Summer 2010 pictures!
Ruthie's ready to start the trip, as you can see. Are you?
Gizmo looked disgruntled. "I'm here too," he said. "It's not just you."
Ruthie growled. "It's mostly my story," she yipped. "You don't know half the people in it."
"So?"
"I remember this," Ruthie mused. "Mom and grandma were complaining about the length of the highway in New Brunswick with absolutely no other people. This was our pit stop, halfway through."
Gizmo blinked. "I think the complaining had something to do with mom's tires," he offered. "Remember? That irritating noise would go off, mom would start barking, and Big Sis would start laughing."
"People don't bark, Giz."
"My mom does."
"Aww, aren't we cute?"
"Like Big Sis hasn't posted dozens of pics of you already," Gizmo scoffed.
"My mommy loves me and I happen to be extremely photogenic," Ruthie sniffed. "Do you have a problem with that?"
"......I'm taller."
"Oooh, good come-back."
"Oh, ick." Ruthie rolled her eyes. "I couldn't believe it when I saw you heading for that puddle."
"Neither could Mom," Gizmo chortled. "It was like a scene out of the movies - you know, where the guy makes that slow-motion flying leap screaming, 'noooOOOOOOOOOOooooooo! But I was faster." He grinned, wagging his tail. "It felt really good, nice and cool. And squishy!"
"You are such a boy," Ruthie sighed, rolling her eyes.
"Those things scared me," Ruthie said frankly. "They were too big."
"Agreed," Gizmo said, nodding his head. "But the little one wasn't too bad."
"Little one?"
Gizmo pointed. "That little one."
Ruthie squinted. "I don't remember seeing that one," she admitted.
"You were too busy running back to the house to cuddle with your mama."
"You say that like it's a bad thing."
"That Max was one hyper pup," Gizmo said, shaking his head. "Auntie Lindsay has her hands full."
"He's young," Ruthie replied. "He'll grow out of it eventually. We did."
"Were we ever that young?"
"Oh yeah," Ruthie smirked. "I saw the photo mom gave to grandma of you when you were barely out of the nursing stage."
Gizmo flattened his ears. "Aw, man..."
Gizmo blinked at the picture. "Now, I know I met those two but I don't know them. Who are they?"
"That's Grampa teaching Uncle Pete to play the noisemaker - I mean, the guitar," Ruthie said, pointing them out. "Grampa doesn't like being called Grampa but Mom does it anyway. I like Uncle Pete. He's nice to me."
"Why don't I get to play with Uncle Pete?"
"Because we like Uncle Pete and you have a habit of biting people, that's why," Ruthie snapped.
"Oh yeah."
"Wake up Mandy, don't sleep in Mandy, time is short Mandy," Ruthie said sarcastically. "Then mom gets up, gets dressed and goes upstairs to see this."
Gizmo whuffed in amusement.
"I don't like that machine," Ruthie said primly. "It's loud, it hurts my ears and it took mommy away from me for five whole hours." She sniffled. "I was left home alone, abandoned, bereft of companionship while she and Grampa drove around New Brunswick. Without me. Did I mention I was alone?"
Gizmo rolled his eyes. "You seem to have survived," he pointed out.
"On the outside. Inside, I am still wounded."
"A picture of the sights mom saw when she was gallivanting around the province. Without me."
"Oh, get over it," Gizmo growled.
"There's me! There I am!" Ruthie yipped happily. "Aren't I cute?"
"Was this taken on our way back to Ontario?"
"Yup. And you can't see in this pic, but I was in your bed--"
"Funny how that happened," Gizmo snarked.
"--on top of a blanket that was on top of the cooler. The ceiling was like, half a human hands span away from my head."
Gizmo sighed. "I had hoped for at least one pothole large enough to make you hit--"
"HEY!"
"I remember this!" Gizmo said with a lolling grin.
"So do I," Ruthie said darkly. "This was the time of the forced death march with Grandma, Aunt Sue and Aunt Jen."
"You're over-reacting," Gizmo admonished. "I love going for walks on Merrit Island."
"Yes," Ruthie growled. "Walks. Not 3 kilometer hikes in the burning sun."
"It wasn't that bad!" Gizmo objected.
"See? There were ducks!"
"Complete with duck poop." Ruthie made a disgusted face. "All over my paws."
"And there's where I nearly drowned," she shouted, aiming her paw at the picture.
"You did not! You followed me when I jumped off the dock!" Gizmo interrupted. "You had a leash on you and everything - you wouldn't have drowned!"
"And the gods only know what was in that water!" she shrieked. "It was filthy!"
"And cool," Gizmo countered. "Remember how hot we were? Complain all you want but you weren't panting when you finally got out."
"Minor details," she muttered.
"Now see, this? This was just embarrassing," Ruthie said.
".....I have to agree," Gizmo said. "Being banished to the trunk because we got a little wet. Like water ever hurt anything."
"I have never been banished to a trunk before," Ruthie sniffed. "I was left alone--"
"I was with you."
"And scared--
" You curled up and dozed all the way home."
"And cold--"
"It was hot out and we were almost dry by then."
"STOP INTERRUPTING ME."
"That's Auntie Sue buying her Jersey Boys t-shirt after the show," Gizmo said.
"Yet another time I was abandoned--"
"Get over it already, would you?"
"That's my house!" Gizmo wagged his tail."What were you doing?"
"I was watching mom put mulch into the garden."
"Mulch..." Gizmo's eyes suddenly lit up. "Oh yeah! That stuff they put on the dirt! I love that stuff!"
Ruthie snorted. "Well, mom and Grandma didn't like having to replace it every time you dug it up."
Gizmo looked blank. "So?"
"Exactly."
"You weren't here for it but that's the walkway Big Sis helped my mom make two summers ago."
"I see."
"And here's another close-up of me!"
"Gee, I wonder who Big Sis's favorite is," Gizmo sulked.
"Now, now - no pouting, Gizmo," Ruthie scolded him. "It's my mommy - of course she's going to take mostly pictures of me. Your mommy takes pictures of you."
"No, she doesn't," Gizmo said with a scowl. "She keeps forgetting how to upload pics, and now she's lost her camera."
"Oooh, awkward."
"What is that?" Ruthie asked, wrinkling her nose.
"It's a white goose," Gizmo explained. "Aunt Ginny - she's the one on the right without feathers - was lecturing the goose as it walked across the property. Apparently it's not supposed to be there."
"Uh-huh."
"And that's Auntie Gin's new house. It's pretty even if the outside isn't quite finished yet. Grandma and Big Sis had the grand tour."
"Another trip where I was abandoned... for three days even."
"*sigh*"
"That's the view from the end of the road where Aunt Gin lives," Ruthie explained. "See? In the background, you can just make out the Hamilton bridge."
Gizmo looked hopeful. "Any more geese?"
"Hi grandma!" Ruthie waved her paw enthusiastically. "Hi Auntie Gin!"
"You didn't even see Auntie Gin this year," Gizmo muttered.
"Don't be a spoilsport. This was taken at Cora's brunch place. Mom had raspberry crepes and smoothies and fruits and I didn't get anything."
"Neither did I," Gizmo realized. "I think I need to have a chat with Mom."
"An' that's Aunt Sue with Mom," Ruthie finished the introductions. "Still at Cora's."
"I never get brunch," Gizmo grumped.
"Another death march!" Ruthie moaned.
"Another walk along the canal, you mean," Gizmo corrected her.
Ruthie sent him a baleful stare. "I know what I said."
"What is it? Kill it!" Gizmo barked fearfully.
"It's a baby, you nimrod," Ruthie said, rolling her eyes. "That's Mom's friend Candy and her baby Seppi - but mom calls him Maclet."
"I know what it is," Gizmo whined. "And anything that shrieks out that kind of tortured wailing should be humanely put out of its misery!"
"It wasn't injured." Ruthie was trying to remain patient. She lived with her mother and 2 cats - she was capable of this. "It was hungry."
"It was LOUD."
"Well, yeah, that's a given."
"Oh god, it's trapped Big Sis!" Gizmo wailed.
"Oh brother." Ruthie buried her face under her paws.
"That's Candy's other kid Thea getting her nails done," Ruthie said. "It was a nail party."
"Nail party?" Gizmo looked at his claws. "The paint smells bad - I don't think it would taste very good."
"I think I'd look pretty with purple nails."
"Not pink?"
"Mom would never let me have pink nails," Ruthie grouched. "She's so oppressive."
"Obviously back home again," Gizmo observed.
"Cats kind of gave it away?"
"A little." Gizmo studied the picture. "Which one is which again?"
"Yuki's the white one. The one snuggling up to Mikey is Sammy."
"He's cuddling with her turtle toys?" Gizmo winced. "I once ate one of her action figures. She threw a fit."
"Nah, it's cool. She let's them snuggle."
"Man, she's mellowed over the years."
Ruthie blinked. "Whoops - that's it. No more pics!"
Gizmo stretched, flexing his claws. "Good thing too - I'm getting hungry. Gonna go find my mom and get lunch."
"My mom's still at work," Ruthie sighed. "I think I'll grab a nap instead."
"Cool. Beware of the cats, Ru. See you next summer?"
"Definitely. Later Gizzie!"
"Don't call me Gizzie!"
~ The End ~