Look, Ma, no monkey bits!

Our tireless and fearless Uncle Kidlat has joined the ranks of the socially responsible. Yes, our little one came home from the vet today, having undergone surgical alteration to soothe the savage beast. Our human visited the convalescent one with a gift inspired by our BFF Wally: a monkey! Kidlat sure enjoyed it, especially the ears!

Dog Parks!

No roadtrip is complete without exploring new dog parks. During our recent drive through the heartland, however, we visited old faves (that seems to have been the theme for this trip). Of course, our human wasn't in the habit of frequenting dog parks back in the day, but we discovered Quann Park a few years ago when we were here. We like it so much we keep coming back. Well, Jackson and Narra had been here before, but it was all new to Tuchuck and Rousseau.

Actually, Jackson didn't really go into the dog park before. So this visit was a true first for him. He had to stay on leash, but he did great. He got to meet a very cute little Corgi (a Pembroke, not a Cardigan like Uncle Kidlat) and a couple other dogs. Rousseau got to go with him, but Rousseau can get a little anxious on leash, and he scared away prospective new friends by barking. We hope he'll get over that!

Tuchuck, on the other hand, always makes new friends wherever he goes!
Even Narra made a new friend this trip! Oooh, someone's got a new (big!) boyfriend! :)
We did visit a dog park in Des Moines, too, before we left: the Raccoon River Park in West Des Moines, to be exact. Although none of us has been to this park before, it was an old favorite of brother Tsamba's (but there was no dog park back then).
As usual, Tuchuck was the life of the party...

We wonder if Narra isn't loosening up? She made a little friend, too!
The big boys didn't get to go into this dog park, but they got to hit the beach!

Our Point

When we left Iowa, our human couldn't resist but take the long way home--through Wisconsin! His sentimental attachments often guide our travels, but that's not always so bad. We spent the night at Governor Dodge State Park and woke to find some pretty amazing fall colors. Ah, our favorite time of the year!

Our main destination was "hometown" Madison--Mad City! We enjoyed a great walk along Lake Mendota, on Picnic Point, just by the university. Our human has enjoyed this walk since he was just a pup, and the campus is his old stomping ground. We like it, too! And not just because of all the attention we get. So many people stopped to admire us--they told the human he has "quite a pack." Ahem, who has whom?! :)

We are (with) Art

Would you be surprised to know that contemporary art thrives in Des Moines, Iowa? At the Des Moines Art Center. Since our roadtrip kinda ended up being about art, we decided to be with art. :) We had a beautiful day to walk around the Art Center and "be one" with the work. Hee.

Are you ready for some name dropping? (Okay, so we don't really know these artists, but now we've rubbed shoulders with them, er, their work.)

Here we are outside the IM Pei wing, posing in front of a Sol Lewitt

Narra serves as a third in Andrew Goldsworthy's "Three Cairns"

And here we enjoy Mary Miss's Greenwood Pond project

And, finally, our fave: Bruce Nauman. Guy's a freak! :)

We are (more) Art

Guess where we are??! Des Moines, Iowa!!! Isn't that exciting? (Okay, who snickered?...) We've come all this way to deliver a painting to the Animal Rescue League of Iowa (ARL), the shelter where brother Tsamba was adopted from. And how fitting that the painting should be of Tsamba! This weekend is the grand opening of the ARL's state-of-the-art new facility, a product of a $9.5-million capital campaign.

While the facility itself is hugely impressive, we think that Tsamba's painting adds that special touch.

Van-tics!

We've probably said it before, but we'll say it again: we love our van!!! It's the best toy ever! It takes us to the best places--and it's not too shabby in the comfort department. We have plenty of room to move around and change positions. But we do love being close to each other, too, as you can see. Rousseau has been converted to van living! :)

(BTW, we love to watch our human try to take pictures while he's driving!)

More Buko

We don't think we ever shared this video...

Miss you

We lost our Buko one year ago today. We can't even describe how much we miss him. We love you, Buko.

Scarlet ribbons for her hair

Okay, so she's not wearing her ribbons in this picture--but that's not really her style anyway, right? But, yeah, in the midst of our human's madness, we all (minus the twins) ventured to an AKC Rally and Obedience trial last weekend. Narra did super well, earned a red (not really scarlet) ribbon--second place! Truth be told, the human cost her first place among German Shepherd Dogs and second place all-breed. The judge noted on the scoresheet "incorrect performance." Ugh. The human can be so embarrassing. What's a girl to do? Anyway, with her performance, Narra still earned her Rally Excellent title!

The more fun part, though, was visiting our Uncle Kidlat on the way home! He's gotten a little fat, so we thought we should all just run around for a while and burn those calories!

Art is not an excuse

Surprise! Yes, we know how loathesomely slow--absent, in fact!--the human has been maintaining our blog. (Perhaps positive training has failed us on this front...) He claims he's very busy preparing work for exhibitions. A likely story. Well, as if to appease us, he says we're integral to his work, and he presented this image as evidence. We can only laugh. Apparently, he has created a whole series of work based on these ridiculous "tourist" photos he makes us pose for. Then he talks about a buncha French guys, "epistemologies," whatever. We think he's making it all up. But it is nice to see Buko again.

We've got lots more to share, but we guess this is it for now. The two-legged one says he needs to get back to work...