Home and happy

This past weekend we travelled out of state to visit my brother and sister-in-law. Because my niece is still pretty little, not yet two years old, we thought we'd leave the Newfies at home so we could spend more time with her and less time worrying about them getting into trouble in their house. It was Boden's first time without one of us, and Thatcher has only been left a handful of times. Right from the start, it was a little bizarre not having the dogs. We set out on the road, and eventually realized we didn't have any reason to stop. Usually on road trips, we take breaks at rest areas to let the dogs out to stretch and run. Instead, we were just forced to stop for snacks every hour or two. Once we were there, we had no dogs waking us up early in the morning, no excuse to sneak outside for fresh air, and nothing to worry about when we were out late. Not to mention we only needed to pack half the amount of stuff we normally pile into the car. It was weird.

When we got home on Sunday, the dogs had different reactions. Thatcher ran over and gave his happy growl, then just expected a walk immediately and kept barking at us to take him. Boden was just ecstatic. He is a lot less independent than Thatcher and literally cries with joy when he greets us after we've been gone for a long stretch of time. It's really kind of pathetic and cute at the same time. Even when I get home from work, he rushes over and buries himself in my arms, whining and wagging his tail at the same time. So for the rest of the day Sunday, the dogs did not let us leave their sight. They are not planning on letting us sneak off on another trip without them again anytime soon.

On a bright note (for Thatch and Boden, at least), we have gotten snow three days in a row now. The dogs have been delighted to tromp around and gobble up the fresh snow. Anyone who knows anything about Newfies can relate here. The more snow they are covered in, the happier they are. I sometimes wonder if they even feel cold.  This morning, when I called them in, they just flopped themselves onto the snow and pretended they didn't understand what I was saying.