Winter?

This is what Maddy has been doing for the past several weeks:

She recently determined that it is perfectly fine to sleep on the couch whenever she wants to. So, after a busy week of Matt Fest 2010, we decided to take her to the beach to enjoy the unseasonably warm afternoon.

The ocean was looking a lot more friendly than the last time I saw it:

(Remember?)

Maddy and her Tater were both very excited to see the beach this time:

Pretty much no one was there, except some others with dogs. Maddy had a fun time playing:

She still likes playing with Tater best, though. Doesn't it look like he's about to face plant?

She was actually kind of brave, going towards the water:

Then, Raftery spotted a fire in the distance:

And the sun was starting to go down anyway:

So we decided to go "stem the call". I was reluctant to leave... but Raf and Maddy waited patiently.

Can't wait to go back tomorrow, after some Chick-fil-a breakfast. Weekends are the win.

(Continued)

So today Maddy is back to her old tricks:

But here is what she was up to yesterday:

We spent another lovely morning at the beach:

The three of us parted company for the rest of the day: Raf to a VCU game with Heard, me to a jewelery party at Karen's, and Maddy to her crate for a long day of resting. The party was fun... evidenced here by Haylie and Brynn's attire:

The best part, though, was the dance party and debate that followed. Here is the skeleton herself, getting down with her bad self.

All that dancing was tiring though.

We also went to Smokey Bones for some UFC fighting, which was lovely. Today is another lazy day.

Polar Plunge

 

Polar Plunge 2010.... before pictures. Listening to BPM (beats per minute) and getting our Jersey Shore on. Check out that "faux hawk".

 

Raftery is Pauly D aka "The Conqueror" and Wendell is Ronny.

Here's Pauly D and J-Wow, pre- plunge.

 

And then it started snowing... we started to feel a bit crazy. We bundled up before we headed out.

 

(This is supposed to be an action shot of me shivering.) The girls:

 

The boys:

 

The car ride over was a little crazy... we all crammed in to Heard's car:

 

Some pictures of the road on the way over:

 

Here's Hugh Mongous:

 

A couple more:

 

  

  

  

And then we arrived.

 

Heard was our sober, non-plunging driver. We needed him desperately.

 

Conditions were crazy, for sure.

 

The waves were HUGE...

 

But we plunged anyway!

The towel head (and "coffee") were the only things that saved me. 4 hours later and I'm only just now getting feeling back in my feet.

 

Quite the crowd!

 

But overall, it was a good first plunge.The car ride home was a little rough, but...

 

Good times.

Man Vs. Beat

Wendell and Raf beat back the beat before the Polar Plunge.

Maddy's First VB Snow!

 

The snow has stopped falling and started melting on Cottenham Lane, yet we've still seen neither hide nor hair of shovels or plows in the 'hood. We decided to venture out anyway.

Maddy was unsure what to think at first, but she got over it quickly.

She kept sniffing the air and sneezing for some reason!

Raftery tried out a Joe Torre run on the street, then we were off to the park for some playing.

It looked beautiful and was quite warm with the sun out, so we had a nice outing. Our favorite was snow ball throwing.

First the building... perfect snow ball snow.

Then Maddy went off to wait in anticipation.

Then she searched endlessly for the lost snow ball, very upset that it had disappeared.

Did some more investigating of the goings on of the unplowed street. Know that at this point I could have plowed the snow with my bare hands and yet the roads are still a disgrace.

And then we headed home. We also spotted a stray on our way, which after begging Raf to let me keep it, we finally took to the shelter. (Apparently Animal Control is not as capable as we are of driving in the slush.) Luckily my dog loves me.

Raftery, not so much. She wouldn't pose with him.

So we had to pose together instead.