Goodbye Rob's Birthday & Hello February "Leap" Year !

Goodbye January, and "Hello" February with 29 days in it this Year !  Woohoo to all those "Leap Year" babies out there, you are "How Old"?  LOL  My sister, Donna's husband, Wayne, is a Leap Year Baby, and I actually remembered to send him a Birthday Card this year.  *Phew*, not that he has ever gotten one from me before, or anything like that, I just thought it would be a "nice" thing to do this Year .....

"Before we headed out of town, we had to "load" up the girls.  Missy Mercedes in the very very back, as she still jumps all over the place."

"Bye-bye Bandit, old man, see ya when we get back.  Look after the place while we are gone will ya?"

"Oh thank you, thank you, thank you...I am so happy to go on "Out-of-Town Trips" with you guys!"

"First "pit stop" of the day on our way through Owen Sound."

"Georgian Bay is looking might chilly looking over this park just outside of Meaford."

"Wow, are those the Mountains on the other side of Thornbury we see there?"

 "The Blue Mountain Ski Resort has quite a few people on it considering it is only a Tuesday.  I can imagine how busy it must be on a Weekend or a Holiday."

It was just after the Blue Mountains we found a back road so we could take a little walk up and down it a little bit in order for us all to have a leg stretch and for a couple of girls to do their "business".

"Rob and I enjoyed being stopped by this train going by.  Darn it all I forgot to count the cars, as I used to do when I was a kid!"

"Here goes the end of it.  The Engine at the very last !"

"We finally make it to our destination in good time.  It was a dull grey day, but there was no snow or freezing rain coming down, so that made it a great travelling day."

"We had a bit of time to put in so we thought we would check out the local Pet Smart Store."

"This was Lexus' very first time in a Pet Smart store.  Dad, I like those, and those, and those, and maybe I would really like one of those?  They all smell so terribly good !"

Lexus also got to meet some other "girls" at Pet Smart.  A Bernese Mountain Dog cross, and two other cross breed girls.  They were all very social and delighted to meet each other.  I was just sorry I hadn't had my camera out of my pocket to take pictures of Lexus' new friends.

"It just so happened our son, Paul, has been working in Barrie this week and was able to meet up with all of us."

"Our final destination !  The "Mandarin Restaurant".  The Mandarin is one of our most favorite places to have Dinner out at, and where we choose to go for Rob's Birthday Dinner."

"Since the "old man" is really getting up there in age, it is best to be holding the door open for him so he doesn't "strain" himself."

"The restaurant was decorated in celebration of the "Chinese New Year ~ The Year of the Dragon"."

"Rob and I figured after eating buffet, this is what the two of us were going to be looking like as we made our exit from the building."

"Once our meal was enjoyed, it was time to sing "Happy Birthday" to the Birthday Boy.  He is looking like a pretty happy boy in this picture I would think."

"Enough with the camera, Mom !  The End."

Rob enjoyed his Birthday, we both really enjoyed our day away together, Lexus and Mercedes had a great outing and it was a bonus Paul had been working in Barrie to be able to join us for Dinner.  A wonderful all around day.

After Dinner, we headed up the street to get a Timmie's coffee before Paul headed back to his motel room, and we made our way back home.  When we came back through Owen Sound, Rob had to wash the salt off our vehicle and we had to stop at the Canadian Tire store to purchase a gasket for the door of our woodstove.

We did make it back home around the 8:00 pm hour, where I think we might have awoken Bandit out of a sound sleep by the look of him when we got the door unlocked.  LOL.

.....and today?  Well it was "catch-up day" with bedding needing to be changed, laundry to be started, and a bit of dusting and vacuuming to be done.  All those things that need doing, week, after week, after week .... and then sometimes even more.

I have an appointment at the Bank to attend to this afternoon, so I best be closing off for now.  I am thinking there still might be enough time to have a cup of Java before I have to leave the warmth of our home, "Just North of Wiarton & South of the Checkerboard".