Sunday Muddy Sunday...

Today we met up with another couple we know here in Luxembourg and took our boys for walk with Nadja, their female Akita.  It has been pretty damp here recently, and the trail along the river was exceptionally mucky.  However, this did not prevent a good time from being had by all...

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Rollingergrund Run

 

Today the boys were getting a bit ansy from having been inside for too long, so we went for a trail run in the forest behind our house (which is the Rollingergrund neighborhood of Luxembourg City).  I took this opportunity to try out a new app for my iPhone called EveryTrail, which allowed me to both record our run and take geotagged pictures along the way.  Very fun! 

However, Rufus and Cooper kept getting frustrated that I was continually stopping taking to take pictures...

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY RUFUS!

Rufus turned three today.  Where does the time go...

Rufus the day I picked him up (nine weeks old)

 

Rufus on a recent walk in the woods

The Battle for the Bed

Kelly recently discovered that one way to keep the dogs off the couch when we weren't in the room was to make their beds even more comfortable.  She did this by piling a second dog bed on top of the first.

This was an immediate hit.  However, it turned out to be a hit with both the dogs and the cats, and a bit of a power struggle ensued over who would get to lay on them.  Unfortunately for Nikita, the reality of pet politics is that size does matter...

Fortunately, Nikita has discovered that Cooper puts off a lot of heat, and that sharing a dog bed with him is not the worst thing..

Rufus the Lap Dog

Cooper and Rufus visit Aunt Tammy and Uncle Mike

Cooper and Rufus recently went with us for a visit to my cousin Tammy and her husband Mike who live near us in Kindsbach, Germany.

Cooper took an immediate liking to Mike (who used to be owned by a Great Dane himself).

Rufus seemed a bit forlorn that Cooper was getting all the attention (again), so Kelly pulled him onto her lap for some lovin'.

This thrilled him...

When it came time to go, Cooper felt compelled to give Mike a big hug, and extracted a promise that Mike and Tammy would come and visit us in Luxembourg soon with their two children.

   

All the excitement of the trip resulted in two VERY tired puppies.

A Walk in the Woods

We had some spectacular weather recently.

The boys convinced me to take them on a nice long trail run in the forest behind our house.  Kelly agreed to come along and take pictures.

First, we had to everyone leashed up using their Gentle Leaders.

When we got up to our usual place in the woods, I let them both off leash, and they went tearing down the trail toward Kelly.

They boys, as always, had a great time chasing each other through the woods, enjoying the crisp Autumn air.

 

After we got back, Kelly and I gave the boys a bath (for which they were long overdue).  Cooper, in particular, finds the process of getting a bath not at all enjoyable.  However, it always leaves him feeling giddy.

Rufus and Cooper's parents get married!

After much planning and preparations (with a move from Seattle to Luxembourg between the proposal and the actual event), Cooper and Rufus's parent finally got married.  The boys were sad they could not be there.  However, they do not have found memories of the last time they had to take an airplane trip across the Atlantic, so the decided to settle for pictures.

Rufus's dad was kind enough to put together a video montage of pictures from the wedding

The wedding

The reception

Finally, all the pictures from all the guests are in an online gallery here:

Cooper the "Ridge - Dane"

Although Great Danes have a reputation as being mellow "couch potatoes", no one told Cooper this.  He has always idolized Rufus, his big brother, and we suspect that Cooper considers himself an honorary Rhodesian Ridgeback.  We regularly take the boys for walks in the woods behind our house, and they invariably spend the first half hour or so playing chase among the trees.  This starts with us putting the boys in a "sit - stay", taking the boys off leash, and then releasing them to play.

Both Kelly and I love watching them bound through the trees, all athleticism and grace...

There usually a session of Rufus chasing Cooper, followed by Cooper chasing Rufus.

Missing Max

Max, our 1 1/2 year old Savannah recently went missing.  After much debate, Kelly and I had decided to start letting him and Nikita, his "sister" outside.  They were MUCH happier (and so were we, as Max had begun to be quite a brat).  However, Max failed to come home one evening about two weeks ago.  Kelly is in the US getting ready for our wedding, and I put off telling her for a four days hoping Max would show up.  Finally, I had to break the news to her and start posting fliers all over our neighborhood.  I also posted fliers along several of the many trails that crisscross the woods behind our house. 

After almost a week and a half and still no Max, I had begun to fear the worst.  As a last ditch effort, I posted more fliers even farther into the woods, and even dropped one off at the local animal shelter.  That evening, I got a call on my cell phone from a woman with a British accent who said simply "I just saw your cat".  I almost jumped out of my skin!  I got the details of where she had seen him last (about a mile or so from our house near a riding stable), and jumped in the car to find him.  When I got there, walked up into the woods calling his name, but nothing...  However, a few minutes later I got a call from the same woman saying that she was right behind him on the road not far from where I was!  I sprinted down there, and sure enough, he was in the bushes on the other side of a tall chain link fence.  I called his name, and he began meowing loudly.  I managed to find a hole and track him down. 

With him safe in my arms, I now had to maneuver him a half mile up the road to the car.  He was happy to see me, but a bit freaked out and not that happy about being held.   About half way to the car, another vehicle drove by, and he bolted into the woods again.  However, I was able to walk up behind him and call his name.  He hesitated, and then walked over and began rubbing on my leg.  I was then able to pick him up, get him to the car, and take him home.

Our house is the dot on the right, where the woman first saw max is the dot on the far left, and where I found him is the dot in the middle 

Since his return, he has been SO affectionate, both with me and with the other animals, especially the dogs (whose favorite inside game used to be "Let's Chase Max"). This is a picture of him curled up asleep with Cooper today.

Doggy Playdate with Akila

Rufus and Cooper enjoyed the very last day of August with their friend Akila.

Monkey Madness!

We LOVE Animoto (http://www.animoto.com). Here is a video Kelly made of her favorite "monkey" pictures.

Rufus and Cooper in Lux

I'm still trying to find time to finish up the blog posts from our Great American Road Trip this past June, as well as provide updates on the boys' adventures here in Europe. However, here is a fun video from some of their recent outings with their new friend, Akila.

RuedeBuhr Road Rage - Day Twelve

Today was mainly a travel day, so not much to report. After breakfast, Rufus laid down for a nice nap in the cool grass of the yard.

Rufus and Cooper then said their goodbye's to Cory.

Both boys have expressed an interest in becoming therapy dogs, and this is something we are likely to look into once they are a bit older.

We then loaded up and started the long drive to Santa Fe.

The drive was not that exciting, and Cooper got bored to the point were he even considered having a go at my laptop, despite the fact that he lacks opposable thumbs.

We finally arrived in Santa Fe that evening, and prepared the boy's dinner before going out for our own at Cafe Pasqual. Cooper, despite having slept in Harvey the RV most of the day, had quite an appetite.  This became evident as we were preparing his meal.

After dinner, we drove out to the RV park just outside the city, where we were treated to a spectacular starscape, the moon being new and the sky being crystal clear.

All the pictures from today can be found here.

We’re Back! Windows Live Writer team saves the day!

Brandon on the Live Writer team over at Microsoft stepped in to diagnose the issues we were having, and was able to point me at a preview version of Live Writer which addressed the issue we were having.

RuedeBuhr Road Rage - Day Eleven

We did not cover a lot of ground today, but we had a great time none the less.  After spending the night with my uncle in Chandler, AZ (a suburb of Phoenix).  After getting up and having breakfast, Kelly checked out some of my uncle's livestock.

Rufus went into the house to meet Cory, my cousin, who suffered brain damage in a car accident a few years ago.

Cooper made friends with Jack, Cory's therapy dog.

As the day wore on and grew hot, Kelly and I decided to take a dip in my uncle's pool.  Kelly in particular found the water a bit brisk (the weather having been cool for the preceding few days). 

The boys found the whole "jumping in the giant water bowl" thing to be a bit odd.

Rufus was intrepid enough to get his front feet in, but we could not coax either of them completely into the pool.

We then loaded up and drove down to my uncle's place south of Phoenix.  There, Kelly and the boys showed an intense interest in my uncle's emus.  

 

The emus showed at least as much interest in us as we showed in them.

We also met my uncle's mules.

 

The boys, harkening back to their encounter with mules at the Grand Canyon, were much quicker to make new friends.

While we were doing this, my uncles discussed potential uses for cast off farm machinery.

The day having grown hot, we retired to the house for drinks and a snack.  My uncle regaled us with stories about which my aunt expressed a degree of skepticism.

My cousin and her girls arrived, and the boys greeted them in the front yard.

The girls were also very happy to see Kelly again.

As evening approached, Kelly and I (as the new couple in town) were asked to pose for a few pictures.

Kelly also got a chance to hang out with my aunts, which she enjoyed enormously.

Drinks were consumed, and my cousin's girls somehow convinced me that it would be fun if we applied pool chalk to our noses.

 

Kelly was also convinced to join in this game.

Cooper, having had a big day by this point, crashed out.  Kelly stopped by for a snuggle with her boy before he dozed off.

After everyone left, Kelly and I played Preference with my aunt and uncle, and were able to pull off a stunning come from behind victory before we all headed off to bed.

All the pictures from today are available here.

Windows Live Writer has failed us...

We have been using Windows Live Writer to blog from the road.  However, it appears that an unaddressed bug in how Writer talks to Blogger is preventing us from putting up new posts containing pictures. 

Please stay tuned, as we hope to resume our regularly scheduled programming.

Cousin Ila plays with cousin Vihn

Ila is a great little Blue Healer puppy belonging to Kelly's sister.  She has a history of playing with both Cooper and Rufus, and recently spent some time entertaining little Vihn (Kelly's nephew).

RuedeBuhr Road Rage - Day Ten

After a good night's sleep in the cool desert air, we awoke and had a yummy breakfast of french toast with my cousin and her kids.

We then went with them for a drive around the RV park.

 

We then took a walk in the desert to wear down the boys.

Rufus got a chance to chase a rabbit, and returned very proud of himself.

Now that the day way growing hot and the boys were suitably tuckered out, we decided to head back to the campground.

We had all worked up quite an appetite, we loaded up and drove to a local diner.  I lent my camera to my cousin's little girl and she demonstrated her skill as a photographer.

She then "liberated" my cap, and had some fun with it.

   

Finally, we finished up our meal, said our goodbyes, and took the obligatory group picture.

We then loaded up and started the drive to Sedona.

Once there, Kelly and I took a break to check out the local Cold Stone Creamery for some ice cream.

We then started the drive south the Phoenix via Cottonwood, AZ.

We arrived after dark, and stopped in to pay a visit to the Cosmo Dog Park in Gilbert, AZ.  Unfortunately, we didn't take any pictures, but a grabbed one taken in the daylight from another website.

  Finally, dogs exhausted, we drove to my uncle's house, parked Harvey the RV, and bedded down for the night.

All the photos from today can be found here.