Happy Howl-o-ween

Well, Missy has been popular this weekend, not one, but two Halloween parties! My honorary niece and nephew have been insisting on a pirate Halloween party since we bought them costumes for their birthday and they insisted that Missy had to come too (at four, both have decided that they should have a puppy each and are working hard to convince their father. Their mother would like one puppy, and is also working hard to convince the father!).

We arrived at two and went on a woodland walk altogether, collecting pine cones and leaves and building forts. The weather has gotten very cold and we perfectly timed it that they both got to play with the Frisbee with Missy and we were back in the car before the rain started. Once back at the house, the kids had time to get changed (as did the hubby and I, much to their delight) and have a snack before their dad arrived and the party began. There was dancing and pass-the-pumpkin and soon they were off to bed. We grown ups then played elder signs until the small hours before heading back home, thankful that the clocks going back meant that we were getting an extra hour in bed.

Waiter, there's a hair in my tea!

Today was a Howl-O-ween doggy party organised by Edinburgh Samoyed Rescue. The hubby and I took Missy, my oldest niece (13) and nephew (9), their pup Wee Ben and my mum along and we prayed it wasn't going to be a complete wash out event which some Facebook advertised things can turn out to be. Being the first to arrive at the Golf Tavern (highly recommend) we set up shop in a nice sunny bit of the function room and were soon swamped by dogs. Set up next to us were two fabulous collies and their chihuahua buddies and then the Samoyed's arrived - there was at least five of the fluffy monsters bouncing about the place as more dogs turned up.

"Mini-Missy" the spider

We made good friends with another Missy, who won best dressed as a spider, and became absolutely enamoured with a bearded boy called Loki who, with his underwhelmed and laid back demeanour was an exact match to Missys temperament. To be fair, I could have stolen away most of the dogs - as the hubby said to my mum, people have a right to take a child anywhere, regardless of how naughty they are. Dog places are such a privilege that only those with well behaved animals will go.

Case in point, as we were organising to leave, Missy quickly dashed off to a small child (2 at most) who was giggling with glee and throwing dog treats at the ring of canines about her. The dogs were perfectly behaved as they waited for the treats and gently took them from her and no one was panicking about it or freaking out. Such a lovely atmosphere!

The two hours passed by swiftly and we were soon back at my mums for the VIP (Very Important Puppy) after party. Maisie still has another round of vaccines before she can go off and play with all the big dogs so we decided to have a get together for her and continue her socialisation. Missy worked with Maisie on her play bow as they played together for a little while and then Missy retreated to the sofa to let Ben take a turn. He is still very unsure of the puppy, but hopefully they'll learn to get used to one another soon. The best thing for now is to just keep trying.

She'll grow into it soon enough!

There was munchies and cake (of course there was cake!) and then we all played Say Anything before we had to make our leave as it was getting dark. Missy is fast asleep on the sofa after such a busy weekend and we've all really enjoyed it! I've finally convinced my family that dog parties are an official thing (and not really weird or twee) and here's hoping there's a Christmas one that Maisie will be able to join us at!

Till next time!