My Life with Charlie… and Gus

We took a little Memorial Day weekend trip to Joshua Tree with our friends Ze and Jody and the boys. It was a really chill weekend, spent mostly eating, playing board games and hanging out. We also went for a couple nice hikes in the National Park. Dogs aren’t officially allowed on the trails in the Park, but Saturday evening we found an “alternate” entrance and took the boys in for a little exploring.

We saw this pile of rocks from a distance and decided that was our goal for the hike. Elizabeth, Ze and Jody all climbed to the top.

The boys weren’t allowed.

But after we got back down, Gus decided he wanted to try. And shocked us all by showing that he must have a little mountain lion blood in him:

Rock climbing with Gus from Charlie Chihuahua on Vimeo.

Charlie made a valiant effort as well, but didn’t get so far… 🙁 But that definitely doesn’t mean we love him any less!

Shaggy, dirty boys before:

Shorn, clean boys after:

Yay for us!

I haven’t been posting recently. At all. And I’m not really gonna start today, except to say that all is well in Charlie-and-Gus-land and to show off this recent photo of my happy boys going for a ride in the car:

You’re five today!!

After spending the day at day care, he got his own special birthday cake. Gus was just as excited to join in the fun!

And this birthday-related photo from 2007 is still one of my favorites of Charlie. It was actually for Elizabeth’s birthday that year. His expression says to me that he’s wondering just how silly he looks with that dumb hat on!

To celebrate our day off in honor of Martin Luther King Jr., the boys and I met up with Loren, Charlie, Birdie and Oscar in Griffith Park. Elizabeth is just about killing herself getting ready for her annual trip to Sundance so she couldn’t join the fun 🙁

It was a beautiful day for a hike. The wintery weather we had a couple weeks ago is long forgotten and we’re back to 70’s and 80’s and sunny “winter”.

We loaded into the car and headed to the park.

We heard a rumor there were rattlesnakes out today, so Charlie and Gus had to stay on their leashes. But that didn’t mean they weren’t allowed to run free at all…

The heat got to Charlie at one point and he found a nice shady spot to rest for a bit. He got low to the ground and spread out to create the most friction if I tried to drag him.

Birdie called it quits at one point too. Her dad is much nicer than me and she got a ride.

These little dogs are all troopers. This isn’t a particularly easy hike for those of us with long legs. Watching four little dogs spin their legs up the hills is great entertainment.

And as soon as we got home, they both went to their perch on top of the couch and passed out COLD!

Welcome to 2011! Yes, I’m a little late to the game here, but better late than never, right!?

As usual, we’ve had some exciting times with the boys. And as usual, photos are going to tell a better – and more interesting – story than the rambling commentary I would provide!

Gus Claus celebrated the holidays:

Then he graduated from level one Group Obedience Class:

He did pretty much as good a job as his brother did when he was around Gus’ age, but with Gus we were mostly just happy to see that he could sit still for more than a few seconds at a time! (Even if it takes the prospect of immediate treats to get that little bit of “obedience”!)

We’ve been doing regular hiking in Runyon Canyon with the boys, but to celebrate the first day of 2011, we decided to do something different. So, the boys and I met up with Aaron, Loren, Charlie, Birdie and Birdie’s new brother Oscar, for a hike in Griffith Park. I always get a huge kick out of seeing the little dogs spin their legs to climb up the trails! Here is a group photo looking over Los Angeles:

On Thursday, the boys and I got up early for a birthday (mine) hike in Runyon. Runyon is a perfect place to bring the boys – it’s the right distance, there are enough dogs to get in a little socializing and on clear days, the views are pretty cool. Charlie met these three girl shi tzus and was totally showing off for them, running around in circles like a crazy dog. I took about 1,000 photos, here are some of the best.

On our way “up” with Hollywood in the background:

Charlie and Gus bounding up some steep stairs:

On our way back down:

Looking south:

2011 here we come!

Our little guy Gus turned ONE on November 22!* We celebrated with him during our Thanksgiving trip to NY.

Here we are getting him ready to see his special doggy birthday cake that we got from Spot before we left town. (The cake had rice krispies, peanut butter and some fake chocolate stuff – obviously they loved it!) I like Charlie’s “expression” in this picture.

And here’s Gus about to blow out his candle. Wouldn’t it be cool if he actually could do that?!

We had a good trip back east for Thanksgiving. The boys were incredible on the plane. They squeezed together into the same carrier and slept soundly – and silently – for pretty much the entire flight both ways! We had a fun trip – my in-laws have a big back yard and the boys had a good time running around the open space. It was cold at times, but they really didn’t seem to mind. We found Charlie’s coat in the pile of our winter stuff and bought Gus a brand new bright red fleece (from Spot of course).

But mostly we spent the trip relaxing. And more often than not, relaxing means piling on my lap!

*(I’m super late with this birthday/Thanksgiving post, but life totally got in the way recently. Doesn’t mean I love the little guy any less.)

Last weekend, Loren and Charlie (Birdie’s parents) got married here in Los Angeles. Charlie and Gus and Birdie all got to be part of the wedding ceremony. Charlie and Gus even got bowties to match the groomsmen’s ties. Here they are trying the ties on before the wedding:

Here’s Gus waiting to get dressed for the wedding – and his big job – to start:

Hopefully I’ll have some photos of them walking down the aisle with our cousin Will soon. They did a great job!

Sunday night was Halloween and we went over to Ze and Jody’s for dinner and to watch the trick-or-treaters. Thankfully, we have costumes for the dogs. They definitely wouldn’t want to be left out of the fun – Gus wore Charlie’s old alligator costume (from his first Halloween).

Gus-gator 2010:

Charliegator from 2006:

And Charlie Frankendog 2010:

On Monday morning, Loren and Charlie left for a honeymoon in Mexico and we got to watch Birdie for the week. I can’t lie – having three small dogs is a handful – but it was fun for us and for the boys. They played and played and played. Well, at least Gus and Birdie played and played. Charlie played sometimes and then sat and stared at the kids like a grumpy old man.

First all three dogs played in the backyard:

Then Charlie came and sat with me:

While the kids continued wrestling with each other and really wearing themselves out (isn’t that the goal?!):

As I’ve described in my other blog, I had spinal surgery on Monday, September 20. Thankfully the surgery went really well. I spent four nights in the hospital and, since being released on Friday, September 24, I’ve been pretty much confined to the house. I’ve spent most of the time since I came home moving from the couch to the floor to the bed and back and forth. I can’t drive, I can’t walk too far. I can’t do anything active. Fun.

But at least I’ve had the good company of the boys, who have been more than happy to be lazy bums with me.

For the first few days, they only moved position when I moved position. Like this time when I decided to lie on the couch with my feet at the other end!

The first excitement for the boys this week was to go see Alex and get groomed! They actually like going to Alex – or so we tell ourselves – but even if they don’t like it, we sure do. Charlie always comes back looking like he’s lost about 1/3 of his bodyfat and they just look so debonair.

We’ve been going on regular walks – lots of short ones. But since I’m beginning to feel much better and can walk comfortably and even sort of bend over, today we got to spend a little time sitting in the sun and then playing around in the backyard.

Last weekend I was out running 100 miles through the Angeles National Forest. Charlie and Gus got to stay with cousin Birdie while I was running.

Charlie spent the day doing what he does very best. Relaxing.

In the evening, Loren and Charlie brought the dogs to Chantry Flats, which is the 75 miles point in the race. They had fun playing with Jimmy, who was going to pace me from mile 75 to the finish line.

Gus got a little cold and found the duffel bag with my extra clothing to burrow into.

Sunday was the awards ceremony and Loren brought the dogs back to celebrate with us. Of course they were trying to get into as much trouble as possible. But they did relax every so often for a few seconds at a time.

Even their new friend Jimmy couldn’t get them to relax for very long.

(photos from Elizabeth and mom)