Home Alone!

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie.  This morning, some men were at the house doing some work.  Mom and Dad went out to talk to them without us and instead of putting Ragnar in the carrier first, they just left!  For a really long time!  Yes, I get free run of the house all the time, but my little brother doesn't yet.  This was a first!

This is the view Mom got when they came back to the back door:

"So ... should I keep up the Sad Look, Mags?"
"Yeah.  You're doing great Ragnar!  Lay on a guilt trip.  Hey!  Here they come!"

We were home alone for sooooooo long, but Ragnar did GREAT! What a good boy, huh?!?

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher

PS: Mom said it was only 10 minutes, but still. It's a start. We'll both have free run all the time before too long!

Yard Poses!

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie!  This morning, Ragnar and I took our mom and dad on another super-long walk.  It was awesome!  Here we are at about the halfway point:

"There are always a bunch of Meadowlarks around here!  Keep your eyes peeled, Ragnar!"
"I think I see one!"

We love seeing our state bird!  They're very colorful - and they've got nice singing voices, too!

Later this morning, we got some yard time in!  We struck a pose in down on the lower tier:

"You have Zuke's, don't you?!?  YUM!"
"I love those!  Wait ... they aren't the tiny ones, are they, Mom?"
"Well, I have the 5-calorie kind ..."

So ... we did that nice pose and what did our mom do?  She broke a 5-calorie cookie in HALF!!!  In HALF!!!  Can you believe that?!?!  Yeah, at least she wasn't breaking the 2-calorie ones in half, but come ON!!!

We moved over under the Maples and, hoping that she'd be a bit more generous, we gave it another shot:

"I think we each deserve a whole one for this!"
"Yeah, Mom.  What Maggie said!"

Since we called her on breaking the first cookie in half, she was a bit more generous with the next one.  Besides, check the Sad Looks we both gave her!  Pretty good, huh?

Made.  Out.  Like bandits.

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

Serene Scenery Sunday

Hi everybody!  It's me, Ragnar!  Here I am:

Me, Polargold's Einherjar, striking a pose on Hudson Trail

That's from this morning's walk. Mom's been taking so many shots on our walks that Maggie and I thought we'd just do a compilation today and show you some of the nicer ones. Ready to take a look?

Speaking of nicer, here's a shot of my very nice sister:

Polargold's Margaret Thatcher

She's very nice.  And sweet.  And FUN!  She reminds me a lot of our biological-mama, Bebe.

Here we are taking a quick break at the Kansas Ocean:

Me and Mags

Mom caught us while we were tired.  I think she owes us a treat for that.

We've seen some really nice sunrises lately!  Here we are on the water tower trail:

"Hi everybody!"

And here we are up in Colbert Hills:

 This is us going up one of the big roads:

"Check out that sky, Ragnar!"
"Gorgeous, Mags!"

And here's one of Mom's favorites from this week:

"Oooh!  Check out the view!"
"I think I see a bunny ..."
"Puppies!?!  Mags?!?  Ragnar?!?  Ha-loooooo?!?!"

What can I say?  She still owed us for the pic beside the KSO.

We hope you have a wonderfully serene Sunday!

Sköl!
Ragnar

Once More, With Feeling!

Greetings to all!  It's me, Mags.  Today, we did the Anneberg Park loop again - only we added a bunch of cool detours.  Actually, they were mighty warm detours, but that's another story!  We did over 6.5 miles this morning, so we've got lots of pix to share!

Once we made an initial loop through Anneberg, we headed back out onto the super big street; with it being Saturday, it wasn't nearly as noisy as the other day:

Ragnar and me!

We were approaching a roundabout.  Can you see it up there?  We skirted left.

"I've got that song stuck in my head now, Mags.  You know the one, right?"
"Yep.  Not a bad song, though!"

Ragnar shares my love of rock, so that's good.  Mom's got him grooving to some of her Bossa Nova stuff, too, though.  Whatever.  He's such an easy-going guy - it doesn't surprise me.

We went through a couple housing areas and got on that spur path that goes back into Anneberg!

"I like this better than the roads!"
"Me, too. Hey, maybe we'll see the lady who rubbed our ears the other day ..."

Before we knew it, we were at the bridge over Wildcat Creek!

Me and Ragnar!

Does it look different, since we're going the opposite way?

Once we were back on the Perimeter Trail, Mom shot a little video.  It's not much, but it gives you an idea of how pretty it is in there!

To view on YouTube, please click here!

I hope you enjoyed today's walk!

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher

Long Road March

Hi everybody!  It's me, Ragnar!  The other day, it was really cool (for Kansas in August) outside, so Mom and Dad decided we could do some exploring on our road march!

We wove our way around a couple of the neighborhoods, then crossed over the super big street:

"We have the 'walk' sign now, Ragnar!"
"Where did that voice come from, Mags?!?!"

There's someone in the pole beside the crosswalk that tells you to "Wait!", then lets you know when it's OK to cross. The first time I heard it, I was a little confused.  I might still be confused, but it doesn't bother me any more.

Anyway, once across, we descended into Anneberg Park!

"Yay, Anneberg Park!!!"
"I love this place!"

We got to take the Perimeter Trail for a nice, long while:

"We've never been on this part of the trail!"
"It's nice and shady!"

It was nice and cool in there!

Maggie and me

We turned by the bridge over Wildcat Creek that we showed you a couple weeks ago.

"Since we're exploring today, it sure would be cool to cross the bridge again!"
"Yeah!  Can we, Mom?!?  Dad?!?"

Mom and Dad said we could go over - and keep going down the trail!

"So exciting!"
"New territory!"

It really was so exciting!  We ran into a lady who gave us ear rubs and said how well-behaved we are and how handsome and pretty, too!  That was really nice!

Anyway, we kept going into a housing area, then kept going and going and going.  We ended up covering over 6.3 miles that day - WHAT FUN!  Mom said we needed to take advantage of the cooler weather while we can!

In case anybody's wondering, yes, we did do zoomies when we got home.  We're Siberians; it's what we do!  Thanks for coming on our long road march with us!

Sköl!

Ragnar

Ex-Hausted!

 Greetings to all!  It's me, Mags.  Between these long road marches in the mornings, playing with Ragnar non-stop, and helping in the Studio, I must say - I'm exhausted!

"Zzz ..."

I'll be downstairs in the Studio (still helping) if anyone needs me!

Yours sincerely, 
Margaret Thatcher

Wordless Wednesday

Ragnar and Mags

How Relaxing!

Hi everybody!  It's me, Ragnar.  After a 4 or 5 mile walk, there's not much our mom and dad like better than to head out onto the deck to relax.  Maggie and I love that, too!

"Ha woo!"
"Ha roo!"

Does anybody know what "I thought you two would be tired?" means?  I guess we all relax in different ways, huh?

Sköl!
Ragnar

Broadening Our Horizons

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie.  As the title reads, we've been broadening our horizons a bit here at Ao4 Headquarters since Ragnar joined the family.  Oh, I don't just mean while out on our walks - though we certainly are doing that!  We've been taking some awesome long walks!  But I digress.  Ragnar and I have also expanded our zoomie zone!

Usually, we zoom through the living room and dining room -- sometimes into the bedroom for some aircraft carrier landings.  But Ragnar and I have added the kitchen - boy, is that great fun, sliding all over the tile floor! - AND check this out:

"Prepare to be boomed, little bro!"
"I don't think so, Mags!!!"

Yeah! The bathroom! How cool is that?!?! I never would have thought to zoom in the bathroom!

Just when I thought I had Ragnar trapped ...

"Hey, wait a sec!  I thought I had you!"
"Ha!  I can swing through the shower!"

We also did this last night during TV time:

"Zzz ..."
"Zzz ..."

Mom seemed to like that better than bathroom zoomies. I have no idea why.

Yours sincerely,
Margaret Thatcher

Serene Scenery Sunday

Hi everybody!  It's me, Ragnar!  We had amazingly beautiful skies on our walk yesterday, so Maggie and I thought we'd share some of the photos today for Serene Scenery Sunday.  Ready to take a look?

Here we are, heading up into the hills:

"What a great day, huh, Ragnar!?"
"It sure is, Mags!"

Then Mom said, "Ooooh!  Look behind us!"  This was the view that way:

"Wow!  That's some sunrise, Mom!"

Here's a nice shot of it:

Sunrise over the Little Apple!

Mom tried to get a photo of Maggie and me with the sunrise in the background, but it was early in on the walk and we didn't really feel like holding still quite yet.  She did manage to snag one of Mags somehow:

Mags and the sunrise

We kept climbing up, up, and up.  We took a detour down into a cul-de-sac Mom and Dad have been wanting to explore and as we headed out, we got another nice look at the sunrise:

"Whoa!"
"Mighty spectacular!"

We looped around in the hills, then started our descent:

"Great view up here, too, huh, Ragnar?"
"It is!  I like this route!"

One turn down at the bottom of that hill and we were at the Kansas Ocean!

"You're bordering on being really cooperative, Mags."
"Well, we are going to use this for Serene Scenery Sunday, so ..."

What a great, beautiful walk!  We hope the photos helped add some serenity to your day!

Sköl!

Ragnar

What A Day!

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie!  Wow, what a day yesterday!  I have to say, so far being 7 is AWESOME!  Thank you all SO MUCH for all the wonderful good wishes!

As Ragnar mentioned, we had a great walk in some cool temperatures, did zoomies, hung out on the deck as a family for a while -- and that was all before 8 o'clock!  Later in the day ...

Mom bought some special treats to help celebrate the day!!

"Happy birthday, Mags!"
"Oooh!  Carob and peanut butter?!?!"

They're so GOOD!  They're made by the Three Dog Bakery people - they sure do make tasty treats!  I'd never had this kind before and couldn't wait to give one a taste!

"Whoa!  They smell awesome!  Ragnar gets one, too - right?!?"
"Absolutely!"

Mom didn't get a shot of Ragnar with his, but trust me, he loves them every bit as much as I do!

So ... really, since we had such a long walk in the morning, we just hung out being very good, innocent puppies for the rest of the day.

"Hey, Mom.  We're just hanging out.  Nothing to see here."
"Uh ... yeah.  What Mags said."

See?  Just being ever-so innocent.  And calm.  And ...

"Oh.  Hi.  Just leaning, not sitting.  And I have no idea how Ragnar got back there."
"Uh ... hi, Mom."

OK.  Perhaps there were some birthday shenanigans ...

"Arrr!!!!"
"Arrr!!!!"

Just a little harmless Siberian-style fun!  Have I mentioned Ragnar's leaping ability?!?  So graceful, so fast, so ... sneaky!!!  What a great day indeed!

Thanks again for all the good wishes!  You helped make my day special!

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

Maggie Is 7!!!!

Hi everybody!  It's me, Ragnar!  Today is a very special day here at Ao4 Headquarters -- it's my big sister's birthday!!!  Everybody, help me wish Mags a happy birthday!

Polargold's Margaret Thatcher!!!

There's been all kinds of singing and special hugs & kisses and lots of happy stuff!  Oh.  And a treat or two -- that's how Mom got that picture up top!

And presents!!!  The best gift so far is cool weather!  We had a ton of rain, and then this morning it was breezy and cool!  We celebrated by taking a nice, long walk!

Maggie and me!

Mom and Dad surprised us by taking a turn down a road neither Mags nor I have been on!

"This is exciting, huh, Mags?"
"It's GREAT!!!"

We got 5.25 miles in!  When we got home, it was all we could do to get a drink ... then do zoomies and play, play, play for a while!  Then we went out on the deck and played some more.

Mom took us out front for a birthday photo shoot.

"Man with a truck in the cul-de-sac, Mags!"
"It's the FedEx guy.  He's really nice!"
"Look this way, puppies!!!  Maggie!  Ragnar?!?"

"I ... think ... she might have treats, Mags.  Let me peek ..."
"Still not gonna look!"

We got treats anyway - since it's Maggie's birthday!  Is this a great day or what?!?!

And here are a couple favorite pix of her, just because!  Here we are at the top of a hill in CiCo Park:

Me and Maggie!  She's doing her Prime Minister Look.

She's very regal, isn't she?  Err ... I mean "prime ministerial".  Whatever.  Like a chieftain or a carl, as we Vikings say!

And here she is on one of our local trails:

The Mag-star!

More celebrations to come later on, according to Mom!  Please help us celebrate!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MAGGIE!!!!!!!

Sköl!

Ragnar

Enjoying The View

Greetings to all!  It's me, Maggie.  Sometimes on our walks, we get to the top of a hill and we just have to stop to enjoy the view!

"Check it out, everybody!"
"What a view!"

"You can see all the way to ... I don't know.  Whatever that stuff is."
"Yeah.  Hey.  I think somebody's coming down the trail!"

"Behind us?"
"No, the other way, Mags."

Oh.  Did I mention our mom wanted a shot of us looking at her, in front of that vista?  Without treats. Ha.  Yeah.

Have a great day!

Yours sincerely,

Margaret Thatcher

Wordless Wednesday

Ragnar and Mags