The Graduation

Liz and I went to College Station this past weekend. My cousin Danny graduated from A&M. Unfortunately, the ceremony occurred during the day, and I had to work, so we only managed to make the after-graduation party. We did get to witness the traditional dunking of the ring behind the Dixie Chicken, however. Danny's parents, Andy and Connie, made it up, as well as Rick and Charla and Julie and Daniel. I heard that even our grandparents managed to make it up for the ceremony, although they were gone before Liz and I showed up.

Bonnie

Prior to the trip, Liz and I had agreed to bring Bonnie with us. It worked out great. She rode well in the car, and did well at all the places we took her. We had assumed that we were going to go straight to Jamie's house. However, on the way down, we called, and everyone was at Danny's (something we hadn't even thought about prior to that moment). We asked about Bonnie, and they said it would be OK to bring her.

When we got there, she was really excited to be around the car. Most of Danny's family was in the front yard, so we hung out there for a while, keeping Bonnie on her leash. She was too excited to sit still, so we eventually let her off the leash. After a little exploring and testing the limits, she figured out where she could go, and where she could not. After a while we got her tennis ball, and played catch with her as much as she could stand.

Later that night, we all went to Jamie's. There was a little tension between her and Myrna as they met, but it seemed as though they would be able to peacefully coexist in the same yard. This would be Bonnie's first night to spend outdoors since we've had her. We weren't sure how she would do. Our biggest fear was that she would just wander off in the middle of the night, since Jamie's yard is not fenced in. Bonnie and Myrna did have one barking spell in the middle of the night, but other than that things went smoothly.

We spent a lot of time outdoors the rest of the weekend. We took Bonnie and Myrna on two separate walks, one through the woods in Jamie's back yard, and one around her neighborhood. We also spent a lot of time throwing the tennis ball(s) for them. At first they'd both run after it each time we threw it, but after a while, only the closest one would run. Late Saturday we started throwing the ball into the water in front of Jamie's house. It took a while, but after watching Myrna get wet (and get the ball) enough times, Bonnie got brave enough to jump in the water too.

The Visit

Jamie and Chris introduced Liz and I to MXC. We had a great time watching that, and generally talking and laughing at just about anything. Originally Liz and I were going to leave for home on Saturday, but about midway through the day we decided to stay until Sunday. Sunday morning we helped Jamie and Chris clear out some of the brush and small trees from their yard. We burned everything we cut down, so the yard looked pretty good by the time we got through. We ate lunch with Andy and Connie, Jamie and Chris and Danny, and then we headed home. It was a great weekend.