6 Sloan's Birthday and Blooming Heather at Brimham Rocks

 Saturday was Sloan's birthday, so we had to head to her Favorite Place on Earth,

Brimham Rocks.

(Which really needs its own label here, we go there so much!)

(I, II, III, IV, V, VI)

The heather recently started blooming, so I took the dogs straight over to Brimham Moor and we skipped the rocks.  The day had been pretty warm, so I'd waited until just before sunset to take them out so that Max wouldn't be too hot. As an added bonus, that sunset gave me some beautiful colors!

(Looking back over last year's posts around this time (III and IV above), I'd say that a rainy, chilly summer makes for much more vibrant heather!!)

So beautiful!

 One comment I get variations of when I post pictures of the dogs on FB or here is "How do you get them to pose so prettily?" or "I could never get my dogs to sit for a picture like that!"
Well, first of all, both dogs have been raised in front of my camera. I was in college during both their adoptions, so not only did I take pictures for fun but for assignments, too.  The camera also loves Sloan (and vice-versa)- she's quite photogenic, unlike Max (and me), so I often photograph her because it's just so satisfying.
That said... it's still not a simple matter to get a good shot.

First you have to get both of them sitting at the same time- and facing the same direction.

 Then there's a lot of goofy voices and excited tones to try and get both their attention at once- without being so excited that one or both of them get up to see what the fuss is about!

 Then there are the awkward faces. Usually this would be Max with his eyes closed- he's notorious for that!

Then I have to be sure they aren't conspiring shenanigans while I'm distracted!

 And finally, we've got a keeper!!

 After Max got tired of searching for trails in the thick overgrowth (he's an adamant trail-follower- don't even THINK about asking him to go "off-road"),

 and Sloan took a break from her never-ending fetch,

I was free to photograph for a bit!

So gorgeous! 

I think I'll wait until her Gotcha Day (Sept. 22) to do a proper retrospective of Sloan-

if you are dying to know what baby Sloan looked like, though, check out this post on her blog.

For those who might be curious, she's 7.2.

As in, she turned 6 in 2009, 7 in 2010, 7.1 in 2011, and 7.2 this year.

7: dogs :: 25: women.

At least that's what we're saying!

0 Barcelona: Kings' Day/Day of Epiphany/My Birthday Eve

As you may have guessed from the silence, we're on another trip!

This time we're in Barcelona, and it's great- 

they even have a National Holiday the day before my birthday,

with crowns and special cakes!

YUM!

0 27 is a whole new year

My actual birthday was kind of lousy, Paul had to go into work to do some stuff and it took far longer than he expected, so by the time he got home I was in a bad mood and it was dark out. Today became Birthday 2.0, otherwise known as Gesci 27.1. We got up (later than I hoped, but earlier than usual) and went to the gym. Now, as you know, I am NOT a gym person, but I am also not a get out of breath walking up a hill with the dogs person, which lately I am, so I figure the tables can turn on the gym thing too.  After that we came home and walked the dogs, cause I feel bad exercising without them when they need it too, showered, then got in the car to go to Ripon.
Ripon is a fairly large town about 20 minutes north of us. It seems to have quite a bit going on, with lots of site-seeing places right around and in town and also tons of shops. Well, it was dark, freezing, and snowing, so we walked around a little, drove around a little, ate at a little pub- quite good scampi and curly fries for me, southern fried chicken burger and chips for Paul- then came home. Ripon is high on the "Go Back to on a Warmer Day" list. The street we drove into town on also has a section that is the most beautiful road- overhung by large arched trees and a gorgeous house or some sort of building down view. It was dusk when we drove through, so too dark for a good picture, but I'll definitely get one on here next time.

Side note- we had originally tried to go to Europe for a short break (2-4 days), but everything we found had cheap flight-pricey hotel or vice versa. Consequently, we decided to have a short break on the island. Scotland seemed out due to the poor weather so we decided to go to Wales. We found an excellent hotel deal and had started the planning, but hadn't quite booked online since we still didn't have a caretaker/kennel for the pets. Then the weather got worse. And worse. And worse. We canned the plans and decided to have a birthday trip for me in a month or two. Which was good, since 2 major highways in Wales are closed and other roads are considered impassable (yes- unable to pass through- also impossible though!).

As the days begrudgingly get longer I'll have more light and we'll do more adventures, leading to more pictures for all you people. Anyone planning to visit do let us know what you're interested in doing so we can either scout out the place or find deals for getting in- a lot of the sites are pricey, but deals can be found with planning!

Here's to 27!! (.1)