Last Friday I stopped by the drugstore for a cheap plastic tablecloth for our outdoor patio table and lo and behold, what do I find in the discounted summer merch for only 9.99? PINK FLAMINGOS! I had to purchase. Superficial dreams realized yet again!

They really seem to work best in the bowling ball garden, don’t you think?

Later on, down by the river, the girls and I met a rambunctious 11-year-old yellow Lab named Killer, who immersed his entire body into the river to look for sticks, so just his dogbutt was sticking up. Hilarious! Labs provide endless entertainment.

Poor Josh stayed home from work on Friday due to a bad reaction to some antibiotics. He has an appointment with an allergy “specialist” this week who is no doubt going to take all of our moneys in exchange for information about what else Josh is allergic to. So far, sulfa and penicillin, and apparently minocycline too.

He was sick all weekend, but you how he is, he let me manipulate him into a 5.8 mile hike at the Boulder River trail Saturday morning. Such stromph!

We did this particular hike a few months ago, but this time we went further. No doubt if he had been operating at 100% we would have completed the full 8 miles.

This big ol’ salamander was chilling in the middle of the trail on our way up. The girls had no interest in it. On the way back, it was gone.

Furry family. I have more pictures and a few little videos from this hike to upload later.

Unusual fern.

Saturday night we were trying to get our “The Never Ending Story” on, as one does. I was totally obsessed with this film as a child, and you know what? It stands up pretty well. I still think Atreyu was hot, and this is what he looks like now, as an adult. So there we were, watching a childhood classic, and the neighbor’s dog two houses over barked non-stop in their backyard for SIX HOURS. I was so distressed I texted everyone I figured would text back for advice (my parents, Corinne), and received an array of responses, from “call the cops” (meh) to “call animal control” (mer) to “go over there” (sigh).

Before knocking on their door, we paid a quick visit to our ex-fireman neighbor for advice (he’s the nicest of all the neighbors we’ve met so far), and he suggested we knock on the door. There were four cars parked outside their house but no lights on in the house, and when we finally knocked on the door (a cacophony of barks from their three dogs ensued), no one answered.

Well, if no one is home what good is it to call the police? Or animal control? We returned home and turned on the fans to drown out the sound of the poor dog barking and finally at some point before the end of “The Never Ending Story” the owners must have returned home because the barking stopped. Poor dog! I would feel awful if I found out Maggie or Bear Cub had been barking for hours on end.

Spoiler alert: the Netflix series version of “Wet Hot American Summer” is about 10,000 times better than the original film from 2001, trust.

Currently I’m full of cramps and iced coffee, avoiding the sun with my pets at my feet. I’ve started a new Mandala, it’s going to have a floral theme. We had a nice dinner last night at Grandma Shirley’s with the whole extended fam, always a good time. I didn’t touch any desserts. New York Diet, Ahoy! More about that later.