From the top of the World (or the Cuesta Grade at least)

Today Levi and I went on a hike at the top of the Cuesta Grade.  It was a nice hike that had beautiful views of San Luis Obispo and Morro Bay.  It was pretty long but not very steep so it wasn't too difficult.  Next time I'll remember to go in the morning though so I don't have to take pictures into the sun.  Here are a few from today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nine Months Old!

I can't believe Levi is already 9 months old, it seems like the time has flown by! For Levi's 9 month birthday I decided to list 9 things that Levi loves or quirky things that he does.

1.  he loves playing tug-of-war

2.  he loves other dogs and always wants to play!

3.  he shakes his toys violently when playing and also likes to roll onto his back to play with them upside down

4.  he watches TV.  It all started with basketball. :-)

5.  he loves resting his head on things (he does this all the time, but he always seems to move when I go to grab the camera.  This was the one time I was able to get a picture.)

6.  he steals slippers and shoes to get attention

7.  he loves giving kisses

8.  he loves running in big circles around me on his flexi-leash

9.  when playing with toys or when being pet he sometimes puts his head back really far to the point that he almost falls over.

Yesterday Levi and I went for a nice long hike near my parent's house.  Thankfully it wasn't too muddy to ruin Levi's nice Christmas bath, and he really loved being off-leash. I figure he must have gotten twice the hike out of it from running up ahead, then running back to me, then up ahead again.  Here are a couple pictures from the hike.  I think it tired him out for an hour or so.  ;-)

Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas Everyone!  

Levi is waiting patiently to open all of his presents!

Such a spoiled boy!

Video as Promised

For Levi's 8 month birthday gift I promised to post a video and I've finally gotten around to doing it.  Here he is eating some of his breakfast out of the "Tornado."

Today we went for a long walk in the drizzling rain, so no pictures, but here are a couple pictures that I took recently of Levi on the new camera that I got for my birthday. (Thanks Mom and Dad!)  I think 100% of the pictures I've taken so far have been of Levi. :-)  He makes such a good subject!

My Favorite

Lake Tahoe

Last week after finals ended a few friends and I, along with Levi, went up to Lake Tahoe for a couple days. Alicia and I drove up on Thursday morning with the plan of going skiing/snowboarding.  It was raining pretty hard when we go there so we decided to go snowshoeing instead.  A really nice man at the ski shop where we rented the snowshoes told us a great place to go called Echo Summit Snow Park.  It was higher up the mountain so it was snowing rather than raining there which was nice.  It was so beautiful and peaceful since there wasn't anyone else around.  Unfortunately since it was snowing a lot of my pictures came out with blurs on them from snowflakes on the camera lens :(

Our best attempt at a group picture

Levi LOVED the snow!  He loved going into the deep snow and bunny hopping through it since it was so hard to run in.  I couldn't figure out why he didn't just stay on the path that was firmer so he wouldn't sink as much, but I guess that wasn't as much fun.

 

Such a happy snow dog!

Levi helped Alicia build a snowman...

but then he stole one of the snowman's arms!

It was a great day in the snow and we were all exhausted at the end of the day and ready for a nap.

That night three more of our friends came up to Tahoe and the next day we all went skiing/snowboarding.  It was a really fun trip and I hope we can go again soon.

Happy 8 Month Birthday!

8 Things for 8 Months

1.  He gets so excited when I rotate his toys and he gets to play with a toy he hasn't seen in a little while.  He acts like it is a brand new toy.
2.  He loves to rest his head on things: the coffee table, the bed, the couch, a chair, the window sill.  Even if it is below head height he will lower his neck and stand really awkwardly so he can rest his head on it.
3.  He wakes me up by coming to cuddle on the bed in the morning.
4.  He seems to enjoy riding in the car now.
5.  He has been settling down by himself in the evenings this past week
6.  He realized he could slide on the wood floors at my parents house, so now he will be playing with a toy and then run and slide with his front feet until he is laying down all sprawled out on the floor.
7.  He loves to play...all the time.
8. He has the best facial expressions, and really shows his emotions.

For his 8 month birthday I got him this interactive toy called the Dog Tornado.

It is a bone shaped toy that has little compartments for food and there are three levels that rotate and block the compartments of the level below.  The dog has to rotate each level to uncover the food in the levels below.  I gave it to Levi a little before his birthday so he could use it while we've been at home this week.  He caught on really quickly and has gotten better each time we've used it.  There are different ways that you can make it harder when it gets too easy for them so hopefully it should provide some mental work for him for a little while.  I somehow deleted the video off my camera that I took of Levi using it so it'll be a couple days before I post a video of it.

Today was a cold rainy day so we weren't able to go for a walk.  Instead we played a long game of hide-and-seek inside.  I was impressed with how well Levi did at "finding" me.  I even used some of my best hiding spots and he found me like it was no problem.  It just amazes me how smart he is!

Tomorrow morning we drive home to Davis but then we'll be back home for Christmas break in only 2 weeks.  I just have to make it through a week of classes and 3 days of finals!

Levi at Home

Levi and I have been going for long walks pretty much every day since we've been home and it is amazing what a difference it makes when he gets a good walk during the day.  He has been so well behaved in the evenings lately, and has been settling down all by himself.  This is something that he has still been learning how to do so it was so nice the other evening when we were watching a movie and he just laid down and slept the whole time.  It probably also helps that he is awake all day playing with various family members or following us around rather than sleeping most of the day.

Some of our recent walks while we've been at home have included a walk around the Atascadero Lake and several walks around downtown Atascadero and the Sunken Gardens which is a grassy area with a fountain in the middle and paths around the outside.  It's not anywhere near as nice as walking in Davis, but we find places to go.

Atascadero Lake

Sunken Gardens

Happy Thanksgiving!

Levi has been quite busy helping mom prepare the turkey.

He got bored though when she wouldn't let him do anything.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!  

from me and Levi

Visiting Cal Poly

Today Levi and I went for a walk around Cal Poly with my mom.

"Levi, give kisses later, we're supposed to be taking a picture."

That's better

Mom twisted her ankle shortly into the walk so we walked her back to her office and then Levi and I kept going.  It is so flat in Davis so it was nice to get to go up a few hills at Cal Poly. We walked up the big hill to the horse unit where I spent MANY hours in undergrad.  There I got to go say hi to my favorite stud "Einstein" that I used to take care of.  I pointed out "Herdsman Hall" to him which is an on-campus house that I lived in for a year when I worked at the horse unit.   

Then we headed back down the hill and walked by the baseball and softball fields.  One time while living at "Herdsman" (as it was referred to) I was walking Kobe by the baseball fields and I found a soft baseball that I guess they use for batting practice.  That ball ended up being one of Kobe's favorite toys.  He loved to just lay and chew on it since it was soft enough that he could squish it but gave more resistance than a tennis ball. 

We didn't find any baseballs today, but we did get to go down to the intramural baseball fields where Levi got to run around off-leash which he really loved!

That was the end of our outing for today.  Have a happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Thanksgiving Break

Bringing the holiday cheer to our house is this adorable little reindeer on the left.  These were Kobe's antlers (on the right) that I found when unpacking my Christmas stuff.  (I know it's not Christmas yet but we only get to spend a week and a half in our Davis house after Thanksgiving so we started decorating early so it would be Christmas-y when we got back from Thanksgiving break).

(Levi 7.5 months old, Kobe 8 months old)

Levi, Gypsy, and I made the journey home to Templeton on Sunday and we get to stay for a whole week!   We do miss our beautiful green belt when we're at home, but we find places to walk here.

Yesterday my dad got home from a business trip and guess what he brought home for Levi?  A souvenir!  Read the story about souvenirs here.  It is a cute stuffed lion that he got when he was in Washington.  Levi has really been enjoying it.