Summer is hanging on here in Colorado. When the dogs and I set out for our weekend adventure it was around 80 degrees and the sun was shining brightly. It was a perfect day for exploring. The only downside is that my camera is still in the repair shop so I (again) only had my iPhone for pictures (and video!).

We went back to our new favorite place. There are miles of hiking trails there and we just wandered around and enjoyed the day.

Besides views of the mountains some of the trails also overlook the city and the plains beyond.

Even Luka seemed to enjoy the view.

The highlight, of course, was the reservoir. We went there twice during our wandering and the dogs loved every minute of it.

Luka was very happy to be back in the water.

Sadie swam, too.

Sadie’s swimming, though, doesn’t just happen. I have to throw Milk Bones in the water for her to swim. I videotaped it this time. You can see that here.

I’m hoping to have my camera back soon so I can take some quality pictures of our adventures at this place.

I’ve made a lot of progress on the socks.

Sock wearing season is fast approaching and I can’t wait to wear the new pairs that I’ve knit since last winter.

My camera is still in the repair shop so I’ve only had my iPhone for taking pictures. The quality isn’t great, but I have taken some pictures this week.

We had some very hot (in the 90′s) weather last weekend. Luka does not like hot weather. He would stare at me with this face like he was saying ‘please, make it stop’.

Sadie deals with hot weather by letting it all hang out.

We went back to our new favorite spot this weekend. We did more hiking.

But the real fun happened in the water…

…running on the shoreline…

…and playing fetch.

All of that fun means lots of sleeping that night.

And a lot of dog sleeping means knitting time for me.

The heat returned this weekend so we arrived at the park early to beat the heat. It was a gorgeous day.

We spent most of our time by the stream.

Sadie enjoyed lying in the cold water.

Luka spent his time exploring the stream.

We also walked through the cool woods.

Park days are the best days of the week.

Luka actually slept on the way home.

Sadie spent the afternoon snoozing with the stuffed bear.

Luka snuggled the same bear later in the evening.

It was a quiet night around my house. Both socks now have heels.

What a difference a week makes.

Last week at the park the dogs and I struggled to stay cool. This week it was 50 degrees colder and the sun was not a factor.

In many ways, I prefer this kind of weather for the park. It’s not nearly as nice for me, but I can let the dogs run to their hearts’ content and not worry about them getting too hot.

We did a lot of exploring this week. We walked through the woods.

We wandered through the fields.

And someone found yummy stuff to roll in.

They also posed nicely for pictures.

One thing I love about adopting a new dog is discovering who he/she is and the quirks of his/her personality. Luka continues to show his uniqueness. When he’s on land, he’s not that interested in tennis balls. He’ll sometimes play with one at home, but he doesn’t fetch. However, once he gets in the stream he starts hunting for tennis balls.

He’s persistent.

And always successful.

Once he finds the ball he start playing fetch with himself (dropping the ball and then chasing it down the stream).

I love to watch him do this. I think Sadie enjoys it, too.

You can watch, too. I couldn’t figure out how to embed the video in this post, but you can see it here.

Sadie is always exhausted after our trips to the park, but Luka usually takes a short nap and is ready to play an hour or so after we arrive home. This week I made sure we walked more than we usually do. Finally, Luka was tired when we got home.

He slept all evening. Victory!

I was able to work on my socks without interruption.

Our trip to the park this week can be summed up in one word: hot. We did a little bit of walking through the fields.

Luka dawdled behind me at one point and then raced to catch up.

We spent most of our time in the woods by the stream.

The dogs chased each other.

And ran around by themselves, too.

Luka explored the rocks.

And they both enjoyed cooling off in the water.

Sadie was soaked (and kept wanting to snuggle me so I was soaked, too).

She wanted to keep playing, but she was very tired.

She dug a hole in the dirt and rested.

Luka rested in the shade, too.

We had a lot of fun and the heat was exhausting. After we arrived home we all fell asleep. (Sadie got a head start: she slept the entire drive home.)

Finally, there are new socks on the needles.

The weather over the weekend was fantastic. It was one of those gorgeous days at the park that took my breath away.

One of my favorite things about Colorado is the sky. From time to time, I have people email/comment to ask if I alter the color of the sky in some of my pictures to make it so blue. I do not. The sky here really that blue. This picture shows it and I love the contrast of the green and blue in this picture.

The wind was manageable this week so we were able to explore more of the park.

We walked through fields.

We climbed the hill.

And enjoyed the view from the top.

Sadie enjoyed a rest in the sun.

We walked through the woods.

At one point, Sadie spotted something in a tree.

She encouraged Luka to take a look, too.

But, the dogs’ favorite spot was the stream.

I love how Sadie plows through the water with wild abandon.

Luka continued to enjoy drinking from waterfalls.

I’ve tried playing fetch with Luka, and he’s not really into it. He’ll fetch sometimes, but most of the time he just watches the ball fly through the air and then walks away.

However, he found a ball in the stream and really liked it. In fact, he played fetch with himself. He’d toss the ball around.

Then he’s watch it fall.

He’d paw at the ball.

Then he’d pick it up.

And start all over again.

This happened near the end of the time at the park and Sadie was tired. She climbed out of the water and took a nap.

Luka was tired, too. This is how he fell asleep on the way home. (It’s hard to see, but he’s actually sitting on Sadie.)

The way he fell asleep is further evidence that Luka is weird. I had my first evidence earlier in the week when I lost Luka. I lost him in my house. That may not sound too odd, but I live in a very small house (700 sq. feet) and losing a dog of Luka’s size in a such a small place was very strange. I found him tucked behind the couch.

I hadn’t even thought to look there because it’s such a small space. I store a lot of stuff behind my couch (my home has no storage space) and I didn’t think a cat, let alone a 100lbs. dog could fit back there. But he can fit and evidently he likes it there.

I have socks!

More details and pictures are here.

Finally, for those of us in the U.S., it’s Memorial Day. I’m enjoying my day off work, but I realize that it came at a horrible price. Thank you.

The socks have heel flaps!

And since I took this picture they also have heel turns.

Today marks four weeks since Luka came home. He’s learned his name and often does this when I say his name (I love dogs that tilt their heads.)

When I went looking for a new dog, I hoped that I would get one that liked to play. I found one that loves to play.

Luka always starts by chewing softly on Sadie’s feet.

When Sadie gets sick of it she jumps him.

And the wrestling begins.

After a week of cold and dreary weather the clouds parted (briefly) for our trip to the park.

This week there was a lot of splashing.

Luka found a deep part in the stream.

Sadie preferred to hang out while Luka explored.

She loves the water.

The dogs did a lot of running.

We climbed the rocky hill.

We spent a lot of time in the woods.

Sadie likes that, too.

Sadie also kept an eye out for squirrels.

We walked about four miles at the park. The last mile was in the rain. We arrived home soaked, but had this waiting for us.

This afternoon I looked outside and saw Luka sleeping like this.

Weirdo.

Spring has sprung.

The blossoms have appeared at the park.

After a winter of brown the park is finally turning green. That means there are a lot of wonderful things to sniff.

It was a gorgeous day at the park. I took a leap of faith and let Luka off the leash the entire time we were there. He was a very good boy and came back every time I called for him. He also stayed relatively close to me (not as close as Sadie, but close enough that I didn’t worry).

Sadie and Luka led the way on the main walking trail.

We also went off the main trail to climb one of the hills.

We all enjoyed the view from the top.

The dogs explored the woods together.

And, of course, there was a lot of splashing in the stream.

At one point, Luka was darting in and out of a waterfall. Sadie and I couldn’t figure out what he was doing.

Then it became clear: he was trying to drink the falling water.

The dogs enjoyed running together.

They ran separately.

And they played chase with other dogs (I love how Sadie and Luka are each chasing a different dog).

All of the running meant they slept the whole way home.

The feet of the socks are done. The stripes aren’t as close as the last pair, but I still love them.