After dire threats of rain by the weather service, today became sunny and balmy. I dumped the dirty dishes in the sink, rang Sue, and off we all headed to the park for a hike. Samantha was pretty tickled. She waves her arms and laughs with just when I open the door to the basement, pretty much just as excited as Ella gets for the same reason. We got to the flat rock for a picnic and everyone had a good time throwing Ella's ball, although Lucia decided for a while that it was her ball, which was fine with Ella. (it was pretty cute, actually) Ella thought she was supposed to chase Lucia and try to get the ball away. I was watching her like a hawk, but Ella kept her big paws on the ground, or at least off of Lucia, and a great time was had by all. Sam and Lucia crawled over Ella, which seemed to be fine, and Trajan found a great rock to sit on. He had a compass and binoculars so he wouldn't get lost. He managed to not get lost, although both Trajan and Lucia were very worried about Ella whenever she left the path and would truck right up the hills after her. It was really sweet to see those two little people so concerned about steady Ella, who can bound up sheer cliffs at lightening speed and come right back down again with no slips. Samantha found several rocks that seemed to have the right flavor and size, so we took them home with us.

We stopped in Winchester for a sandwich, and sat outside Starbucks with the crew and Ella. Sam did fine with Sue while I got some coffee, but she started screaming when I had to go back inside for something. Poor Sue, she has had Sam screaming with her far too often. I am really grateful for her patience. Once Sam got more comfortable with her surroundings, she started walking over to the next table and to the street if I had let her. She was waving at people. She is quite friendly and outgoing, once she gets settled in. The cutest thing was when Sam leaned over Ella to give Lucia a really big hug and a kiss. I think she learned that from Trajan and Lucia. They hug her all the time.

It was a special day. I have to say that in addition to being very proud of how well Sam is walking and interacting, I also was very proud of Ella's behavior. She didn't jump on anyone who didn't expressly ask her to, and she lay down next to me on the sidewalk while we ate. I am really enjoying her as an adult dog. I miss the puppy stage, but I really appreciate her better sense of control and good judgment about when it is appropriate to play and when it isn't.