It Can't Be Wordless Wednesday!

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie!  It can't be "Wordless" Wednesday today, because I want to wish my little Maggie a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!

After an early breakfast, we took a nice walk, then Dad took Maggie on an even longer one!  When she got home, we had Mom take a portrait of us out front:

"I'll do my Prime Minister Look, Cam.  You do your Queen thing!"
"On it, Maggie!"

We can't believe our little Peep is SIX years old already!

After our portrait sitting, Mom and Maggie went out back to have some more fun!  Maggie chose to play with our camo Wubba:

"Tuggy-tug-tug, Mom!"
"Tuggy-tug-tug, Mags!!!"

She loves doing that!  Then they played some Siberian Rules Fetch:

"Gotta catch me, Mom!!!"

And then ... the happy pose:

Polargold's Margaret Thatcher - the birthday girl!!!

Please join us in wishing Maggie a very happy sixth birthday!  We'll be having fun all day long - so drop by any time!  I definitely see some CROG for later this afternoon!

Cammie!

PS:  For baby pix, please click here!  

Kidding Around At The Fair

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie!  Today, we're going to wrap up our visit to the Kaw Valley Rodeo and Riley County Fair.  Yesterday we left off with Cam and me hanging out with our new horse friends.  Let's take it from there!

The Rodeo horses had a meeting they had to go to, so while they conferenced, Cam and I discussed what to see next.

"Where do you want to go now, Cam?"
"The horses told me there's a bunch of kidding around over in the out-buildings."

Kidding around?  Hmm.  That sounded right up my alley.  We headed over to the Fair part of the setup to see what was going on.

"Look, Mags!!!  GOATS!"
"WOW, GOATS!"

The place was packed with goats!  How cool is that?!?  But where was all the kidding around?

"Maggie - 'kid'-ding around.  And there are goats.  Get it?"
"Ohhhh, yeah.  'KID-ding around'.  Funny!"

Anyway, joking or not, Cam and I were fascinated with the goats!  Fascinated!

"You're a funny-looking goat!"
"I'm not a goat, I'm a Siberian Husky!"

"I know.  I'm kidding.  Kid-ding.  Get it?"
"Ha roo roo roo!  Hey, Cam.  This guy's as funny as the horses!"

It was so fun seeing the goats - and of course the horses and cattle!  We just love it when the Kaw Valley Rodeo and Riley County Fair come to town!  We hope you enjoyed seeing some of the sights with us!

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

More Fun At The Rodeo

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie!  As Maggie showed you yesterday, we had a tremendous amount of fun yesterday at the park, seeing some of the animals from the Kaw Valley Rodeo and Riley County Fair!  When we left off yesterday, we were right about here:

"Mags ... you know these aren't horses, right?"
"I could have sworn there were horses here earlier ..."

The horses were over in another area, actually.  But these guys?  These guys were even better than horses.  These were ...

"DINNER!"

Just kidding.  ... sort of.

Anyway, Maggie and I made friends with a couple of these guys, just because that's how we are.  Here's Mags with one of her new friends:

"Mooooo!?!?"
"Ha roo, 77!  Want to be friends?!?"

We eventually walked over to where the horses were.  Maggie introduced me to one of her friends from earlier:

"Hay!  You're even calmer than Maggie."
"Aren't you a nice horse!"
"I knew you two would be friends!"

Mom took a portrait shot of him:

Isn't he pretty?!?

Mom was quite taken by this horse:

She's a sucker for freckles.

After we spent some time with our horse friends, we walked over to the out-buildings to see who all was over there.  Please tune in tomorrow to see more excitement from the Rodeo and Fair!!!

Cammie!

Serene And Exciting Scenery Sunday

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie.  Cam and I were all set to blog about something else today, but then ...

The day started like most any other.  We had a nice breakfast, then shortly thereafter we got suited up for our walk.  Cam only wanted to go on a short one, so she and Mom came back to the house.  Dad and I were game to go further, though, so we kept going.  We thought we'd head to CiCo Park to see what was going on.  And that, readers, is where things got SO GREAT!!!

"Dad!  The Kaw Valley Rodeo and Riley County Fair are going on!!!"

It was so exciting!  There were cows and bulls and horses all OVER the place!!!  (... not to mention the SMELLS and the manure everywhere!!!)

This sweet-faced horse seemed to like me a lot:

"Ha roo!  I'm Polargold's Margaret Thatcher!"
"Hay!"

I'm really calm around horses or else (1) Dad wouldn't have let me get that close, and (2) the horse wouldn't have come over to see me!

"Mind if I mosey on over?"
"I don't mind one little bit, horsie-friend!"

He was very friendly!

"You're sure a nice, calm puppy."
"Aw, shucks.  Thanks."

I think he liked me!

This guy seemed to want to make friends, too:

Me and another horse friend!

We walked around a bit more, then Dad decided we should head home.

"I'll see what I can do about coming back to see you guys -- OK?"
"OK!  We'll have a cold beer ready for you!"

I think he was kidding about the beer -- but I wasn't kidding about coming back!  I told Cam all about it, Dad showed Mom a few pictures ... then we all headed BACK to the park!!!

"Oh, this is so wonderful!"
"I knew you wouldn't want to miss it!!!"

We'll share more pix of Cam and I enjoying the rodeo/fair tomorrow!  What a super serene and exciting Sunday this has turned out to be!!!

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

Who's Ready?!?

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie.  It's Saturday ...

"Who's ready to play?!?!"

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

Speed Walk!

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie.  Last week, Dad was out of town for a few days, so it was up to Cam and me to make sure Mom got enough exercise.  One morning, we both took her on a short walk, but then Cam said I should take Mom on a longer one, too.  Sounded like a great idea to me.

I didn't want Cam to worry about us while we were gone, so I hustled Mom right along.  I mean -- check it out:

"C'mon, Mom!  Faster!  Faster!"
"Stay under the speed limit, Mags!" 

I mean 28 miles per hour?!?  We were BOOKING!  We didn't exceed the speed limit, as per Mom's request, but still.  We were speed walking!

I gave Mom a little reward right before we hit the Kansas Ocean:

"Trust me, Mom.  This is going to feel great!"
"Ahhhhh!"

It was great fun - but we're all glad Dad is home now and we can all go on walks together!  Do you like speed walking?  What's your top speed?

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

It's For Me!

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie!  The other day, we had a wonderful surprise left on our front porch!  Mom hauled it into the Laundry Room and I checked it out:

"It's a BOX, Mom!  Is it for me?!?"
"Yes, Mags!  Just for you!"

How exciting!!!  Mom got the junk out of my new box (actually, not junk - I also got a new vacuum; I love vacuums!) -- but seriously, she emptied my new box for me.  I couldn't wait to dive right in!

"Cam!  Check it out!  A new box!  And PLENTY of room for both of us!!!"

"Umm ... yes.  Very nice, Maggie.  I don't have to get in, do I, Mom?"
"Not if you don't want to, Cam."

I don't quite understand why Cam doesn't love a good box like I do, but I guess we all have different hobbies.

"Is she getting treats?"
"No, Cam.  Just a box."
"The box is the treat!!!"

I have to keep reminding Cam of that.  Oh well.  Check out this cool portrait shot Mom did:

"Here!  Get me doing my Prime Minister Look!"

What a great box!  Have you had any nice surprises lately?!?

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

Wordless Wednesday

Cam and Mags

Movie Night

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie.  I got to choose the movie we watched the other night.  I couldn't find any good British detective or mystery shows, so I went for a Western!

"Oooh!  I hope that horse is OK!"

It was awesome!  Lots of action, lots of horses, and Jimmy Stewart!  A classic!

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher

Monday Is For The Birds!

Hello, everyone!  It's me, Cammie!  Today is for the birds -- or rather the birdies we saw on our most recent trip down to Cheyenne Bottoms and Quivira National Wildlife Refuge!  Finally.

"Buckle up, there are a bazillion birdies out there!"
"Ready for take-off!"

We hit Cheyenne Bottoms first.  Here are our highlights from there!

Great Blue Herons, a Red-Winged Blackbird, and American White Pelicans

The Blackbird seemed to be some sort of bouncer for the Pelicans, driving the Herons out of their fishing spot.  Here's the new fishing hole one of the Herons found:

Great Blue Heron

There were so many different members of the Heron family out there!  The smallest of the white herons were these Cattle Egrets:

Cattle Egrets on a fly-by

The next smallest were the Snowies:

Snowy Egrets

If Maggie and I had to pick a favorite, it would be the Snowies.  You know.  Because SNOW.

Mom shot a whole series of this guy on take-off:

Double-Crested Cormorant

Here's a Snowy posing on a post, showing off his bright yellow feety-feet:

Snowy Egret

How about another Great Blue?!?

Great Blue Heron and Barn Swallow

The Barn Swallow kept dive-bombing him.

After a sweep through The Bottoms, we headed down to Quivira NWR.  That place was teeming with  Sandpipers - like these:

Lesser and Greater Yellowlegs

This little guy was quite the poser:

❤❤❤ Snowy Plover!!!!  ❤❤❤

Guess who put the hearts in there?

There were also quite a few Ibises at Quivira:

White-Faced Ibises

AND Stilts:

Black-Necked Stilt

The Stilts were squawking at every other birdie out there, were flying all over the place, and were just agitated as can be!  Quite possibly because ...

Black-Necked Stilt baby

That's right - there were Stilt puppies in the area!  They were just protecting their young, and I can totally relate to that!  The White-Faced Ibises challenged the Stilts quite a bit.  This guy mixed it up with two Stilts:

"Hey, Camera Lady.  Watch this!"
"Stay away from my babies!"

The Stilts double-teamed the much larger Ibis and eventually won the day.

"And don't come back!"

Don't mess with anyone's puppies!

We also saw large groups of the largest of the white herons:

Great Egrets

It was such a birdie-packed paradise!

On the way home, we saw more Cattle Egrets -- hanging out with Cattle!  Dad turned around on the highway so Mom could get out and take a few shots:

Cattle Egrets and Cattle

They were quite a distance away.  Mom was careful not to encroach onto private property - and she certainly didn't want to disturb the cattle!  It was really cool to see them together!

That's a wrap for this trip!

"Time to head back home!"
"That was a LOT of birdies!!!"

We hope you enjoyed seeing some of Mom's photos.  Please visit our album on FlickR for the full set, if you're interested!

Thanks for coming birding with us!

Cammie!