Christmas 2009

So "Christmas" came around again - it appears to be a recurring event each year when it gets cold and rainy. This year, both Paisley and I got more stuffed toys to play with... Paisley got a beaver, as you can see below.

I got a blue (looks dark grey to me) dinosaur, and we spent the morning playing with them while Christine and Richie opened their presents. Later that afternoon, we went out to see the other Johnsons, and they opened even more presents. We were really well behaved, and we got lots of love and attention - especially from Jaeda.

Here you can see us playing with Christine amongst all of our new stuffed toys and smokey bones - surprisingly, we did not immediately gut and shred our toys like we did last year.

But best of all, we have been spending lots of time hanging around the house, with both Richie AND Christine home all the time. While it would have been better with some snow, it has been a pretty good Christmas this year.

Mischa

Christmas season visitors!

It has been lots of fun here at Berner Haus recently. A little while ago, my cousin Max arrived, and he's been staying with us for lots of sleeps. We have been playing really hard, as Max and I really get along well. Even Paisley, who normally doesn't like to play with other doggies, was getting into it. But most of the time, we sleep or lie around the house - like you see here.

Then one evening, Richie's sister showed up with her mini-humans and our other cousins Lupin and Humphrey! It was pure doggie chaos, as there must have been 400+ lbs. of dogs running around the house, skidding around on the hardwood floors. Humphrey has gotten bigger since we saw him last, but he still hasn't caught up to Paisley, the reigning heavy-weight champion. Despite his largess, he's pretty low-key, and he seems to have taken a liking to me... but who hasn't?

Mischa

Our house-sitters

A little while ago, Richie and Christine left us for a quite a number of sleeps, but that was quite alright, as we had new humans staying at our house to take care of us. Karen was the full-sized human, and Lily, was the little one. We were on our best behaviour for them - well, as much as we could be. I chewed up some cuddly toys that I think made Lily unhappy... sorry Lily - I really can't help myself.

They took us for walks every day, even in the pouring rain! I thought I would test them, and not only did I get them to give me treats so that I would get in the Rover, but I had them giving me treats to get out of the Rover!

As you can see, I think Lily really liked us. We had a really good time with them, and we hardly missed Richie and Christine at all. When they finally did come home, we got really excited! They had apparently been to our home country of Switzerland, and brought back a stuffed Berner for Lily... I tried to grab it, but I wasn't allowed to have it.

Thanks for taking care of us Karen and Lily!

Mischa

A sunny fall weekend...

So this is apparently supposed to be "fall" - the nights are cooler, and I think we're normally supposed to have a lot more rain by now, but it was pretty sunny this weekend. We went for some long walks (a little longer than Richie probably likes), and did some hanging around in the backyard.

Christine likes to go out with her book and read on the bench at the back of the yard. I thought I'd try to get a bite of Christine's ice cream cone, so I hopped up on the bench and waited patiently. We both got a little bite of the cone at the end!

Here's a funny picture of Paisley - she'd crawled up on Christine's lap (again)! I think she thinks that she is a little doggie, not a 100 lb. Berner!

Mischa

Summer is still here!

It would seem that everyone is getting uptight about summer coming to an end, but it still looks and feels like summer to me! It was another beautiful day today, and so we got to go down to "Spanish Banks" again... there were lots of doggies there wading in the ocean.

I immediately went in and got my paws wet, but Paisley would only come in up to her ankles. So I went back up to the shore to get her, and the both of us walked into the water together. It was pretty cute, or at least it looked that way to the humans standing on shore.

Here's a shot showing how beautiful it is with the views of the city in the background... not that I was noticing, as I was busy digging in the sand in front of Christine. This is the only place I'm still allowed to dig without getting in trouble - except for that one spot in the garden behind the big bush where Christine won't notice!

Mischa

Another weekend in USA

We went down to Point Roberts again this past weekend, but this time, we were by ourselves, and we stayed down there for two sleeps! We were pretty restless that first night in the cabin, as Paisley didn't really know where to sleep, and so when we got down to the sand bars at the beach the next day, it was fun and frolic!

But despite the few days of cool weather we've had recently, it was still really hot down there; I resumed my typical spot sleeping in the shade of the Rover, and Richie came over and joined me.

This is the cabin - Christine is up there on the deck reading her book, and when Richie got up to take this picture, we followed him. Paisley of course, thought we were leaving, and went and stood at the back door to the Rover. Silly girl.

We went for lots of walks, and almost always went to the beach to go swimming... or at least wading. It was really nice, as there was almost no waves, and it made it easy for us to walk around on the rocky bottom.

Even Paisley was getting into it, as she would occasionally go into the ocean and fetch one of the many sticks that Christine would throw out there. She's still not too crazy about swimming, and if the stick drifted too far out, she would quickly turn around and come back.

Here's another great reason for us to be at the beach... there's all sorts of smelly, stinky stuff that washes up on the sand. Here, it looks like Paisley and I have found an especially smelly thing, and I'm rolling around on my back in it! Woo hoo!

The next day, Richie disappeared for a long time, apparently to play golf, and we went to the beach again. Note the impressive form as I leap out of the water as I try to get away from Paisley.

I just love running around at the beach - I still have a few "frantic puppy" moments now and then!

Mischa

Another trip with our new trailer!

Christine and Richie were busy packing clothes and stuff a few sleeps ago, and so Paisley and I knew something was up. Sure enough, we got in the Rover and hooked up the trailer-thingy and drove for only a short while till we got to a place apparently called Deception Pass State Park, down in Washington State.

Here we are with our new camp setup - it was a great place with lots of beach and forest to run around on/in, but for some reason we were kept on our leashes almost the entire time. We did get a chance to run around on the beach one day however, but the water at this place has bigger waves than Paisley and I had ever seen.

I wasn't so sure about fetching a piece of wood that Richie threw into the water, as the waves seemed kinda scary. Sure enough, I turn around, and a wave picks up Paisley and flips her all the way over until she gets back on her feet, and then the water goes right over her head! After that, we didn't go in the water anymore.

Here's Christine enjoying the sun with us on the beach - it might seem like a bad idea for those of us with black fur to be lying in the sun, but with the cool ocean breeze, and the temperature of the water down here in the US of A (as Richie calls it), we did ok.

This is what Richie was doing while we were at the beach - I went and slept with him for a while too, but Christine wasn't fast enough with the camera to get a picture!

After a while, it got a little bit warm as my fur dried out, so I went for a little snooze in this neat hut that someone had made out of driftwood on the beach. It was perfect for getting out of the mid-day sun.

When we got back to camp, Christine would get really excited if the sun came out - it was a bit cool down there, as there was a low fog almost every day that would hang around and make things damp. I like the sun too.

But for the whole time we were there, they had these big loud birds that would fly overhead - so loud that it scared us sometimes. They would fly low over us, then circle, and sometimes race off into the sky. I know it irritated Christine and Richie - I don't think we are coming back here again.

Anyhow, after a short ride in the Rover (we slept the whole trip, so who really knows how long it took?), we are back home again, and dog, are we tired! I was so tired when this picture was taken - look how far I've buried my nose into my bed!

Mischa