Logan did not want a party and just wanted to spend his birthday with us.  He wanted both he and Connor be off from camp that day; I took the day off from work, but unfortunately Stuart still had to work.  During the week when Maxim found out that Logan would not be at camp, he asked if he could join us and Logan was fine with that.  So on Friday, Logan’s big day, the three boys stayed home in the morning with me to play games.  After a small earlier lunch, we headed out to watch Toy Story 4.  It was such a great movie, and all 4 of us loved it.  They hung out a bit longer at home before Maxim left home.  I then took the boys to Dave and Buster’s for Logan’s request, and Stuart was able to join us shortly after we arrived.  The boys played all sort of games and some of them Stuart and I could also join them.  The one that Connor was thrilled to see was Deal and No Deal which was the game we played often while on the cruise last year.  The lucky “11” from Logan had gotten us a couple of good wins of tickets from this game.  I normally did not care too much being at an arcade, but this time I enjoyed my time watching or playing with them.  We had dinner there as well and we let the boys played a bit more afterward.  At the end we looked for prizes with the tickets the boys won; Connor had more tickets and he used all of them to buy a stuffed animal for Logan, and Logan named him Buster.  Logan then got a bunch of candies for Connor with his tickets.  Everyone left home happy.

    Connor helped take out the cake and presents for Logan.  Logan was more than thrilled to see the many gifts / cards in front of him; he took his time looking through everything and was thankful with the varieties of gifts he received from everyone.  Logan definitely enjoyed this day very much and we now have a 11 year old.

   Puppy grows so fast; within 2 months, Buddy has grown taller, longer and heavier.  He has outgrown the crate we purchased before we adopted him, so now we had to buy a bigger one and we just went for an XL one to anticipate the full grown Buddy soon.  The boys referred the new one as a “hotel” vs Buddy’s old one as “motel.  Silly Connor had to go try them out too.

   We had an easy day on Father’s Day this year the way Stuart likes it.  We went for a walk with Buddy in the morning and we hung out at the pool in the afternoon.  Stuart was served a beer there to celebrate.

    We have been taking daily walks with Buddy now; Stuart and I take him on our own, but often we take the boys along too.  The walks could be good pace exercise but sometimes they are slow dragging Buddy along.  The boys are often not thrilled to take walks, but with Buddy, they seem more willing.  We are working with Buddy when he sees other walkers and doggies; he often gets very excited and jumpy. 

     Buddy is doing very well with potty training.  He is used to doing his business out in the backyard now and he would stand by the backyard door when he needs to go.  Stuart and I are also doing a good job working with Buddy.  We started with 3am to take Buddy out for a quick run overnight; we advanced by 30 mins weekly, and we are now up to 6:30am.  Buddy is very cooperative overnight; he quickly does his business and quickly returns to his crate to return to sleep.  Basically starting this week, we no longer need to wake up overnight.  This process has gone by more successfully and smoothly than we could imagine.

    Buddy is getting into routine for other things as well.  He would often sit in the kitchen with me in the morning and in the evening so that he would not miss any chances for his meal.  We used to feed him 3 times a day until this past week when we weaned him to only breakfast and dinner.  Buddy seems to adapt quite well to that.  Every evening by 9pm, Buddy is looking forward for Stuart and I to sit down to watch TV.  He would basically pass out completely on the couch with us until it was time for the last potty before bedtime.  Buddy would stare at us but refused to move, so we had to carry him to the backdoor.  He is so adorable especially during this moment, but likely we would not be able to pick him up later when he is bigger. 

   Buddy is now 39 lbs at the last vaccine appt Stuart took him to last week.  Buddy had grown 12 lbs since we adopted him over 6 weeks ago.  Next week it will be yet another milestone with Stuart going to work; we shall see how Buddy will adapt to the change.

    Now with summer upon us, we are back at the pool on the weekends.  While the boys were out of school last week, we also signed them up for lessons every morning and Stuart took them there daily.  According to Stuart, the boys did great listening to the instructors learning how to float and improving their freestyle strokes. 

   It had come to an end of walking both boys to elementary school.  I walked them part of the way on Wednesday before I turned toward the cabana.  On Thursday, the last day of school, Stuart also took a pic of the boys walking together to school.  Next year, Logan will be walking a different direction to middle school instead.