Fitting In

We're pretty sure Chewie has adapted to his new family. What do you think?
I had flashbacks this morning to when I had toddlers, as Chewie sat whining in his carrier while I took a shower. I wonder if he would prefer an Exersaucer? :)

Say Hello to My Leettle Friend!

(Everyone knows that the title of this post should be read with an accent, right?)

We have a new member of the family. Allow me to introduce...

Chewbacca Hughes. But we call him Chewie.

(Don't you just love that little Superman pose puppies do?!)

Chewie is a Schnoodle (1/2 mini Schnauzer, 1/2 mini Poodle), which means he does not shed and is hypoallergenic. This is key when three out of four members of your family suffer from seasonal and/or all year round allergies. (I'm looking at you, Scottie.)

How did we pick his name, you ask? Well, Scott and I picked him out at the breeder last week and brought a picture home to show the kids. We put his picture up on the big TV and told the kids to focus on his face and tell us what name they thought would work.

Will took about five seconds and then pronounced, "Chewbacca." And that was it. Of course he added that, "We could call him Chewie or Fuzzball or Walking Carpet because that is what people in Star Wars called him, too!" Ah, the child loves the classics, what can I say?

Eliza Grace did offer up Hagrid, which was given serious consideration. But eventually all four of us agreed upon Chewie.

Unfortunately, I have already called him Lucy twice and Saber, the neighbor's dog, once. Scott said he has called him Will once, too. And I find it too easy to call him Chew-chew. Little fella may be a tad confused.

Needless-to-say, we are all smitten with our new pup and we are fairly certain he is down-right pleased to be hanging with us. I just know Lucy is looking down from heaven at her little brother with a happy little bark!

Hanging with my Pops

Hey, you smell good!
I get two of these little people to play with?!
Hang on a sec dude, got an itch
Mom, enough with the pictures already!

Ok, someone point me to the kibble!

I'm a little tired. Mind if I just take a little rest right...zzzzzz

Going to the Dog(s)

Tiny new crate?Check!

Food and water bowls?Check!

New collar? (In Carolina blue, of course!)Check!

Leash?
Check!

Chew toys?

Check!

Ready to bring the little fuzzball home?

Double, triple check!

See you in the morning, Puppy Hughes!

The Circus!

Last weekend we spent a couple hours with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. This was Will's first time at the circus and to say we all enjoyed it is a huge understatement. All four of us were mesmerized for two solid hours.

The first order of business was, of course, to get some treats. Will went for the snow cone-in-a-tiger.

Eliza Grace went for cotton candy and the accompanying souvenir hat.

Elephants and tigers and llamas, oh my!

"He'd fly through the air with the greatest of ease, that daring young man on the flying trapeze."
Crazy acrobats were bouncing, flipping, flying in the air and landing on boards and each other's shoulders.
Ok, seriously, this next guy was on a single stilt, got bounced and flipped up in the air, did a back flip and landed on the one stilt. These people are amazing and fairly fearless!
We all loved the synchronized trampoline acrobatics.
One of the coolest things they do is the 7 motorcyclists in the "Globe (globe...globe) of Steel (steel...steel)!"
The high wire acts were exciting as expected!
The muscles and sheer strength of these athletes was amazing to watch.

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Anytime someone would do a split, Will would exclaim, "Ow! That's gotta' hurt!"

A Ball at the Park

Warm February weather equals picnics at the park......and using tennis courts to play with bouncing balls.

Chinese New Year...A Bit Late

Both our town and neighborhood have very diverse populations, thus our kids go to school and interact with a fabulous variety of races and cultures. Will's preschool even has weekly Spanish and Mandarin language sessions. It is fun to hear him say more in Mandarin than just "Ni Hao Kai-Lan!"

Back at the beginning of February, Will's class spent several days talking about the Chinese New Year, the associated festivities and generally learning more about Chinese culture. At dinner each night he shared what he learned.

On February 3rd, the first day of the 15-day Chinese New Year celebration, both Will and Eliza Grace decided to make and decorate paper lanterns and put little battery powered votive candles inside. Will also had his mask that he made at school and Eliza Grace made a dragon mask at home, complete with a movable tongue that stuck out of its mouth!
Scott found some traditional Chinese music on the web and the kids turned off the lights and had a blast parading through the house.

It was a great evening of family fun.