Family Time at the Park

Scout at the park--pre-Molly and pre-Jack

Before we had Jack, Dave and I used to take the Scout to the park every weekend.  We had a great park that was walking distance to the townhouse (but we often drove because Scout would exhaust herself so badly at the park that she couldn't make it home).  It was an opportunity for Scout to get off the leash and zoom around.  When we got Molly, we decided to take both of them...that didn't turn out so well.  We got to our usual open field and let both dogs off their leashes and Scout began to frolic around and Molly just took off.  Dave went off looking for Molly (not at a fast enough pace for my liking) with the leash.  I stayed in the field with Scout and called for Molly to come back.  She finally came back and I had to pin her to the ground (PETA friendly style) until Dave got back with the leash.  We never took Scout and Molly back to the park again...

(dry your tears, there's more to the story)

until...we decided to take everyone the park Saturday morning.  We loaded up the girls and Jack in the car and headed to the park.  I took a ball and some bubbles to entertain Jack and we assumed the girls would be entertained by the wide open spaces and lots of smells.  We walked to our favorite field and  let the girls off of their leashes.  Scout immediately began to frolic and Molly darted for the surrounding wooded area.  Dave called for her and she looked back as she continued to run.  The Alpha Dog  I called for her and she stopped and turned around and came to me.  We tried to get Scout to zoom, but Molly kept trying to herd her-which pissed Scout off pretty bad.  Jack enjoyed the bubbles and ball some, but he was also just happy to run free in a wide open space like his sisters.

Dave and I had Scout run between us a few times because we thought Jack would like it.  Molly, being a herder by nature, just followed her everywhere.  Once Jack saw Scout make a few laps between me and Dave, he decided it was his turn.  Little did he realize just how far apart we were.  About 15 yards into his run from me to Daddy, Jack got tired and started grunting with every step.  It didn't stop him...he just kept going.  It kind of reminded me of some of the Olympians we saw from some of the smaller countries.

After everyone was good and exhausted we made our way back home.  Since everyone was on their very best behavior, we just might do it again.

Here come the girls.  Thankfully they know to stop and not knock me over.

Daddy showing Jack how this works

Jack keeping the leash close in case Molly gets out of hand

Jack starting his run to Daddy

Jack hits a wall

Jack pushes through...he's almost there

Later that day while eating lunch, Jack was so inspired by his run, he decided to do the Mo-Bot like his favorite runner, Mo Farah