An Exciting Weekend

Last weekend was a particularly exciting weekend for me--one filled with a grand adventure and a strange sight.

My family was going to the beach, but I wasn't invited.  You see, I'm almost never invited on these excursions, but, honestly, that's okay with me.  Why?  Because it is really hard work keeping track of three people (you never know when someone is going to try to eat a piece of cheese without my supervision) and sometimes even a world renowned "Head of Security" needs a break.  I consider it my own private vacation.

So anyway, after I collected my bribery cookie (payment for not trying to race people out the door when they leave--yes, I have my humans very well trained) and watched my family pull out of the driveway, I scurried into the back room, jumped up on the bed, and hunkered down for a nice peaceful nap.

Ten minutes later, and before I could chase my first dream squirrel, I was awoken by the sound of the side door opening and footsteps scurrying through the kitchen.  Groggily, I opened my eyes, jumped off the bed, and wandered (cautiously) into the living room to check on the commotion.  And what did I find?  I found Sister, standing in the middle of the kitchen, with my leash and collar in hand.  "Want to go to the beach?" she asked.

Did I?  Of course I did!

Sister loaded me into the car (yay!  I didn't have to walk there) and we started down the street.  I was super excited; I paced back and forth in the backseat (because it was such a short trip, Sister didn't bother to strap me into my driving harness), I stared out the window, and I drooled excessively.  I even took some time to breathe down Sister's neck in an attempt to get her to drive faster (she didn't drive any faster, she just complained about how I was grossing her out).  Seconds later, Sister parked the car, opened my door (despite my excitement, I was a good boy and waited for her to give me the okay to get out), then jumped out of the car with an excited bound.

That was when the "good boy" in me disappeared.  At top speed, I dragged Sister back and forth down the path toward the beach, sniffing each and every reed growing up along the way.  I also sniffed the bicycle rack and a few kayaks along the way.  I was about to grab hold of a blow up swimmy someone had left behind on the beach, when I happened to look up and see a very friendly sight.

There, seated about twenty feet away were Ma and Pa.  Pulling like I had never pulled before, I sprinted toward them (Sister, to her credit, managed to hang on to my leash and remain upright on her own two feet) and, upon reaching Pa, I dragged my wet nose across his sunglasses.

Now, I had been warned early on that I wasn't going to be allowed in the water (if I got wet I would have to get a bath), but that didn't discourage me at all.  I was more than happy to wander up and down the shoreline with Ma and Sister, roll around in a patch of dried out seaweed, and eventually plop down at my family's feet while they sat watching the water.

The outing did not last particularly long (a local dog, a goldendoodle with a puppy cut, was wandering the beach without an owner and while she looked very friendly and we likely would have hit it off, my family and I were concerned about making friends without her human around), but that was okay because by the time this second cousin showed up I was already completely exhausted from all my sniffing and rolling.  So, Pa, Ma, Sister and I jumped back into the car and headed for home.  Once I was let inside the house (after a quick brushing to remove any lingering sand and seaweed from my handsome coat), I drank an entire bowl of water then settled down for a much needed nap.

A few hours later, I was hanging out in the living room working on my extended nap.  All of a sudden, I was jolted awake by Sister crying out the word "look!"  A little disoriented, I jumped up and surveyed the room.  Ma and Sister were both staring out the window so I turned to see what all the hubbub was.

There was a woman riding down the street on top of a giant black and white horse.

Needless to say, I started barking hysterically at this strange site.

Now usually, when it comes to me barking at things, I can only get in a good five or six barks before someone steps in and attempts to get me to stop (not that I do, but their interference is annoying).  No matter what is going on, I am abruptly shooed away before I can give the interloper a full piece of my mind.  Well, not this time.  Because I had never seen a horse before (let alone one casually meandering down my block), Ma and Sister allowed me to bark until I had said everything I had to say and then some.  And you know what?  It worked.  That horse didn't pass by my house again.