Just Another Day at the Beach

So continuing our beach vacation recaps from 3+ months ago (geez...where did the summer go?!), here's where we stayed.  We rented a three bedroom (one for us and one for each dog - just kidding) beach house, just a few hundred feet from the beach.  We had unobstructed views of the beach from the front deck and could sit outside and listen to the waves.  It was absolutely lovely.  

When you walked through the front door, you were right in the main room.  It was bright and airy and cool.  Such a nice contrast from the scorching hot heat outside.

We had a nice kitchen where we could make ourselves lunch everyday.  We made dinner in a few nights, but we love going out to eat on vacation -- and since this county is super-dog friendly and we could take the pups to dinner with us, we went out to eat most nights.

Master bedroom, with sliding glass doors to the front porch (and ocean)

Mally's bedroom.

Sage's bedroom.

They loved the house.

On a typical day, we'd get up in the morning, pack up all our gear and haul it down to the beach to set up camp.  We had all the essentials, an umbrella, 2 beach chairs, cooler full of beer and limes, water jug full of water (for the dogs), iPod with waterproof speakers, fishing poles (for Ryan), and a book (for me).  Not a bad set up.  And you can see our beach house behind us.

Ryan would do some swimming.

And so did Mally.

This is Mally's version of swimming...her feet are wet!!

That counts for something, right?

Sage wasn't interested in chasing waves.  

She hung out in the tide pools and rolled around in the sand.

She ended up eating a lot of sand too.

It must have been delicious.  

I was hoping a nice long beach vacation would be just the thing
to get Mally and Sage to bond and inspire a little sisterly love.
But noooooo...
 Our two brats could not even walk next to each other without fighting.  

Sage would instigate it by crowding Mally, jumping on her, bumping into her, knocking her over.

Mally would retaliate with teeth baring, snarling, barking and growling.  

It didn't bother Sage one bit. 

Mally got a stern talking to from her dad about tolerance and acceptance, which she completely ignored.

Every now and then, we'd take a stroll up or down the beach to get some exercise and wear those dogs out.

Ryan would run them up the beach with the pups.

And then I would call them back to our camp with a loud,

"WHO WANTS A TREAT?!"

Full speed, all 4 feet off the ground, mad dash to the treats.

To say that Sage is "food motivated" might be a bit of an understatement.

Food might be her sole purpose in life.

Well, food, swimming and annoying her sister.

"WHERE'S MY TREAT, MOM? WHERE IS IT, WHERE IS IT?"

"Look how pretty I sit, mom.  Can I have a treat now?"

As Mally looks at her in complete disgust.  

"Have you no shame, Sage?"

If you sit very still for a picture, you can have a treat.

Bribery works every time.

And then it was time for another roll in the tide pool to cool off.

Mally spots a fisherman down the beach that she must go bark at.

And then she's back in the water to get her paws wet.

How refreshing.

Sage doesn't see the point of staying dry.

Or clean.

She's having too much fun stalking crab and digging them out of their holes.

And eating more sand, while she's at it.

It's a rough life, being a beach dog...

But someone's gotta do it.