Happy 2nd Birthday to Rena

Jazz and Dixie were quick to jump in and help celebrate their little sister's Birthday! They were kind enough to help with eating the cake and with opening the presents!

Happy New Year 2012

Hope everyone had a safe and fun holiday season. Here we are enjoying some beautiful winter sun on the back deck today.

Naughty Dog dog run

Today was a national holiday here in Japan so we decided to make the most of the beautiful autumn weather and head outdoors with Jazz and Dixie and Rena. We took them to a nearby dog run and all three had a good time. Rena has been dying to take J and D for a walk "by myself" so today in the safety of the dog run she took charge and J and D obliged her by walking around and around with her.

The last weekend in July Shin's brother's two Beagles, Rocky and Bobby came to stay overnight on their way to Texas. The family moved to Texas and Rocky and Bobby needed to be at the airport early in the morning for quarantine so they stayed the night before. Walking four beagles was a bit of a task! Glad I just have the two!

Keeping Cool in the Pool

Everyone keeping cool in the pool in our back yard. Jazz and Dixie don't care for swimming but it had been so hot that we decided to cool them down with a bit of a swim.

Happy 8th Birthday Jazz

Yesterday was Jazz's 8th Birthday so I baked another sugar/salt free cake that both Rena and dogs could eat. Everyone enjoyed the cake.

Happy 5th Birthday Dixie!

Yesterday was Kodomonohi (Children's Day) here in Japan and also our middle daughter, Dixie's 5th Birthday. We all went to a nearby dog run and had cake at home to celebrate.

Thanks to everyone for their concern. We are all ok. Heading to Australia tomorrow.

Snow!!!!

It snowed again last night but this time the fall was quite substantial. By morning even though it was already melting quickly there was still a lot on the ground in the back garden for all the "kids" to enjoy. Jazz and Dixie ran around full tilt chasing each other through the white stuff while Rena and I made a snow man from things we found in the garden.

Happy Holidays!

As a little pre Christmas holiday Shin took us all away to the Hyatt Spa Resort in Hakone. It was pretty grey and cols but we had a wonderful time with the whole family. Jazz and Dixie were met at the car and taken away for a pedicure and brushing while we settled into our lovely room complete with doggy en suite and doggy toiletry drawer with personal welcome letter!! Despite the weather we rugged up and took the girls to a dog run overlooking Lake Ashi. There was no one there and as the dog run was a bit small we braved it and let Jazz and Dixie off lead to run around the fields. I was quite worried though as we hardly ever do this as you never know what smell a beagle will get wiff of and take off. Anyway we let them have a bit of freedom to run around like complete idiots and then finished off with a walk on leash so mum could relax a bit! We also visited a very well manicured garden overlooking the lake. We had a great time away.

I put up the Christmas tree today with the help of Rena, Jazz and Dixie and then tried to take some pics of them all in front of it. Had to promise J and D their favourite treats to get them to sit there!

Rena's First Trip to Dog Field with J and D

The typically beautiful Japan autumn weather is upon us, so yesterday being a national holiday we set out to make the most of it with the whole family. We haven't been to our favourite dog run, Dog Field since before Rena was born so we all went there for the day. Jazz and Dixie were so glad to be back and able to run around like crazy in the warm sunshine.

Relaxing with J and D

Ahhh there's nothing better than chilling out with the dogs on their sofa while sucking on Jazz's tail!

Rena thinks she is a Dog!

I think our little Rena thinks she is a dog! Now that she is getting around quite well she is able to catch Jazz and Dixie by their feet and she is also interested in what they are doing. Rena has many of her own toys but prefers to play in Jazz and Dixie's water dish and with their toys. Jazz and Dixie don't mind at all and get their own back by sneaking a few of Rena's soft toys and balls now and then. I can't make the difference clear to Rena or the dogs so I give up and I guess they just have to share everything that's on the floor.

Dixie and Rena are Good Friends

Rena has started to commando crawl and worked her way off her play mat to get over to her new friend, Dixie. To my surprise Dixie is more interactive with Rena than Jazz. I thought it would be the otherway around. But Jazz is still looking out for Dixie and now her littlest sister too. I am so happy that the girls like Rena and are starting to show more interest in her. Dixie has worked out that if she plays with Rena she gets extra attention from us as well.

Beating the Heat!

Wow 2 months have passed since I last blog and little Rena is 6 months this week! Where does the time go? Its been very hot here in Japan these past weeks. I wanted to go swimming with Rena but there are many places that don't allow babies unless you join a class that has oh so many rules and turns out to be quite expensive. Anyway we have been splashing about in the back yard in a small paddling pool that I bought for Jazz and Dixie a few years ago. This weekend Shin bought us a new much bigger pool that can fit us all in, including Jazz and Dixie. Now some of you may know that Jazz and Dixie are not really fond of the water, especially Dixie. It was so hot outside that we thought the girls should also benefit from the cool of the pool so we put them in as well. Both stayed a short time before jumping out and rolling around on the grass. Jazz waded around in the tummy high water but Dixie didn't move around much. Maybe after a few more times they may get used to the water??

A Weekend Away

Last weekend we went away for the first time with Rena to celebrate Dixie's 4th Birthday and Jazz's 7th Birthday. We stayed in a dog hotel that just opened. The concept of the Caro hotels group is to provide good quality hotels that people can take their dogs to and enjoy good food as well. We have stayed in a few of the other hotels in this group and think they are great. Shin made use of the grooming room and washed and blow dried the girls so they were looking lovely for dinner in the hotel dining room. After dinner Jazz and Dixie shared a cream berry sponge cake made especially for them which they devoured in no time! The next day we took them to the beach for a walk along the water. We had a great family holiday.