhausted when we came home.  Mom spent that seven hours relaxing at the grocery store and then at home with the mop bucket, dust rag and sponges.  It was awesome for her.....

On Sunday, mom and I got together with my teacher from last year.  We met her for yogurt and some catching up.  She is teaching at a different school and I sure loved her so it was great to see her again.

Dad made it home from camping and if we remember, we'll try to post some pictures next week.  We wrapped up the day with jambalaya, biscuits and apple pie.  Yummmm!
Have a great week!

Haile Ann

Our crazy, sweet Haile Ann died on Wednesday, September 3.  We so wish we could have been with her when she died but the powers that be had other plans.  We know she happily herding away.

Where do you even begin with Haile?  She was a part of Rich's life for almost 16 years and a part of my life for almost 11- there is a hole in our lives now.  I'm sure everyone knows the story of how Rich picked her out but it's a funny one, so I'll retell it anyway.  Haile's parents were working ranch dogs and Rich drove down to the ranch in Sierra Vista to pick her out.  He took a look at all the puppies frolicking like puppies do but noticed one that was a tad more spunky than the rest.  And by a tad, we mean a lot!  That was Haile.  She got to go home with Rich and never stopped moving her entire life. She was a herding dog and she took her job VERY seriously.  She started with herding the furniture into place.  Once she made sure everything was going to stay put, she headed outside to try and herd the birds and the airplanes that were flying overhead.  Those were a little bit illusive for her but that didn't stop her from moving to bigger and better things.  If the airplanes wouldn't listen, maybe the thunder and lightning would.  During many thunderstorms, she went charging out the doggie door to show Mother Nature who was boss.  The storms always went away......

When she wasn't working hard, she was playing hard.  Her prized possession was her beloved nylabone frisbee.  When she wanted to play, she would drop the frisbee at your feet and look at you.  If that didn't work, she would drop the frisbee on you and look at you.  And really, how could you resist a face like that?

Haile was not much of a people dog in her younger years as she had too many things to do but, everyone who met her has a good story about her boundless energy and enthusiasm.  As she got older, she calmed down a bit and would look for people on our walks to give her a good ear rub or a pat on the back.  A nice reward for her busy life.  

The last few months it was getting harder and harder for her to get up and move but she kept going.  Her laps were shorter but she was still making sure everything was in it's place.  When she died, we are sure she was doing her laps- it was her job, you know.  Good work girl.

Three Day Weekend

Happy Labor Day and more importantly, happy One Day Before Mom's Birthday Day!  This three day weekend was quite well timed for us- my first full week of school, first full week of softball practice and first week of Ginger's new puppy training class.  Time to catch our breath and plow forward.

School has been going well for the 8 days I've been there.  Mrs. Stalkfleet is definitely not warm and fuzzy but she has made her expectations clear so we all know how things are going to be for the year.  After last year's barely controlled chaos, this is a welcome relief, for the parents anyway.

I am playing fall softball.  I am the oldest and tallest on the team, the one with the most experience (which isn't saying too much) and the coaches are not nearly as organized as Coach Trish from the spring.  But, at least I am out on the field, putting all my practice with dad to use.  I got to pitch one practice.  It wasn't pretty which is a little surprising because I have been doing well at home.  We're chalking up to pressure and nerves.   You know how those practices can get!

Ginger has started Puppy 2 class and she definitely is not head of the class this time.  She is going through Obnoxious Puppy Phase- barking at her own shadow, scared of everything but she is figuring things out.  We had a barbecue on Sunday with lots of kids and people and she did awesome.  Us kids kept her super busy out at the pool and spraying her with a hose for hours on end.  She loved it!  Her poor little paws are raw this morning from all of that fun.

We put a picture in of our new barstools- because we really like them and because of why we had to get them.  Nobody liked our old barstools.  They were ugly, dated and didn't match anything but they were functional and we had other things to spend our money on first.  Our lovely puppy pushed the barstool issue though.  Mom and I were minding our business, doing homework, getting dinner ready etc. when mom turns around and finds Ginger balanced on the seat of one the old stools.  All four feet of our 60 pound dog on one small seat.  Next thing we know, she is standing on top of our counter.  All four feet of our 60 pound dog on our counter.  She was so very proud of herself.  Mom stays very cool and collected (NOT!) and tries to get Ginger down without breaking the dog's leg.  Ginger jumps back onto the stool and then onto the ground, knocking the stool over in the meantime.  It crashes to the ground, makes an unholy loud noise, scares Ginger to death and breaks it into a few pieces.  And that was the end of the old barstool.  Good thing it was an ugly stool.

So that was the excitement of our week- hope yours is just as fun!