COVID crazy part 2 - Ozzi

First came the bearded dragon.  Then came a puppy.  We looked and looked to adopt a rescued puppy.  Unfortunately, we didn't qualify for a lot of the places (we have no fence and no intention of fencing).  We did qualify at one place and they had a constant supply of puppies...but they were adopted faster than you could blink.  I started looking for puppies to buy, it was hard though because we are firm believers in the superiority of "mutts" and most every dog being sold is a purebred.  Then I stumbled on a post about pit bull, lab, plus more puppies in Oregon.  I contacted them and arranged to come see them.  We aren't ones to buy a pet without meeting them in person and I'm so glad we hadn't arranged for a specific puppy.  There were ELEVEN puppies.  Some were blonde, others black, some brindle.  Some had white spots on them, others didn't.  They were all super sweet when we went to meet them.  The dogs all ambushed Carson waiting for pets and sniffing him out.  They lost attention quickly and wandered off.  Except one puppy.  He waited until the rest left and then went to cuddle with Carson.  That was it.  Carson had a puppy and the puppy had a boy.  

We followed the same process with names and the whiteboard.  Carson chose Ozzi.  We often just call him Oz but it definitely suits him.  

We let him explore the long grass in the pasture (longish I guess).  He LOVED it and would have to bounce around instead of running. You'd randomly see this tiny dog head pop up over the grass.  

Ozzi is probably our most photographed pet now, despite Kayda jamming up our photos with Tido over the years.  Since he's out and about there is more opportunity for him to do things that the kids simply can't resist photographing.  Here are some as of August 2021.

Easter in the new house!

First Easter in the new house!  We followed our "new" tradition of stuffing a ridiculous number of plastic eggs with candy.

Notice the blanket in the background?  That is one of the weird cubbies for TV's, in an extra weird spot.  Carson has claimed it as a fort and climbs in there to play on his phone 

Of course, prior to Easter we also had to dye eggs.  

The kids enjoy writing things with the wax crayons before they dye them.

Grandma and Papa H came down to visit.  Dillon was excited to introduce them to Buddy.

COVID crazy - Buddy

Quarantine is kicking our butts.  Carson especially has so much energy that none of us can keep up with him.  He has been asking and asking for a puppy since Hank died.  The answer was always a hard no.  Then COVID came.  Daddy and I talked and talked about it.  Despite knowing it was going to make travelling complicated in the future, we decided we could get a puppy.  But...that means Kayda has a pet, Carson has a pet.... that would leave Dillon out.  Turns out, Dillon has desperately wanted a bearded dragon.  We decide to pull the trigger.  We found a tank with some supplies we'd need on craigslist.  Then went and got a dragon!

We were able to get the bearded dragon before we could find a puppy so we got him first.  We all added possible names to a whiteboard and Dillon would erase them as he decided against them.  We came up with some pretty fun ones but Dillon decided to go the traditional route.  So we have Buddy the bearded dragon now. 

I'm adding to this from August 2021...

This picture is when Buddy had been with us for about a year.  Dillon got a harness with dragon wings from Grandma and Papa H for either Christmas or his birthday.  

After having Buddy for over a year we have discovered he is SUPER chill.  I've wandered around with him tucked into my vest, he'll just sit on you for a long time.  Every now and then he gets energetic and he will jump off the couch and go explore every nook and cranny he can find.  Ozzi makes him nervous for obvious reasons but there haven't been any problems between the two.  

We've taken Buddy outside a few times.  He hasn't been a real big fan.  He'll puff up his throat and turn black.  We're working on that.  Our friends that have a bearded dragons would take him to soccer practice in November!  I won't take him out then since it's so cold then, but he should be able to go with us most anywhere.  

Unfortunately, we can't bring him with us on ANY trips.  Our neighbor is really cool about swinging by every few days to give him water and some munchies, and he really likes Buddy too!