And now, Willow

 Last weekend Charlotte, our first foster dog, got adopted. Her stay in our home was short! We're happy for her to be in her forever home, but it felt so odd not having a dog in the house even after such a brief time with her.

We ended up having to wait a week before getting another dog because arranging a visit when the shelter, Mom, Dad, and Jasmin were all free was a tad difficult. Jasmin does admit that she enjoyed the week of dog-free mornings to sleep in though!

Yesterday we finally got to meet our new foster, Willow. She's listed as a 11 month old whippet, but we think she's more likely a mix that has a lot of boxer in it. Other than no loose jowls and a small stature, she looks very boxer-ish. She is going to be a lot more work than Charlotte! She has a lot of energy, a puppy bladder, and has no qualms whatsoever about wiggling her way past our makeshift stair gate. She also loves getting up early it looks like.

Mom's actually even a bit happy about that as it will mean another incentive to get up and work her way back into morning runs... as long as Mom's heel will continue to heal with daily walk-runs.

Other things this week:

We got back to Heart's Desire river area! And the kids had to relive rock hopping - despite the fact that the river is full, undamned spring swollen, the water achingly cold, and the wind still rather nippy.

I guess that just provided the necessary upgrade in difficulty for it to still be a challenging activity :) The girls methodically used each other and a stick to get across more or less dry, but Aiden forged ahead and ended up very wet. Mom wanted very much to try, and made it out two or three rocks, but being the one with the phone and the knowledge of an untrustworthy foot, she didn't risk more than that. Nevertheless, it was a wonderful 2 hours! Once the kids recrossed back to Mom, we sat in the sun and ate still warm garlic buns and drank hot tea.

We had planned on doing more, but Aiden was too cold, even after switching jackets with Mom, so we made our way back home quite satisfied. it was a good early birthday day for Mom :)