A walk in the park

Poor Thatdog. He's being neglected lately and he's sure to let us know. This morning he looked up at the two of us with his saddest dogface ever to remind us how we leave him alone all day.

We tried to make up for our bad parenting by taking him on an extra special excursion this weekend. We didn't want to go to a beach, because it's been so warm, we were concerned about him getting overheated. And while I suggested spending the day in an air conditioned Petco, Thatboy wanted something a little more outdoorsy.

So we decided to head to the park down the street. Well, a little ways down the street, but I still consider it our "'hood" since it literally is down the street from my gym.

The park is kind of divided into two parts - one is green, shady, and woody:

And the other is more deserty/arid.

We started on the hot, dry, deserty side because that's where all the "fun stuff" was. Thatdog decided he was NOT a fan of rope bridges. (He must take after me) He was also very timid about the lookouts posted throughout the park - accessible only by crossing a log-like balance beam.

It took a lot of coaxing and several trys to get him up on the first one.

But after that he was a pro - well, except for the one with the big hole in the middle of the log. He looked at Thatboy like "Um are you crazy? We'll fall right through!"

Thatdog reminds everyone that when you're outside in the hot sun, it's important to drink LOTS of water to stay hydrated.

We headed over to the green side for a shady hike under trees, and also got to play on the grass by one of the duck ponds.

At the duck pond, Thatdog made friends with a group of kids who tried to tickle him with feathers. Although they were disappointed he wasn't ticklish, they delighted in petting him and telling him what a good dog he was. And he was a good dog - finally getting the attention he deserves!

A couple more recipes from Animal, Vegetable, Miracle - combined because they were both good (shocking) AND because they both utilize zucchini. (One of my favorite veggies I can usually get Thatboy to eat) The idea of zucchini chocolate chip cookies didn't strike me as unusual, having grown up with Thatmom's AMAZING zucchini chocolate chip bread. Thatboy didn't even notice the zucchini in the orzo, but he DEFINITELY noticed them in the chocolate chip cookies.

TB: What is that? LIME? You know I don't like lime and chocolate!
TG: It's not lime. It's zucchini. You know, like my mom's zucchini chocolate chip bread?
TB: But that's BREAD! These are COOKIES!

Despite his protest, Thatboy really enjoyed the cookies. And when he brought some in to H the next day he had me warn her "there be zucchinis in them thar cookies." I gave the same warning to my coworker when I brought her in her own bag - so far no complaints!

Disappearing Zucchini Orzo (recipe available at animalvegetablemiracle.com)

Local Ingredients Used:

Thyme (Hillcrest Farmer's Market)

Zucchini Chocolate Chip Cookies (recipe available at animalvegetablemiracle.com)