Play time

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TCOTC (Twin Cities Obedient Training Center)

Jon and I decided it was time to get Eko into obedient training, so last night was our first class. After leaving work later than I needed too, rushing over to my parents where Eko had spent the day, and feeling as though I was driving like a maniac, I made it right on time.

Last night was collar fitting and practicing the basics. Eko did great. He sat, he loose leash walked with me, he even demonstrated with the instructor. There were plenty of other dogs there that kept his interest, but he was still able to concentrate and respond to my commands. Then... the best part! He was SO tired! He laid down in the car and immediately started to fall asleep. Once we got home, he found a blanket on the floor and curled up. He looked so comfortable that I thought I better do the same. 1 week down - 8 more to go!

(post)Hike

Gaining the title of "Delinquent Blogger" is something Eme and I regard very highly. We haven't been officially tagged with that honorable title, but it is more something we concocted due to our blogging negligence. We are trying to get better, really! But for now you'll just have to endure this 3 week old post...

In the midst of busy work schedules we had the chance to sneak away for Memorial Day weekend to our cabin with Pete and Heidi. It was a fantastic weekend relaxing and enjoying God's beautiful creation. If someone were to create a theme for the weekend it probably would have been something like "Relaxing DQ." Did you know different Dairy Queen's charge different amounts for "extra stuff?" Well, they do.

Big Stuck Turtle










Beaver slapping his tail at us

"Enola Gay*"

In case you thought we were kidding...

Here's on the way down the stairs.

This is on the way back up.

I'm talking to Eko to come up the stairs when I say "come on buddy." I'm not trying to egg on the crazy mom robin.

*For Clarification

Holy Dive Bombing robin, Batman!

Ok, this thing is really getting out of hand. We have abandoned our normal "let Eko out the back door and down the steps to go to the bathroom" route for other means of egress. But last night after work I went outside to enjoy some time on our deck while talking on the phone. As soon as our patio door opened, the OVER protective mother robin flew out from under our deck and came around for her first diving mission at me and Eko. I quickly stopped, dropped, and rolled right back into the house. Ok, so I stopped and ducked. But I did go back into the house to grab my weapon of choice...The Racket.

I went back outside so enjoy the evening and to stand my ground. Because, after all, this is MY deck!

There she sat. About 10 yards away perched in the pine tree watching my every move. There I paced (I kind of like to walk around while talking on the phone. I'm not sure if it helps keep me entertained or what...) on the deck watching her every move. We were at a stalemate.

After a few minutes my phone conversation ended and I headed indoors to tell Eme how crazy this bird is when the robin rage continued.

Just as I opened the screen door the robin left her post and came whisteling by my head flapping her wings and kicking up all sorts of dust in her wake of terror. Ok, no dust...but it was frightful nonetheless!

I quickly shut the door with me inside and realized I left poor Eko outside to fend for himself. Even though he's about 2-1/2 feet tall and in no way could reach her unborn eggs she wouldn't relent. She flapped and hovered for what seemed like an eternity (about 3 seconds) and then retreated to her perch as I opened the door and started swinging like John McEnroe!

I grabbed Eko and we safely made it indoors.

A few hours went by, we all got ready for bed, and then went to bed. That's when the real nightmare began!

I had a nightmare about this crazy robin! I was on the grass and she was perched up on the deck staring me down like Clint Eastwood in one of the Spaghetti Western films. I started to run to safety when she came at me. Thankfully I had The Racket and I started swinging like my life depended on it! After a few minutes of her flying around my head I finally gave her a whack and she flew off. I was thrilled at my triumph! I even snagged one of her feathers in the strings of my weapon. This was going to be perfect! I was just about to head inside so I could take a picture of it for the blog! (remember this is just a dream)

Then HE came. That's right. The father, who has been nonexistent to this point, showed up to protect his wife and about to be hatched children. There he sat. Watching with those black beady eyes. Lowering his head into the attack position. My heart sank. I raised my weapon and readied to defend myself. He kept lowering his head, ready to attack. I stood my ground waiting. He stayed on the railing waiting for the right moment to unleash his fury. It was a draw.

Then I woke up! It was over! What a relief!

So is it so wrong of me to have urges of pushing this nest of eggs off the deck beams? Or possibly move the nest further away? Or to have a strong desire to whack mommy robin with The Racket to teach her a lesson? According to Wikipedia "only 25% of young robins survive the first year." And the "average lifespan is about 2 years." 2 YEARS! It's probably because they spend so much time dive bombing and not enough time resting, eating and relaxing!

These eggs need to hatch. And the mother needs to move on. But in the mean time, we are stuck going out every other door in our house to let Eko out other than the patio door. He is getting confused as he dribbled a little bit inside for the first time in a month. This madness must stop!

Suggestions Welcome

I have never been so frightened by any bird, in fact I normally really like birds. However, we have this robin nesting underneath our deck, right by the top of the stairs. Since all of you know we have a growing puppy, trips outside are every couple of hours. Well... this bird is VERY protective and has taken to dive bombing us EVERY time we take Eko outside. Way to go robin for protecting your eggs, but do you realize this is our deck and not a tree branch!!!

Tonight, for me at least, Jon already has had a close encounter, was the closet she has come yet. Seriously, within 2 feet. She dive bombs on the way down the stairs and then has you try and enter the house again. This time I was at the patio door, rushing Eko inside, when I knew she was headed straight for me (I can see her little birds eyes glaring, it's nerve recking). Scariest thing was that I reacted with a yelp and started to close the sliding door, not realizing my poor puppy was only halfway inside. (no harm done, he made it, but it was close)

We started keeping a tennis racket on the table next to the door for added protection. Until her eggs hatch, I'm afraid we may need to find an alternative to the back sliding door. What stinks, is when training a dog, consistency is king, and switching it up now may be even worse. Although... my death scream might start to scare the neighbors. This feels like a lose-lose situation.

Crazy Times... Sorry for the blog

As you may have noticed, our blog has been neglected (poor blog). It seems both Jon and I have been crazy busy at work and keep every other free moments occupied. Here is a recap to get you caught up in our lives.

Eko continues to be a huge part of every minute we are home. He loves to be around us.

A pipe broke and our water was out for a day... yeah.

We had an amazing garage sale May 2. It was constant customers all day long, no time for pictures.

We canoed down the Rice Creek that flows through our back yard. It turned out to be shallower than expected and pulled ourselves along as much as we paddled. At least that's what it felt like!

My birthday was a great time. Most everyone made it for a dinner at our place and we had my favorite... dairy queen cake.

Jon went fishing for the opener up at my Cousin Bob's (not really my cousin, but my dads, it's just what we always called him).
I watched my fabulous nephew, we had a great overnight.

We went walking around Fort Snelling State Park. Note: the historic fort is not at the state park.

We celebrated Jon's dad's birthday by going to Wild River State Park. We all made it, except Eko. He seems to be lacking energy when it comes to taking walks.

Twins Opening Series

Forgot to post our about our final trip to the last Twins Home Opening Series at (The) Metrodome. We usually go to the Home Opener, but it is always sold out or nearly sold out and very crowded. So we opted for the 2nd game with slightly fewer fans. However, we excitedly entered the now nostalgic Dome, found our seats, sat down, and almost slid off them since they were broken. And then the largest man to ever sit in a blue Metrodome seat sat RIGHT next to me. And when I say "next," I really mean generously filling the seat next to me and spilling into my seat with me leaning towards Eme. Think John Candy in the middle seat of an airplane minus the sense of humor, plus 4 bottles of beer. Ugh.

After an inning and a half Eme went to complain about the broken seats...she snagged us an upgrad and we enjoyed the rest of the game with an exhilerating 9th inning rally from the second row in Lower Reserved right by the foul pole. The best part was that there was hardly anyone next to us!

There was so much going on we forgot to take pictures inside...so this one is outside. You can barely make out the UFO like lights in the backround. But you can't miss our post game excitement with our Twins gear and ear to ear smiles.

All is Right

After being with us for about 7 weeks Eko seems to have picked up on our schedule. Every night, like clockwork, at about 9:00 he will just start to mellow out, curl up and hunker down for the evening. It's awesome! Plus, I really love when dogs curl up and sleep like this. It's just one of those things that when you see it you know that all is right with the world.

Cuddle Bug

It's a good thing he doesn't sleep with us in bed or I wouldn't have a spot! He absolutely loves being near us, especially when he gets to be in our comfy bed.




Eme was changing our sheets today and temporarily placed the pillows on the floor. Of course, Eko was there to swoop in and take advantage of the soft place to lay down.


Eko says, "So you mean these pillows aren't meant for me to lay on?"

There are 3 things that Eko loves.

1. Meal time
2. Being anywhere we are
3. Laying on soft things (pillows, blankets, sheets, jackets, sweatshirts...you get the picture)

And there is 1 thing that Eko ABSOLUTELY loves

1. Being anywhere we are laying on soft things!

Easter Weekend

We (Eme) participated in an egg hunt yesterday at Mick & J's...but didn't get any pictures since we were, again, tending to our puppy. But it seemed like everyone and their mother were taking snap shots Japanese tourist style. You know how it is when there are little kids around. Duplicate and triplicate snap shots are the norm...with 3 or 4 different cameras.

So if you were there yesterday and have pics...send them our way. We know there were some good ones! And I think Eme even won the grown-up clean-up egg hunt ;) I don't really know that, I'm just assuming.

Today we drove up to North Branch and hung out with the Bonkoski's and John Olson for Easter dinner and a little egg hunt. We did manage to capture a couple pictures of the home made rocket launcher that John made.

And what would a bonkoblog post be without a photo of Eko?



"A tired puppy is a happy puppy."

P.S. Tim & Lori - we missed being with you and your family on Easter. This was the first Easter in a few years without our family who unofficially adopted us while we were in Chicago. We were thinking of you guys!

Oh...Oh...I know!

You would think he is stretching...but nope. This is how he was sleeping the other night. Right next to Eme. Laying next to Eme or me, he wouldn't have it any other way!

P.S. We must apologize about blogging pretty much 100% about Eko since we brought him home a month ago. But he has pretty much taken up 100% of our free time since we brought him home a month ago. He is a lot of work...but he is certainly worth it!

Who Could Resist?

He is over 26 pounds now as he approaches 15 weeks. If his puppy stare doesn't melt your heart then you may need to check your pulse.

Schell Brewery Saturday

Last weekend we went down to New Ulm, MN to celebrate Jon Kamrath's birthday. His wish was to tour the Schell Brewery and enjoy a weekend with his friends. So we all trekked down there and enjoyed the collection of brews from the second oldest family owned/operated brewery in the country, took in some German heritage, and trekked back through a mini snow storm.

We didn't get many pictures with our camera as we were tending to Eko the whole time. But we did snap a couple...and yes they have Eko in them!

Eko is a retreiver...he loves to chew...and he LOVES sticks! Even if they are bigger than he is!



Action Shot

Summit Dog Tribute

Yes, those are lacross balls Eko is playing with... Summit's favorite! This one's for you Tim and Lori!