rub-a-dub-dub

after only having shirley for a few days we tried to give her a bath outside...that didn't fly with her...at the time she hated water and the hose scared her (and the cold water)...this past weekend we tackled bathing her again, but attempt #2 was done a)inside in a tub, b)with warm water, and c)with doggie oatmeal shampoo. results = success! she was very cooperative and didn't even try to escape from the bathtub. very impressive! needless to say, she was rewarded with a few doggie treats :)


where's waldo? this is the one place shirley ALWAYS bolts to if she is not under supervision or somehow gets away from us. her sock fetish takes a turn for the worse here as she masks herself in an attempt to avoid a bath


bath time!


lathering up


wondering if she should attack those bubbles


rinsing off


now that wasn't so bad! towel/air drying


squeaky clean, and proud of it!

intro to cooking, and them some

INTRO TO COOKING:

homemade margherita pizza with alissa's first-ever attempted homemade pizza crust! yahoos! making crust was the ultimate challenge to see if alissa could graduate to baking bread. it was such a success, mike requested the homemade pizza again the very next night!


this lemon water is happy to be here! ice water with a lemon wedge has been our signature refreshment since being out here, mmmmm - nothing else quenches the thirst quite like this on humid days


yay, we have edible bread! alissa overcame the scariness of the leavening agent, yeast, with triumph. my, how lovely those loaves turned out!


mmmm, nothing beats a slice of fresh, warm, homemade bread! next feat: introducing grains for specialty breads

AND THEN SOME:

last weekend alissa raced in a half marathon in jacksonville - it was the inaugural distance race for the 'hope for the warriors' cause, which supports soldiers who were injured while fighting in the war. what better cause to run for? mike and shirley were her peppy cheering squad!


sand dunes alongside our beach access. quite the tranquil vista.


partial panorama of the coast


mike enjoying a dip in the ocean. ask him if his toes turned into raisins...the water temp is now in the low 70s!


finally, a snapshot of a jellyfish! we see these marine coelenterates almost daily on the beach. apparently the ones with a reddish lining are the stinging types


shirley checking out another jellyfish (non-stinging)


a puffer fish! alissa and her friend liz spotted 8 puffers one day! last weekend on a long beach walk, mike and alissa came across 9 beached baby sharks (or a different species of shark) before also catching sight of a 6-foot long shark (!!!) in an inlet. it had been sliced open for whatever reason, but it still was a remarkable sight. and just this morning, alissa and shirley watched as a local fisherman accidentally caught a shark (3-footer) on his line from ashore and was trying to coax it back into the water. you don't see that every day!


?? someone explain this, please

shirley's chapter: 16 weeks

tomorrow shirley turns 16 weeks old (4 months already!) and is really growing on us. as you can see from the first picture, she is now 23" high from feet to head (18" to her spine), whereas when we first got her she was 18" tall just to her head...she currently weighs 26 pounds (which is actually still on the skinny side) and gaining...we have had her for a little over a month now and her growth rate has been clocked at about 1 inch per week in height! she recently was switched for the third and hopefully last time over to an adult dog food that more specifically caters to her growing needs based on her breed cateogory (giant). luckily the transition went well and she scarfs down her food (lamb, yum!) at mealtime.

we have come to realize that shirley LOVES car rides! every time we take her out to go potty she keeps one eye on the cars with hope that we will by chance open the door for her to jump in for a quick cruise. so far she fits just right in the front seat but soon she'll need to move to the back. another discovery is how excellent of a walker she is when focused and not distracted by other dogs walking alongside her. we have been following a do-it-yourself puppy training book religiously but plan to enroll her in puppy/beginner classes to supplement and highlight the dog socialization aspect of the training. shirley is a very intelligent puppy but DEFINITELY has a tidbit of stubbornness in her. as puppy parents we like to brag that she is completely housebroken, actually likes her crate, and enjoys playing catch with ducky, chicky, squeaky, any of mike's socks, and frisbee.


at this rate she will surely be a towering giant!


demonstrating how tall shirley is when standing on her back paws


she hasn't figured out yet that we highly discourage her from relaxing right on the shifter...


naughty, naughty! caught with the car keys en route to an enormous leaf pile...


OOORAH!


hangin' with her buddies on the beach


great danes are natural diggers, as seen here on the beach. at least she hasn't practiced her digging skills on the front lawn!

aquatic and nautical discoveries: nature edition

first and foremost: HAPPY BIRTHDAY to steve (dad and father-in-law) lafrance!! we hope you have a glorious (nth) birthday - rest assured it will be spent at the rustic wisconsin abode - we shall send heat waves your way, but only if you send us back some snow in return! we miss you!

back to nature -- it is so exciting to see new flora and fauna each day around here. we like to document these memories to preserve this special part of our lives while we are living out here; thus, we have been glued to our cameras :)


two fishing boats on the horizon. these, along with a military ship, FOUR jellyfish, two spumes of breath from WHALES (haven't quite seen the actual whales yet), and a single generic turtle were spotted the ONE day we didn't bring our camera along while walking on the beach...good thing they were still there after running back to grab it! maybe in the future we will even come across a beached shark like alissa's friends liz and becky saw the other week!!


close-up of right-most vessel


close-up of left-most vessel


the military ship! training in our big blue backyard, how cool. some ospreys (military aircraft) were practicing landing on it!


sea turtle season has begun! we hope we are able to catch a glimpse of these unique creatures and perhaps even be lucky enough to snap a photo! in the meantime, we've seen our fair share of the common turtles around here


sea turtle crossing!


fiddler crabs, seen on a walk at the croatan national forest


zooming in on those little buggers...eeesh! the males are the ones sporting the enlarged pincher claws


horseshoe crab. it's huge! shirley was pawing at it, haha


no idea what this is...some type of crustacean


alli the alligator - she inhabits the pond in our neighborhood complex. NO LIE!!!!! we are too hesitant to walk shirley by in fear that she'd become a mid-morning snack...


flock of pelicans: primordial and majestic - perhaps one of the most relaxing gregarious waterbirds to gaze at


a squid, washed ashore


ink!


king prawn! (shout out to radonkadonk - it's pepe!!!)