New City, New Fun!

Whew! What a crazy past couple of weeks it is has been for us! I have a lot of catching up to do on the blog! When I started blogging, we were in the process of packing and moving from McAllen to Ft. Worth. After two days of packing (by movers), 560 miles and 9 hours of driving, we finally got moved to our apartment in Ft. Worth. We absolutely love the metroplex and the area of Ft. Worth we are in, but even more, we are glad to be in north Texas! As soon as we moved in, we have started looking for a house. We haven't found "the one" just yet, but hopefully soon it will happen.

From the time we got the transfer to Ft. Worth/Hurst, we have been without Our Girls for nearly a month. We have missed them tremendously, but they seem to be enjoying themselves while staying at my parents house. We keep receiving reports that Sissy and Polar Bear are always lying under the air conditioner out in the kennel all day long with the three other labs my parents have, while Hershey and Kady are becoming best of buddies inside. I wish I had video or at least pictures of Hershey. My parents never seemed to have either one handy when they water their new live oak trees they have planted. Every time they would fill the well at the base of the tree (the mound of dirt surrounding the trunk of the tree), Hershey will jump in and attempt to swim and act like they are doing this just for her! Like I said, a video would have been great, but I guess the mental picture will have to do for now. Maybe one day when we are back to visit we can catch her in the act.

 This past week, my cousin celebrated her 13th Birthday! The family was having a get-together for her and I offered to make the cake. I was very excited to make it since it had been a while from the last birthday cake I had made. I surprised her with a two tier cake decorated with a few of her favorite colors. She and her siblings loved it!

 Now that our apartment is close to where they live, I hope we can continue getting together for birthdays. My inspiration for this cake came from a blog I follow called, The Pink Cake Box, which has wonderfully decorated cakes. I absolutely love following this blog and look forward to seeing the cakes they design each week.

Since moving to the Big City, we are starting to find all the neat things the big city has to offer. One of the first things we found near our apartment is the new Petsmart PetsHotel. It's an enlarged Petsmart that includes a Pet Hotel, Vet Clinic, and large grooming area. The PetsHotel offers a Doggie Day Camp where you can drop your pet off for the day to play under the supervision of Petsmart staff.  The camp allows your pet to play all day long and interact with other campers. If at any time you want to check on your pet, you can call the "Bone Booth", and one of the staff members will put your pet on the phone so you can talk to them (we laughed at first when we read that, but quickly admitted we'd probably be one of the parents that would call!). Since my parents were coming to visit for the weekend and look at homes with us, we decided to take Hershey and Kady( my parents lab) to Petsmart for the Doggie Day Camp. We all were a little hesitant to take them at first, but we knew they couldn't be cooped up in our apartment all day. 

So, we took them in and after registration and a little resistance from the girls at first, the Petsmart staff took them back so they could start camp. We left hoping that we wouldn't receive a phone call that the girls were not socializing well. We looked at houses all day long and didn't check on them one time (surprising I know!). When we were done for the day, we were ready to pick them up. At checkout, we received their report cards and we were relieved to hear they both received praise! (thankgoodness!). Since we had such a great experience with the Doggie Day Camp, I feel good about taking Hershey back there if we need to. After a long day at camp, the girls were ready to come home and crash.

Sweet dreams about their day at Doggie Day Camp!

  I think the pictures show what a great time the girls had.

Wow! Two blog posts in a day, I'm on a roll!!! I think I'm getting the hang of this or maybe addicted! :)

I tried to upload a couple of videos in my first post, but due to the technical difficulties I mentioned before, I was unable to do it. I think I have figured it out though, thanks to my dear friend Natalie, who by the way has inspired me to start blogging and guided me through the do's and dont's.

I finally figured out how to add videos by Googling it, and you would be amazed what comes up when you start typing 'how to....' Needless to say it was very interesting!  Anyway the first video is of Hershey, our sneaky, mischievous, ornery brown dog. We have placed a treat on a turn table that is spinning and she's attempting to get it off.

 
The next video is of Polar Bear at the Beach. After a long afternoon of swimming in the water, running up the sand dunes and chasing her sisters, she was ready for a nap. In the process of getting her spot ready, Sissy is getting buried. Make sure to listen at the end of the video. :)




While we are in the process of moving to Ft. Worth, we decided the girls needed to go to my parents house so we could get more packing done. We did not realize how quiet and lonesome it would get without them. From the reports we are getting though, they seem to be having a great time without us.

Getting my feet wet!

Howdy!

After many months of debating and procrastinating, I have finally decided to start a blog. I'm not sure how well I will keep it up, but I will do my best.  I have a feeling I will be good at first and then I will have weeks or months with no posts, just like most everyone else who starts this. 

I named the blog Cakes and Canines because I love to bake and decorate cakes along with cupcakes, cookies and cake pops. Also, to share the funny things our three Labradors, Hershey, Sissy and Polar Bear, do throughout the day to keep us entertained. Hershey is our 7 year old chocolate lab, Sissy is our 7 year old black lab and Polar Bear is our 5 year old yellow lab.  Our girls are our kiddos and they know it!

We are currently in the process of relocating from McAllen to Ft. Worth. I find it hard to believe that I am actually starting this process right in the middle of a major move, but it will be fun anyway. We have been in McAllen, or "the valley," for two years and have been wanting to leave the valley for, um....oh that's right, two years! We chose to wait until we were offered an area closer the Abilene area and Hurst finally was it. So, in couple of weeks we will be in the metroplex and we can't wait! Throughout this blog I will share some of the highs and lows of living in the valley, but not too many, I would hate to be so negative! :)

Here are few pictures to start off with.....

South Padre Island (a plus to living in the valley!)

 Now the Cakes....

The first cake...The State of Texas, which you probably could guess that if you're from Texas!

The second cake I made for a 1st Birthday.

I hope to add a few videos of the girls, but right now I'm having a few technical difficulties and will have to get David to figure it out for me. Hope you enjoyed my first post, check back often as I hope to add more soon! 

PS...If you are in the need of a good laugh, I highly recommend the blog Cake Wrecks.