The girls and I took the pups to the local dog beach for a few hours of sun, surf and sand. As always they had LOTS of fun.

I made a new video as the last one was 3 years ago.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HKoxcxN2Z0

Of course, after the beach comes the dog bath….

I knew Jasmine wasn’t well last night. I took our outside to eat some grass but she just wasn’t herself. I cuddled her for a bit and realized she couldn’t see. When I put her back in her cage and she didn’t eat her fresh spinach, I knew she was nearing the end. And at 6.5 years old that’s not surprising. This morning I found her dead in her little house.  She was the last of the three little pigs.

I’m a bit sadder than normal (when an older pet dies) because she was my guinea pig. We originally bought 2 – one for each of the girls – but then I wanted one so we went back to get her the next day. It’s already sad when I walk by the cage and there is no sound of her moving around or squeaks that she wants some food.

It’s been a while since we went out to visit the girls Grandpa (Kevin’s Dad) and since he’s about to start more chemo we thought we’d go for a visit. Unfortunately the weather wasn’t real good (much as it’s been all school holidays) but we all had a nice time.

A highlight for the girls was getting to ride the quad bike.

Christy had a turn with Grandpa and Kevin, and even drove by herself (with Kevin on the back). Amy also had a ride but I didn’t manage to get a photo – I think she must have been too fast .

A highlight for me was seeing the new Spring lambs. He had 17 but was down to 15. They are so cute.

Since Christy has found her camera (it turned up in Amy’s cupboard) she was keen to take some photos and managed to get quite close.

I wish I had bought the big camera but it wouldn’t have been a wise idea in the rain. Excuse the eyes closed photos – that’s what happens when you ask your vision-impaired daughter to take a photo – but at least this one’s not blurry . As you can see we weren’t really dressed appropriately as the sun was out when we left home.

Isn’t he so cute? This is the Powell’s new puppy, Russ. We went up to Leanne’s yesterday to meet him.

He’s a wriggly little worm and it was hard to get photos but we managed to get a few….

especially when he slowed down…for all of 5 mins….

after he discovered my camera strap… much better to chew on than my hands…

And how cute that he sleeps on his back like Bailey…. Can’t wait till he’s old enough to come down and play with Rosie and Bailey. The Powell’s and us used to always take our dogs to each others home, before all the babies, and before our dogs all got too old.

Leanne was wonderful enough to provide us with this delicious spread of food. So good on a cold (Spring) day….

and lemon cake…. yum. I had a really lovely afternoon catching up with Leanne and playing with Russ.

The girls all had fun together too and my two did not want to leave.

Saturday was indeed the perfect day to head up to Sydney to take Kasumi to the zoo. We have always driven but this time we parked at the Opera House then caught the ferry. It was fabulous and we’ll definitely do this again.

Unfortunately the sky rail isn’t working, but that just meant we got to use the new (old) entrance that was being renovated the last time we were here.

Obviously the main objective of today was to see the Australian exhibits. And it was a lot of fun.

We saw birds, and lots of cute nocturnal animals.

We got to pat a kangaroo…

watch a wombat eat his lunch..

laugh at a Tasmanian Devil lying just like Bailey does…

see the Koala statue celebrating the friendship between Aussie and Japanese zoos….

and finally have a photograph with a koala…

These guys were soooo cute and we were lucky to have them both in the photograph…

After the koalas we had some lunch and visited some other animals like the ringtail lemor…

some pelicans….

and the always popular seal show…

It was a wonderful day to be by the harbour. The only downside for me was the terrrible sinus pain I’m suffering with.

Seeing all the animals, and especially the cute baby elephants (they have 3) certainly made up for it.

We finished the day with the sea lions – two were biting each other and playing just like Bailey and Rosie.

And this guy was right at the exit…

If you got a toy penguin and ran with it, he would follow along the glass. And if you moved away he’d be looking for it. So cute!!! And obviously very smart.

Then it was time to get back on the ferry, past the Opera House and over to Circular Quay.

It really was a great day and we all enjoyed ourselves. And since we’ve got an annual pass we’ll be able to go back again and see all the animals we missed.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVf_VKq4NyA

I’m hoping that by now most Australian’s have heard about the latest campaign by Animals Australia and the RSPCA to ban live animal export, and are getting behind the campaign. It is truly appalling and deeply heartbreaking to see animals being treated as our live exports are. If you don’t know anything about it please click on the link – the video is very upsetting but even the photos will give you an idea of what is going on (you can view the page without seeing the video). I thought the way our sheep were treated in the Middle East was bad enough, but our cows in Indonesia have it even worse. Torturing an animal, even one to be killed for food, is NEVER okay. That our government allows this is disgraceful and makes me embarrassed to be an Australian. Please be a voice for the animals and help stop the export.

There were guests….

and party food…

and a giant cupcake birthday cake…

which the pups (and us) really enjoyed.

There were cards and edible gifts…

and new toys to play with…

Then, when it all got too much, it was time for a sleep, with a VERY wet toy

Everyone, especially the dogs, had a great time.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ldteWeloBQ

I was given a great Mum Rulz hat from Christy.

a lovely picture from Amy

and everyone contributed to this collection of goodies. Spoiled aren’t I?

We decided to head to the Southern Highlands and visit an alpaca farm (seeing as it’s alpaca week!)

We learnt all about the fleece.

Met and cuddled Legend.

Got to see some Mum and bubs – quite fitting on Mothers Day.

They are so sweet.

Don’t they have the cutest faces?

And legs? And I never knew alpacas had soft feet – great for the not destroying the land.

Christy was very excited to get to walk Legend.

We also got to see some shearing. This looks cruel but the alpaca really didn’t seem to mind once it was strapped in position.

Poor thing looked rather sad losing it’s coat though. But they will put another coat on it as it’s going into Winter.

One more cute photo before we leave the farm. Love how he curls his front legs underneath his body.

On the way to Berrima we passed the valley of my future home/farm .

Doesn’t this look like a gorgeous place to live?

At Berrima we had a quick Mother’s Day photo shoot before heading to a nearby cafe for lunch.

We then had a little walk around the town…

admiring the turning leaves…

cute old buildings…

visiting the tea shop…

and of course, the lolly shop…

It was a lovely day. Such  nice way to spend Mother’s Day.