My Holidays (PICS included!)

Good Afternoon Guys!

Some of you know that I just had my parents come to Toronto for the first time for the holidays. We had such a great time!! They left this morning :cry*ing: but we made lots of memories that none of us will ever forget.

My mom flew in on the 18th of December and my father and brother both flew in on the 24th. THey lost my dad and brother's luggage and my father had placed his diabetes and blood pressure medication in those bags.. :sl*p: I spent all of Christmas eve trying to track down their luggage and the airline told me to just go to sleep. My dad said he would be fine without his meds for 24 hours but after that we'de have to go to the emergency room. (nobody would honor a prescription unless it came from the hospital even with a fax from my dad's original doctor.) I woke up Christmas morning and they were still lost so I kind of freaked out and called the airline who said that they wouldn't be responsible for the $250 hospital bill (plus meds) which led me to call the terminal here at pearson and demand to speak to their manager. After I told her the seriousness of the situation she left and went to the "unclaimed" baggage section and found them. *thank God.* So we basically spent xmas day driving to the airport.. :sl*p: I am still not finished with the airport as just 2 days ago I got a call from the central baggage station saying "im sorry we just can't find them.. I'd advise you to file a claim" and we'de picked them up 2 days before that.. ugh. Grrr.. Furthermore I had a 24 hour luggage delivery guarantee and when they found them they said "well if you want them we'll deliver tomorrow but not today" and, of course, we needed them right then.

Christmas morning itself was a hoot. I had so many toys for Kosmo (he had no plush toys at ALL before christmas) and I wrapped them and put them under the tree. Of course some were wrapped in clear celephane and one had the head of a loofa sticking out so those KILLED him to stay out of until christmas. This is him when I was squeaking his new squeaky toy on Christmas morning: (I just LOVE this picture)



Here is him with the entire lot of toys that he got:



Granny and Grampy and Uncle Bradley *my family* spoiled him pretty bad. He didn't have 1 air toy before Christmas morning and now he has 4. Apparently they are virtually indestructable?? Also Bradley brought him 15 $1 toys from wal mart which aren't pictured.. LOL who knew they sold dollar toys?! The mark up here in Canada is just outrageous!!

He also got a tag and collar and leash set but I haven't taken pictures of him in that yet.

After Christmas we made a trip to Niagra Falls (which apparently is FREEZING at this time of year!) and of course, I wanted to take the dog along. Poor little man FROZE his butt off!! I felt so bad. He was shaking about 1 1/2 minutes after we got out of the car. Thank GOD I had that outward hound sling n go because we put him in that and wrapped his coat and a scarf around him and he was then good to go. I can't believe my OH took such good care of him!!

Here is his royal majesty in his sling:





And here we are in front of the Falls:




We had such a blast together on this trip! Kosmo of course was pooped when we got back but I am glad that we drug him along. He's going to be so sad that there aren't 3 other people in this house to play with him anymore. My dad told me that I'm "not welcome" to come home next June unless he comes along.. :yikes hehe I had him waking up my parents just about every morning they were here. He's pretty good at waking people up! :lol: :lol:

Merry Christmas Guys and Happy New Year too!! I hope everything you all wanted you got!! I know my whole Christmas was made just by having my whole family together again.. .. :lotsaluv:

I love all the photos of Kosmo but the one with your O/H is great
Happy New Year
----Aileen

My goodness! Look at all those toys! And I thought my girls were spoiled!! :lol: :lol:

Sounds like you had a very eventful holiday!

Those are great pics! Kosmo has the most beautiful eyes. He is such a handsome boy. I just showed my DH the pic of Kos with all his present to prove to him that I'm not nuts. He thought we bought Lily too many Christmas presents :lol: He said "OH MY"!

I love that you got to spend the Holidays with your family. That's what it's all about really. Where do your parents and Bro live?

BTW...Where did you get the sling? I would love to have one of those.

What great pictures Sara. Now that is one spoiled little dog!! Good gracious that's a lot of toys. I love that your family was so into spoiling him as well. Avi is a prince!! I think I'd keep that one Love the camo puppia...that's such a sweet picture. Thanks for sharing your day with us, that was fun reading. Dang, glad you got those suitcases....what a pain huh?!

Wow, glad you had a wonderful Christmas with your family, Sara. Kosmo will have toys galore to play with all year!! :lol: Lovely photos!

Oh, how great! I just love Niagra! It is a shame that it has been too warm for the falls to freeze. I love frozen falls!

Sara, great pics! I can't believe all those toys! :shock: I'm sorry about the fiasco with your dad's luggage, but it looks like you all still had a good holiday. The pics are great and I love the little sling. I wonder if they make one that holds 3... :lol:

Sara, your photos are just wonderful!

Kos won't know what to play with first... :lol: :lol:

I, too, love that sling, Outward Hound?? Must check it out, tx.

Glad you got your Dads' luggage, instead of having to go to the Emerg.

When we went to Montana, our luggage went to Denver!! :lol: :lol:

Great pictures. I love that outward hound sling, where did you get it from? I really need one, Dylan is still a little puppy but he gets heavy after a short while. :flwr:

p.s. found all the info on the sling thanks :flwr:

Sure enjoyed these photos. What a lot of toys for that handsome lucky boy! The sling is great. Kosmo looks like that's exactly where he belongs when its so cold. (Or he just needs a cuddle) :lol:

Glad the airline messup got worked out.

Sara

You guys look terrific in front of the falls, Avi looks All Canadian with his Umbrella.

Glad you had a great time with your family, your mom is super super nice.
Maybe next time I will get to meet your Dad and Brother too, now Kosmo you are one spoiled, spoiled, spoiled little boy.

Now Sara how is he suppossed to sleep in his new bed with all those toys in it.

Don't ever say that Kosmo has no toys ever again.

Aaaaaah and I see he is also on his mommy's Cavalier Blankie.

Niagara Falls looked busy, I think I will wonder over in the warmer weather. Maybe we can make a wkd out of it.

I saw something one time from an "expert" who said you shouldnt have more then 3 toys for your dog. I laughed so hard at that one... We have a ton of toys around here, but not quite that much. :roll:

My family used to freak because I used our spare bedroom as a playroom and called it the "toy room" Honest you just about met my girls stuff toy collection in that pic!

We were just talking an hr ago how we meant to go to Niagara this yr to see the lights festival at somepoint and forgot to :sl*p: My oldest is at university in St Catherines for her last yr, how silly I forgot to do this!

That is pretty scary over the meds but good to hear it worked out. But your not exactly close to the airport so that must have not been great christmas day. I feel for your dad, I'm too on high blood pressure meds and rarely can skip a day without feeling mighty sick.

DID YOU HEAR THE GOSSIP... KODY IS ARRIVING JAN 27! ITS A GIRL TRI AND SO SWEET :flwr:

How does he sit in that sling? How long was he willing to be in it? But he sure looks cute in it either way

wow guys thanks for your replies!!

We are glad everything worked out out on Christmas too. Apparently the emergency room waiting hours in Canada can be HOURS so I am glad that we didn't have to deal with that. I was really worried that our Christmas day would be a little messed up because my dad wouldn't feel good because he didn't have his pills. Thankfully he felt fine.

The outward hound sling n go was lent to me from a friend. I never thought I would use it, but boy did it ever come in handy @ Niagra. You can find it here:

http://cgi.ebay.ca/PET-SLING-OUTWAR...ryZ20745QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I can see why people go so crazy over dog strollers. There were so many people there I am almost certian someone would have stepped on him and squished him. We're not exactly close to there either (2 hours drive) so I didn't want to leave him home. When you factor in traffic, food, time @ the falls etc it would have just been too long to leave him.

As for how long he will stay in it, we had him in it for 2 hours and he was fine. As long as he's at our sides, he'll sit through anything, LOL.

The toys that he got - yeah there is too much in there, but I got a lot of them on sale price so I did feel that it was warranted. There is no way they are going to be all out at one time - they would all be destructed within a week, LOL. I keep his nylabones out all the time and then I'll give him a plush toy or 2. He can play with them as long as he doesn't sit down with them and give them those "evil eyes" that say "I'm gonna kill you!" :lol: :lol: Then they get taken away because that's when he'll rip them to shreds.. They are all in a huge american eagle bag right now as we're awaiting a toy chest. He's been pretty good with them though so far. I think he's finally starting to learn that if he rips into them then they will get taken away.

Linda - EVERYTHING at the falls has Canada all over it!! lol talk about calling out a tourist! :roll: Even that garbage bag thing I was wearing had Canada all over the back! I just realized that picture of Kos and his toys makes santa look like he's wearing a bra.. .. LOL I like it.

Shay - My parents are from Washington State - completely across the states and a little north.. so a LONG WAYS! lol Thanks for saying he has beautiful eyes.. .. they would melt my heart any day of the year I think, LOL.

MathisGreen - I didn't know that the falls actually freeze - I don't think they will this year at all it's probably going to be too warm. I can't believe how warm it is for the time of year right now.. !

Zippy - apparently a few people who flew through Houston airport during this holiday season were unfortunate enough to find out that their luggage had been thrown in a dumpster behind the airport or something along those lines - thank God we weren't THAT unlucky! 8)

Kody - congrats!! It's a girl !! How exciting. I bet you can't wait.. your days are going to get longer and longer (especially when the little one keeps you up all night! :lol: :lol: )

arasara said:

(especially when the little one keeps you up all night! :lol: :lol: )

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oh, I'm an ol' pro after 2 babies. I got it down pat with the second... roll over on my deaf ear and let hubby take care of it! worked like a charm.

sara, great story and photos, i love the new avatar! Great toy collection! You arranged them beautifully. did you ever do any flower arranging? i thought i saw the singing doggie that zack sent kosmo in that pile.

Belle stayed here for several days since Christmas and that dainty little thing is an indiscriminate toy destroyer, she completely shredded toys zack has had and loved since the day i got him a year ago, she vaporized them in minutes. So, i put all his toys in a bin with a snap on lid and went to the pet store looking for the most indestructable toys. I got two, and one was an air toy, shaped like a bone. It held up very well, just a little frayed on one end by the time she left. Excellent choice.

Love the photos with Avi and Kosmo in the sling-o at the Falls, who took the photos?

I got Zack's sling-0 on eBay for less than $20, it was about $20 with shipping. He has really outgrown it now. I'm ready to give it away. It's black. I like the red, it looks great.

Kody's mom, the way they fit in the sling is, they are laying on their back, or it's supporting their back, their back is curved and apparently it's very comfortable. I was suprised at how much Zack liked to be in it, it must have felt like a womb to him kind of because he just settled into it and when i took it off with him still in it and laid it on the couch, he stayed there, he didnt' jump out, which isn't his normal way, he usually likes to move. I took photos of him while he just stayed there, i was surprised at how much he liked being in it.

here's a photo of him nestled into his sling-o on the couch, he didn't move a muscle, he just stayed there while i went and found the camera and came back and was taking his picture. he stayed there until i took him out.

Oh my goodness, what is one dog going to do with all those toys :lol: He's not spoiled much!! LOL!!

Fantastic pictures, looks like a great Christmas was had by all 8)

Isn't the falls nice? My husband and I spent a weekend there last year for our anniversary. Granted, that was in June so it wasn't cold....

Kosmo is looking less like a puppy and more like a handsome big boy!!

YAY Sara!! I had missed you while you were all busy with the family
Kosmo is so precious and I adore his camo puppia!! Just so manly!!
My brother is diabetic and also learned to hard way to ALWAYS CARRY ON THE MEDS!!! :roll: I am so glad that everything worked out ok. Merry Christmas and Happy new Year!!!

Judy - Zack looks so comfy with his sling n go on.. Kosmo refused to lay down in it so he was sitting down the whole time but as long as he was comfy I didn't care.. Of course that's the little doggy that Zack sent Kos for Christmas. That's got to be one of his favorite toys.. especially when you can make it bark itself. I tried looking for other musical toys but I couldn't find them. Those toys are a compilation from everybody. The sling saved our lives at niagra though I am not joking it was SOOOOO cold that day!!

Chelle - yes Kosmo is an adult almost now!! I can't believe his birthday will be in 18 days and I haven't even started shopping for him yet! :sl*p: No Idea what I'm going to get him because I haven't a clue what he needs.. nothing really anymore.. I know Dudley and Darby's birthday is around the same time so maybe we can all get together and have some doggy birthday cake??

MonieChris ~ me too me too I love the camo!! Everything on this little man is going to be camo from here on out if I get the choice, LOL. We are camo freaks back home too. My nephew had on a pair of carhartt overalls, a camo shirt, a carhartt tuke and some camo booties when he was just about 3 months old.. we are camo/carhartt hick freaks back home, lol. Thanks for missing me, it feels nice to be missed sometimes, lol And yes my dad is going to be sure to carry his meds from now on. He was worried with the newer security measures that they might dump them out or something.. That lesson really sucked.