Jillian and Athena go to the beach

On Thanksgiving weekend we all decided to go to the beach. We found a dog-friendly beach so we loaded Athena up in the car and took her too. Jillian and Athena both had a great time chasing after the sticks that Jeremy was throwing out into the ocean. Jeremy would throw the stick and then Athena and Jillian would both go swimming after it. Athena would always get their first because swimming is an instinct in black labs and Athena has one pwerful dog paddle.

Athena's Quarter Birthday Celebration

This was totally Jillian's idea to celebrate Athena's quarter birthday. Jillian created a birthday cake using an old apple container, three candles, and a lot of dog food. Unfortunately for Athena, she was not allowed to celebrate by gorging herself on all that dog food because she would have done it and made herself sick. Nevertheless, a good day!

The Return of Lilly

If you love a gecko so much then you should set it free. If the Gecko returns to you then it is yours to keep... or so Jillian thinks. One evening Jillian and I were sitting in the living room and she was telling me about her day at school. She was midsentence, stopped, go huge eyes, and bolted towards the front door! Lilly had returned from the wild. We're not really sure if this is the same gecko that Jillian caught last month and then released, but she was convinced. So, who am I to argue?

Notice Lilly on the wall and the enormous smile on Jillian's face.

Back in the critter catcher for a few hours before a late night release.

Lilly the Gecko

Jillian the shark diver

The family had a trip to Honolulu planned and we wanted to go see the sharks on the North Shore of Oahu. There are a few tour companies that will take guests out and put you in a cage with sharks swimming all around you. It was way cool!
Jillian was a little skiddish around all the sharks at first. After a bit Jillian got a little more brave and moved over to the edge of the deck to watch the sharks up close. She was very concerned that the sharks were going to come on board. After the Captain assured Jillian that she was perfectly safe, she decided to check them out. Eventually, when Mom and Dad were in the cage with the sharks, Jillian turned into a shark warrior and got into the water with us.

We counted as many as 12 sharks circling the boat.

Tangling with sharks is hard work!