Escaping The Heat

Friday afternoon Brent and I and our two dogs headed up to Brent's parents property. They have plans of building a cabin up there some day but for the time being it's a great place to pitch a tent and camp out. It's up north so it's a lot cooler there! On the way up there we drove right though a huge rain storm. It was pretty cool because you could see the storm up ahead. It was a small area but down pouring where it was!

This is a shot of the storm a little closer.

Here you can see the storm in the distance.

Just about to hit the storm.

We also saw some clouds that looked pretty cool.

It's like they were just sitting there.

Bentley fell asleep with his chin resting on the gear shift.

It was dark by time we got there. It had been a while since anyone had been up there and when we got to the fence to get in this is what we found! It had been over taken by sunflowers!

Bentley looked like a wild dog! He was covered in dirt and gunk! It was pretty funny. At one point he was sleeping and looked dead because there were flies all over him!
This is the cuties picture of Erica and Connor! Clicked at just the right moment!

Max and Kierstie hanging out in the trailer.

The road that backs up the the National Forrest.

Bosco chillin in the shade, he did a lot of that.

You see how his face is planted in the dirt. Well by time we left he had dirt crusted on his jowls. It was pretty gross.

While we were up there we did some work. Put in fence posts along the property line. It was pretty nice because it had rained so the ground was soft.

My sexy husband driving posts! Work it baby!

Brent and Tim! They did a lot of work. Jim (Brent's Dad) did a lot of work too! They all worked so hard!

While we were there we also did some quad riding! Love it! It's so fun! Here is Brent having some fun.

Brent and I

I went for a ride with Max and Kierstie. They love it! They kept yelling faster! faster!

Max chillin in the mobile mini storage unit.

Jim roasting a marshmellow for smores, YUM!


We had hot dogs for lunch, this is Tim, Max, Brent, Corinne, and Carrie.



Max loved the fire! And the hot dogs!

More hot dog fun.


Tim and Erica, with Bosco and Bentley waiting for anyone to drop ANYTHING!

It had rained so we took cover in the trailer. But the rain came at the perfect time! It was just starting to get hot so the rain cooled it down a bit and came at a good time to give the guys a break!

Here is Kierstie, Carrie, Corinne, Erica and Connor.

The 3 cousins playing, Kiersite, Connor, Max.

Me right before we packed up, I'm deflating the air mattress, which by the way was remarkably comfortable!

This really made me laugh, apparently my domesticated dog still has some wild instincts. He dug up the dirt and made a little bed for himself. If you look close at the ground under him you can see what he did.

If you look close you can see Max and Bosco investigating something they found.

Bentley exploring.

Max, Bosco, Bentley exploring in the muck.

There were a ton of beautiful wild sunflowers. Which are my favorite flower so I espically loved it!
The back ground there is the National Forrest. It was such a beautiful site! So green, a rare site for us Phoenicians. Bosco and Bentley created a movie perfect moment! They went romping through the field. Seriously it was like something out of Homeward Bound or something. They were trotting through the grass side by side. The grass was so tall Bentley would disappear then pop back up! It put a big smile on my face to see them roaming around so free!



When we got Bentley they gave us his coat. I though that is silly who puts there dog in clothes!!! Ok I know a lot of people do but I'm not one of those people! Any way when we were packing I remembered it and thought maybe I'll bring his coat just in case it gets too cold for him, he does have a short hair cut for the summer. Turns out it came in pretty handy! It kept him warm all night long. Unlike Bosco who half way through the night woke us up shivering! So he climbed into bed between us. No that does not work well. Yes I got punched in the face while tring to sleep!


Bentley the next morning in his coat. Kind of funny!
While we were there we had 20' leashes for the dogs. But they kept getting tangled up in every little twig, root, rock, and each other, not to mention US! So we decided to see how they would do leash free! Remember we were up the to put in fence posts, so there is not a fence up yet (at least not one to contain dogs) so there was no fence to keep the contained. I was SO nervous, since Bentley has run away before and they are both super fast! So I kept a close eye on them and to my amazment they did remarkably well! They stayed close if we called them they came right back! It was wonderful and they really enjoied it! Well we were working on posts and had gotten to the front of the property they had been roaming free for a while and I was not being as diligent as I should have been in watching where they were. I realized I had no idea where they were, and asked and no one else did either. This was especially nerve racking since the front of the property is right by the road! So we called and called and called. And I started to get nervous! Then right as a car drove by Bosco come trotting from the other side of the road! And Bentley was not with him (they had done a good job of sticking together) At this point I'm freaked out about Bentley. I start running down the road. Calling him over and over and did not see him! I prayed and prayed. I was so sure I was going to find him just around the corner flat in the middle of the road. But thankfully he came trotting up to me! I was so relieved! But the kicker to this story is Max all day had been trying to put there regular leashes on them. Which wasn't good because they would get tangled on things and the rope would trip people. So ALL day I had been getting after him to NOT put there leashes on them. Well when I come walking back with Bentley Max says "See Terina I told you I should have put there leash on"!!! He is 5 where does he come up with this? Well determined not to let him think he was right in not listening all day I said, "No Max you were not right to try and put there leashes on because I had asked you not to!" Put him in his place. ha ha I mostly just though it was funny. Max was making us laugh the whole day! And Kierstie was a joy to have there! It was also fun to see Connor taking in nature! It was such a great weekend. We had a blast and it was so fun to get out of the heat. Once we finally headed home the dogs were asleep before we even left the property! And they slept the WHOLE way home! They only got up to pee when we hit Payson. Then they were back out the rest of the 2 1/2 hr trip home! I guess we wore them out.

Bentley passed out on the way home.

Bosco out for the trip home.

We love getting out doors and getting a little dirty! But I don't love the dirty coming into our home. So when we got home I took the dogs straight to the back yard and gave them a bath in there little swimming pool! Only then were they allowed into the house! Poor long haired Bentley had mud crusted in between his toes! And Bosco's feet looked a little raw. I think maybe we should get him some doggie shoes for next time. Yes they make shoes for dogs! Crazy but I guess there is a need for it!