The National Western Stock Show just wrapped up, and we got a chance to get our mitts on Westyn again. Donning our finest western togs, we shuffled off to the National Western Complex to get a dose of cowboy.
First stop the petting zoo, where I chased Westyn and Cam trying to get any type of running commentary on Wes’s impressions of the various animals.
Next stop, the big toy trucks and trailer section then onto the goat and pig races.
Finally, off to the new National Western complex to view the western art exhibit, the food and beverage facilities and the new auction arena. The whole new complex is very nice.
Jen and I spent the holiday weekend driving to Cross Roads, TX to pick up the newest member of the family – Max.
click any image to enlarge
Max is a 7-month-old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. He looks like the other doggie, Ruby, who is a King Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and mini–Australian Shepard (aka Ausslier). Max has a white tail and a brown freckle on his head, Ruby has a red tail and the distinctive aussie blue eyes.
The 1,500 mile round trip allow us to see miles and miles of Texas was fun and mostly uneventful other than traveling during a polar vortex that kept the temps in the single digits for most of the trip. The temps also kept the puppy potty breaks pretty brief on the way home.
Jen enjoying her barbeque
We split the trip into two legs to make it a little easier on everyone. Amarillo (6 hrs) is about halfway to Dallas/Ft Worth and was base camp to break the trip up.
No trip to Texas is complete without a visit to get some barbeque. Found Rudy’s in Amarillo for some brisket and baby back ribs – highly recommend when in Amarillo.
Max was a good boy riding in the backseat
Leaving Amarillo by morning, we made it back to Denver early Sunday afternoon for Max to acclimate to his new home and meet the growing group of Mahoney animal friends. The good news is Max loves and seems to be loved by all the current animal residents. Max and Ruby are enjoying wrestling matches and chasing sessions in both the living room and back yard. Garth has also said ‘hello’ to Max and smacked in in the head at least once that I’ve see. Alls good – Garth smacks everyone in the head at least once😉.
Max (originally Hobbit/Leo) is a rescue from Dog Ranch Rescue in Anna, TX. His prior owners ran into some health issues apparently and couldn’t handle a puppy and his energy. So far, we’ve found Max to be a very sweet boy, and Ruby helps us keep his energy and attention under control. Max has big brown eyes and loves to sit with us on the couch and play with us and Ruby in between naps.
Ruby (blue eyes) and Max (brown eyes)
The family even made the Dog Ranch Rescue Facebook page when Jenna sent them a status update on “Max” once we made it home.
Family trip to Benard Maine completed this week. The whole Chuck Mahoney clan made it out including the newly minted, baby Westyn. He was definitely the rock star of the show.
Visited the sandy beach inside Accadia and took a hike, or two, inside the park. I survived my gorge path hike to the top of Cadillac Mountain, just barely. Connor had to haul me up the last pitch after I pulled something in the lower abdomen scrambling over some big rocks. The views from the top were spectacular. Fortunately, we found a friendly tour bus driver that offered the injured party (me) and my support team a ride down the mountain.
Thanks to Carolyn for the area research and the points of interests and activities lists.
She is very sweet and very much a puppy – right down to the puppy breath and whining at night. You forget about that part.
We love her nonetheless and will be providing any updates of note as she acclimates to Colorado and our family.
Hailing from the state of Minnesota, she weighs in at about 5-6 pounds and about 8 inches high. Jen flew out to pick her up and fly back to Denver. The flight was a little stressful, but she came through with flying colors.
With blue eyes and a wiggly tail with a white tip, she already enjoys bouncing around the backyard and giving lots of puppy kisses.
Yesterday was the baby shower for little baby ‘Taco’.
The venue was the Breckenridge Brewery and the day was a historically windy one for Colorado.
Despite the wind, the gathering was very nice. In attendance were multiple generations of family from both sides of the little fella’s parents – Nanas, Mimis, Great Grandmothers, and regular old Grandparents. There were also aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, and classmates.
It was fun catching up with some of the Vista and CU kids. Also fun attempting to predict baby names, as well as offering the best advice for the parents-to-be.
I’m sure they will be fine. I know I will enjoy watching them grow and experience the joys of parenthood.
I also expect a few “I had no idea how (hard, frustrating, awesome, tiring) this would be comments along the way.
This was my first visit to the Breckenridge “Beer Fort”, which is across from the main restaurant and bar area. It boasts a lovely patio with an outdoor fireplace that would have been perfect on a crisp spring day if the darn wind hadn’t been blowing so hard.
The indoor décor also provided an opportunity to educate the young ones about the status symbol of the console stereo system – a signature piece of furniture where LPs by Roberta Flack, Shirley Bassey, and John Denver were played in the Mahoney household back in the day.
No one can accuse them of moving slowly. First an engagement then a pregnancy announcement, things are moving quickly and can be challenging to keep up with.
So… I plan to keep track of what is going on here, on the ‘Cam and Mady‘ page – I’ll probably have to rename it if they keep up this pace.
My plan is to follow all things Cam and Mady; including tales of Dixe the dog and ______ the newborn.
I’ve already had fun making up and guessing names for what he may be named. Let me know if you have guesses too.
Looking forward to being that good ‘bad’ influence on the little dude.
The Mahoneys had fun hosting the Mckee-Greens for a pre-Christmas visit. Other than some of the folks feeling under the weather, we all had a good time either skiing or eating, or both.
Jenna brought a few games and ignited the competitive sprit in all of us. Who knew there were so many creative writers in the group – some more brief than others. My favorite answer “poop control”.
In addition to games, there was skiing/snowboarding, some serious snow tubing in Frisco and one quality day of just exploring the town of Breckenridge.
Took a trip through the Colorado mountains this week – north to south. Much fun. Here is a little video I put together while in Ridgeway. Thanks Rick and Linds, we had a blast.
