Just a puppy dog and his kids

We all feel like we hit the doggy jackpot with our Koda Bear. He has fit into our lives beautifully and we have all fallen in love with him. I'm sure another adjustment is coming for him and for us when we transition back into school/work/hockey, etc, but we are determined to get him out on a walk every day and give him all the love and attention that he desires. Lots of evening and weekend adventures to come in the spring and summer months with the days getting longer and the weather starting to warm up a bit in the coming months too. We can't wait to try this guy out on our paddleboards and out camping and see how he does with two of our favorite activities :) 

For now...here are my favorite photos of him with each of the kids. 

This kid NEEDED a dog in his life. We always knew he'd be the best big brother to a fur kid and we were right. He loves him so much and you can tell Koda loves him too.

I'm amazed every time we take him for a walk how good he does both on leash and off leash. His recall is great and he doesn't pull much at all and is easily corrected if he does.

This has been the trickiest relationship for us to navigate since getting Koda. He was really quite intimidating for Kennedy the first week that we had him. He is a big dog and was trying to herd her which resulted in some scary nipping, a LOT of tears and some real genuine fear on her part. She was a really brave girl and has worked through her fear (with us never leaving them alone anywhere together) while we worked really closely with Koda to ensure he understood that she was the boss and he had to be gentle with her. I won't lie...there were a few tough days that I feared we would have to give him back, but I knew with time and patience we would get to where we are now. They have an understanding...but I don't know that there is total love and trust there yet. I'm sure it will be different down the road, but for now he's still much bigger than her and I still occasionally see the faintest look of fear on her face. We are very careful with him and have noticed a few trigger moments that we need to work on with him to ensure that everyone is safe with him. 

Both the kid and the dog have the best smiles! 

Being a brand new dog owner has had it's challenges for sure, but I still feel like we 100% made the right decision in getting him, and we plan to love him as part of our family for as long as he is alive. We waited a really long time to take the plunge into the dog ownership world, but we feel like he was totally worth the wait. 

Crib Tournament Results - 2021 and 2022

I first wrote about our annual fun crib tournament in a post called 2021 Crib Tournament - how many games can we play in 365 days?

I always intended to share the results of that tournament, but clearly my total lack of 2022 blog posts would mean I never did. So, as suspected, Jim has now beat me two years in a row. The kids and I joke that it could be many years before I actually beat him, but I do believe that it WILL HAPPEN! 

So here are the stats: In 2021 we played a total of 162 games! Jim won 92 games to my 70 games. He had 13 skunks + 1 double skunk to my 8 skunks. I remember one particularly horrible day where he skunked me twice and double skunked me all in the same day. Why in the hell did I keep playing him after the first skunk/double skunk?! 

Just for fun, we also play for MONEY! We pay .05 cents per hole and .10 cents for each hole in a skunk. In 2021 Jim won $115.40 and I won $74.95 so he was the overall winner of $40.45.

In 2022 - we sadly only played a total of 95 games all year :( We went through almost 2 months and didn't play a single game. We struggled with a lot of things in 2022 and this was just one of those things that we didn't often find the time or energy to do.

2022's tournament ended up being a way closer race but in the end Jim won 49 games to my 46 games (10 skunks to my 6 skunks). His winnings totaled $66.65 to my $43.15 so he was money winner of $23.50 and again the overall game winner.

I'd love to see a year where the games won are close but the money winner is the opposite person. It could easily happen...but I will admit that 2023 is NOT feeling like my year either. I am already 0/4 of games played so it's not looking great! Still lots of games left to play and we're hoping for more time and energy this year. 

We still LOVE this crib board we bought off Wayfair in 2020. We use almost every time we play together. And in this photo you can see the trusty black book that holds our scores and our cards too!

Camping is always our main times to play crib. This past year I'd say at least 30% of all of our games played were while we were camping in the spring/summer

If you've never played this game and you love crib, you should try it out! It's called Crib Wars and it's crazy. It screws with the rules of cribs and makes you have to play really strategically and that doesn't always mean scoring the highest hands possible! We don't play it a lot but this weekend up at the Woodson's cabin on Lois Lake we did play quite a few rounds on it! 

 

Living the cabin life during my favorite weekend of the whole summer! I got a wicked sunburn but we played so many games that weekend. 

I love this last photo....our Jordie boy has learned to play crib too! He loves playing the game, while the other two have zero interest in learning. This kid is so much like his daddy!

A new goal for 2023 - 52 hikes in 365 days

We have discovered a love of hiking and discovering local trails in our backwoods areas and our goal this year is to do 52 trail hikes of varying lengths and difficulties along the way. I'd love to do 52 different trails, but that might be a bit of a lofty goal. I'll just be happy with 52 hikes total. We definitely have some favorite areas we like to hike and can do those shorter hikes in the spring and summer when the days are longer. Right now through the winter we are kind of limited to just weekends which makes that a bit tougher! I'll keep track along the way and we'll see how far we get. 

Anyways, we started off 2023 with a loop around Mud Lake in the Duck Lake trail system. It was around 5km and we all had a great time. Not too much whining, which is always a win when that happens. 5-6km is about the max that we've pushed Kennedy to walk before, but I'd like to get up in the 8-9km range by the end of the year :) 

Today's hike was another great one! This time it was just me, Jim, Jordie and our Koda bear. I was so excited to finally find the trail that contains Roger's Roost! There are so many trails I've wanted to do for a really long time, and this was one that was on my list. I will definitely be going back here many times over the years! 

I love that our Jordie boy decided to come with us today. He's always been our most adventurous kid and the one that wants to spend time with us outdoors. The other two were more than happy to stay home together today. 

After a good 30 minute play session with Ruby & Wally this morning and then an hour and a half long run this afternoon, he was DONE! Just ready to fall asleep, but had to be in the dining room right next to his people. 

Wedding Dress Photos - 5 years old

It was an easy choice about what the first 2023 post would be! Kennedy's annual wedding dress photo shoot (also done in the box on the same day as our family photos)! She is such an adorable little lady and I am so honoured that she still enjoys this annual photo. My fingers are crossed that 10 years from now she's still into it :) 

Here is age 5 - 2022

And taking it all the way back to the beginning in 2017 - just a few days old

2018 - 1 year old

2019 - 2 years old

2020 - 3 years old

2021 - 4 years old

2022 - 5 years old