A Hint of Spring in the NW

Well, Spring is being a bit elusive this year. Rain, rain, and more rain seems to be the order of the day. We did have a perfectly glorious weekend though and I'll refrain from complaining that the short bursts of spring are more of a tease than of help. But we did have a great time in the sun.

Saturday evening after my son and I went to the zoo I took the dogs to our local haunt (Memorial Park) to run and romp and burn off their excess energies. Of course I brought my camera, too, to both places. Here is a bit of what I captured.

Billy Goat's Gruff...

I enjoy starfish at the beach. This isn't the kind we normally see in the tide pools and what not.

I *think* this is a live sand dollar one of my favorite creatures of the sea.

A penguin! They were quick!

Somebody needs a pawdicure. Yikes! He's like The Shredder. The Malayan Sun Bear

Above and below are different varieties of warty hogs. I forget which is which but to me, they're both "Pumbaa's."

Another of my zoo favorites, they tend to be fairly active and fun to watch.

Kitties will be kitties.

Enrichment time for the gorillas. They had all sorts of goodies placed carefully all over their indoor enclosure. They knew just what to do. This young man is 18 years old. He looks to be about three times the size of the other gorilla they have, his 51 year old grandmother.

She was the only critter that really made me sad. She was so restless, pacing back and forth, back and forth.

Funny sequence I got with this guy but decided not to put them all up. He was picking his nose, looking at it, and then eating it. Gross, but funny. Look at his smile? Pretty irresistible.

And here is from our little venture to the park. Although not in focus, I just got a kick out of this. Vegas being Vegas. If I was down at her level, she dropped what she was doing to come to me. Silly girl.

 Dare I say it....? A sign of spring?

Loony Juicy. Three pounds taking on 120, yes, trying to "engage" Vegas. Vegas didn't "bite."

Still trying...

Always the agility dog.

Not sure if Vegas remembered Petey, but he showed up at the park and she ran to greet him.

And what's a visit to the park without distance stays and recall practice?

We have a trial this weekend, CPE. I put together a spread sheet the other day with all her qualifying scores. We're down to the wire on how many legs we have to go. It's amazing. If there were more CPE trials available locally, we would be looking at our C-ATCH and MACH about the same time. As it is, the C-ATCH will probably be this fall while the MACH is likely June. Nonetheless, it's exciting and I look forward to this weekend and seeing a lot of friends, meeting a new puppy, and enjoying a couple of work free days with my pups.