The Adventures of Ava and Darcy Dog

Ava's class this year has two stuffed mascots, Katie Koala and Darcy Dog.  Ava got the opportunity to bring Darcy Dog home and have her spend the weekend with us.  Our assignment was to take pictures of the things we did with Darcy and also write about our weekend for Ava to share with her class.  Ava was super excited about this.  She has been saying for the last couple of weeks that she thought it was getting close to her turn to bring Darcy home.  I went to pick her up this past Thursday and there was Darcy in her red bag ready to come spend some time with the Daniel family.  Ava was really looking forward to getting home so that she could introduce Darcy to Kevin.  However, I suggested a quick trip to the grocery store followed by YoLo first.  Ava jumped right on that. 

Darcy came home and met Kevin, Patton, and Allie.  The dogs were not really that impressed.  However, when left unattended, Darcy was always placed up high in case the dogs decided to "play" with her.  It would be just our luck to have to take Darcy back with all her stuffing ripped out and her eyes missing!  

Friday night, we took Ava and Darcy downtown to see Disney on Ice.  Ava and Darcy took a quick nap on the way so they would be well rested for the show. :)  Kevin says this is when Ava and I look most alike.  Ha ha!

We went down there early in the afternoon so we could walk around and enjoy the nice weather.  We had dinner at The Flying Fish and it was delicious.

Then we decided to walk down to the river.

We also wandered around Beale Street for awhile.

Finally, it was time for the show!

We had a great time at Disney on Ice and really enjoyed being downtown.  

Darcy also got to spend some time with Ava's cousins, Leah and Mallory.  My nieces had the same teacher that Ava has now and they got to take care of Darcy when they were in preschool so it was like a little reunion.  

Darcy also got to go to a jewelry party and do several other fun things with us.  She and Ava will go back to school tomorrow to share with the other kids about the fun memories they made.  Then, we will look forward to our visit from Katie Koala!

Happy Birthday, Patton!

Today is our faithful, furry "child" Patton's 7th birthday.  Kevin and I got PatPat right after we got married and he has ruled our household ever since.  He is 100 pounds of pure muscle that thinks he lives in the body of a chihuahua.  Patton is a great snuggler and a constant shadow to myself or Kevin as we move around the house.  To celebrate the occasion, I whipped up what we call "pupcakes" this afternoon for Pat and Allie.  

Yummmmm....pupcakes.

As soon as Ava got home from school, she went to work making a card for Patton.

After dinner, we sang "Happy Birthday" to the birthday boy.

Allie joined in.

Ava helped Allie and Patton get their party hats on.

They were not thrilled about this, but finally--success!

Starting to get really excited about the prospect of pupcakes...

Kevin telling them they have to sit before they can eat...

Watching dogs try to eat peanut butter is hilarious.

Patton and Allie loved their treats and we have leftovers so they can enjoy them for the next couple of days.  

Here is my dog-friendly "Pupcake" recipe, if you are interested.

1 egg

1/4 cup peanut butter

1/4 cup cooking oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/3 cup honey

1 cup shredded carrots

1 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease pan.

2.  Combine egg, peanut butter, oil, vanilla, and honey in a large bowl and blend well.  Stir in carrots and mix throughly.  Sift together the flour and baking soda and fold into the carrot mixture.  Spoon batter into prepared pan.  

3.  Bake in preheated oven for approximately 30 minutes.  Let cool.

**I mixed together peanut butter and honey to make a frosting for the pupcakes and then added an all-natural crunchy blueberry treat on top to fancy them up a bit.

Yield:  Approx 10 pupcakes

Guaranteed to be a hit!!!!