Erik & Blue at the Lake

Thursday is official Lake Day! We go out on the boat enjoy a relaxing ride then swim till we are exhausted then drive around again to dry off on its off to dinner! We love it, we have been doing it since Erik was 1 year old! He even celebrated his 2nd birthday on the lake!

This year we added our new family member Blue to our weekly excursions! The first time Blue went with Erik to the lake it was too cold to swim! The funny part of everything was how I expected Blue to act! I figured he would get all excited about being on the water and act like a fool! I had to work so when I got home and got the low-down on how the day when Papaw said Blue did excellent! He thought his life jacket was his service dog gear and acted like the perfect obedient service dog! I was wondering how he would act once he realized that the lake was fun and not actually work!

So yesterday we got to the lake and I brought Blue's new birthday toy a water Kong! Climbed down to the shore and told Blue "it's sink or swim buddie" and threw the Kong into the lake! Blue dove in without even thinking and swam beautifully! We did that quite a few more times then headed for the boat! I garbed Blue and Erik in their life jackets and we were off for a ride! They were so cute and enjoyed it so much! Finally it came time to swim! Erik is in love with swimming even though he doesn't know how! He tries really hard and he loves jumping off the back of the boat as you can see in the pictures, he has no fear! I got Blue down on the platform and threw the Kong out into the lake! I didn't think about how Blue was going to get back up on the boat once he retrieved his toy until he was swimming back! Thank goodness the life jacket had a handel on the back and I was able to haul Blue up by that! We only threw the toy out a few times then I made Blue chill out in the boat! It was after all his first time swimming every and he had exherted a lot of energy! He enjoyed every second and kept trying to go back out in the lake with Erik, Papaw and GeeGee.

I took some of the cutest pics and wanted to share them with you! The bond between Erik and Blue grows more everyday! Hope you enjoy them as much and I have!

Erik & Blue at Therapy

On Wednesday Erik has Occupational Therapy! He really likes his therapist her name is Staci! When we first met Staci we brought Blue with us and she was really excited she did her thesis on service dogs and using them in therapy session! She said at some point she wanted to include Blue in Erik's therapy.

This week she was able to include Blue in the session! It was really exciting! Erik cannot stand to go on his stomach or crawl on his knees! Of course Erik & Blue hadn't even been in the therapy room 5 seconds when they found a tennis ball! She was able to get Erik to lay on his stomach across a ball, raise up on his arms and throw a ball to Blue! He sat on a ball and twisted his trunk also to throw the ball for Blue! They both did so great! Blue was a little crazy since a tennis ball was involved but all in all he did really well! She took some pictures and I wanted to share them with you!

We can't wait to see what else Blue can help Erik achieve! We have been so blessed and are really excited to see what the future holds for Erik and Blue, it just keeps getting better! Hugs and Love from our gang will keep you posted!

Erik & Blue's Birthday!

Wow what a wonderful time we had! June 28th is Erik's official birthday and 4 Paws estimated Blue's birthday to be around July 1st so I have decided that Blue and Erik have the same birthday! We had a wonderful party! The Standley's came down from Kentucky (they were actually visiting Tennessee) and we were so happy to have them! The Lambert's came as well as many other friends. Erik's teacher Lori came with her children and I hope she will come over again! I rented a HUGE inflatable slide for the kids to play on, they company hadn't put us on the schedule and when I called they didn't even know we had rented it so they were about 3 hrs late arriving to set up the slide! I was not happy since the party had been going for about 2 hours before the main attraction arrived! They discounted the rental and let us keep it an extra day!

All the kids enjoyed the slide and Erik got a trampoline for his birthday from Papaw, Nienie & Geegee. It was also a hit! Many of the families who were able to stay later hung out and continued to enjoy the slide! We had more food than you can imagine, it feed a ton of people multiple meals and even feed Erik and Blue's second birthday party the next day :) Papaw got out his favorite toy, his Ford tractor and rode the kids around or let them drive! Jonathan loved riding the tractor you should have seen the smile on his face!

Blue enjoyed seeing his friends Nitro, Zoro & Case! He got some cool presents as well! He spent a lot of time in his Kennel during the party due to kids running around with plates full of food and that is just tooooo much temptation for a Blue Dog! Nitro hung out in the same room with him so at least he wasn't alone!

Erik loved all his gifts and plays with them every day! He got a drill and saw that he loves to spin and make noise with! He got a guitar that plays cool songs and pushes the buttons often! He got a bubble blower, a spongebob car and so many other neat toys and honestly plays with each of them! The spongebob shirt you see him wearing in the picture was one of his gifts also and he loves it and says Bob every time I show it to him before he wears it!

We enjoyed everyone who came and want to tell you Thanks and hope you will come back out again soon and jump on the trampoline, go on hikes, ride the tractor, and just enjoy relaxing with us! Donna we hope you will be able to bring Rachel and Jonathan over again soon, Larry, Ann & Sara can't wait to see ya'll again, Lori, Reagan & Owen it was great to have ya'll and hope to do it again soon you are a welcome addition to our family of friends, Kelly, Connor & Carter hated that ya'll had to leave so quickly maybe you can come over and spend more time, Cathy and lil Kevin, it was so great to see you and see the amazing progress Kevin has made, you are always welcome, Amy & Valor what a surprise to see ya'll and we enjoyed the way Valor brightened up a room, The Standley's thanks for making the trip you were such a special addition to this years party you are such an amazing addition to our family and we miss you when you are away, can't wait to see ya'll again and the fun things we are starting to plan (Oh yeah by the way everyone keep your ears open for some fun things ahead). The Lambert's love you guys sooooo much and am so glad ya'll were here! To all who couldn't come or are too far away we missed you so much and will have to plan to get together soon!

Enjoy the pictures we love you all!

Deanna, Erik (big 9 year old) & Blue Dog (when do Labs calm down sometime after 2 yr right?)!!!