Heather had other plans this morning, so asked me to take the dogs to the park this morning. I was happy to do so, of course, as I ‘ve been wanting to try out the new telephoto for a while …

I’ve neglected to mention it here, but we’re still fostering kittens of course. Zola has been with us since February, though we did get a notice on the weekend that someone’s interested in her. She’s a totally awesome cat, though may function best in an only pet home. Incredibly loving.

The newest addition is above, Colby (Feta on the WHARF website). OMG she’s the cutest thing ever, and so incredibly photogenic. Check out my flickr set for more pics of her. If you’re interested in either (or one of WHARF’s other fine feline or canine friends), check out their website for more details.

Saturday afternoon was the second annual Dogapalooza here in Edmonton. Last year’s was also in the fall, a brisk day, and the event was held outdoors. It was mildly interesting, though I’m not sure we would’ve gone again. This time, however, it was in West Edmonton Mall. I’m not a huge fan of THE mall, I usually avoid it at all costs like many locals, but the thought of taking the dogs through a large mall sounded like a hoot, so off we went.

We were supposed to go in Entrance 56, although I’m not sure we would’ve been stopped anywhere. While a lot of shoppers seemed to think it was odd to see dogs in the mall, there were enough dogs scattered throughout the mall it wasn’t a big deal. Although entrance 56 had some stuff going on, the main center of attention was in the Ice Palace. Which is a bit of a walk if you know the mall, but c’est la vie.

We stopped by the ship to get a picture of Willow and Coooper in front of it, because, honestly, I thought it would make a cool backdrop, and not many people will have a photo of their dogs in front of the ship.

Shortly after that we ran into a friend of Heather’s, who has an awfully similar-looking dog to Willow don’t you think?

Here I catch a pic of Willow checking out the submarine moat.

At the ice palace, Willow was totally enamored with the agility dogs, peering through the fence to get a better look. I wonder if she’d like agility? She might.

Here I grabbed a photo that makes it look like I’m almost using a fisheye lens, of Cooper. Don’t know why I’d get that effect with my point and shoot, but whatever.

We looked around for a bit, met up with our friends from WHARF (who we foster kittens for), and then we headed out (not before Heather stopped by Chapters of course).

First, caught this picture of Cooper relaxing on a blanket in the “crew lounge” … god the lighting sucks in there.

Next, Lucy Jane wrapped herself in a blanket.

Finally, Cooper injured his foot late last week, and is now on antibiotics and needs to soak his foot every couple of days for the next while … and needs to keep a bootie on it. As you can tell, he’s not too happy about this prognosis.

Heather convinced me to take the new SLR out to the dog park last Sunday; here’s what we ended up with.

Just taking a few more shots in early October of the animals in and about the house.

First shot is of foster kitten Zola Jesus, perched atop the cat tree. She’s looking at me weird, like either (a) she’s not sure about this whole pre-flash thing; or (b) she wants me to stay the hell away from her food.

Willow’s just relaxing on the floor in a blanket.

Lucy Jane is also curious; caught her on the stairs, not sure whether she wants to go up or down.

Heather and I had to go down to Calgary yesterday, and decided to take Cooper and Willow with us. Here they are scampering around Nose Hill Park, the highest point in the city.

Long story made short, I’m now responsible for taking the dogs to the dog park on both Saturday morning, and Sunday morning. I keep meaning to try the new Deermound park in the southeast, but since Laurier is only about a seven minute drive away, it’s the de facto default.

Sunday morning Willow was having a hoot running through the tall grasses. As wet as they were, everyone meeting us on the way back out kept commenting that she’d been in the river. Nope, just the grasses. She does like to be wet, though. Which is odd for a sheltie.

Honest to goodness, this photo wasn’t even staged. I just came downstairs from grabbing a drink one night, and Cooper and foster cat Zola (who’s still available if anyone needs a nice, sedate cat) were all wrapped up tight as a bug.

I’ve known a lot of cats who were fans of baths. Bubble baths in particular. Something about the motion and the sound of the bubbles, fizzing, popping, dissipating, just enthralls them to no end. But foster cat Veronica Falls (aka Fuzz) takes that another step further – she cannot NOT be in the bathroom during bubble baths. Even when Heather isn’t even in the tub yet.