Pup in Pool

As promised here are some Gus updates. On Friday Gus went to his second to last puppy training class. There are four other dogs in his class, and if we were to give out puppy superlatives Gus would most likely get class clown. At the beginning of the class all of the puppies get to play with each other, and Gus is quite the comical little pup. He tends to be moderately submissive rolling over on his back for even the smallest of dogs (a few times even sprinkling them in the face with an excited tinkle...oopsies!). We had finished covering new material in the class and practiced the test that the dogs will have to take next week in order to graduate. Gus was incredibly ADD and ended up with 3 minuses (2 of which were in categories he always performs) out of 9 categories. Needless to say my mom is now questioning if he'll even graduate (which he will). Stay tuned for graduation updates (and pictures!!) next week! Class and the horrible thunderstorm that we had on Friday night tuckered Gus out, but that didn't stop him from wanting to play on Saturday!
On Saturday Chris and I went in the pool. Before I go into much more detail a little background on the history of my family's dogs and pools is required: prior to welcoming Gus into our family, we had a yellow lab named Valentine. She was a sweet dog and quirky to say the least especially because she hated the pool. If you have any familiarity with labs they LOVE the pool. I think I traumatized her at a young age by trying to carry her in (something I have since learned you should never do with a dog...oopsies again!). With that small tidbit of history now understood, Chris and I were very excited at the prospect of Gus liking the pool. Unlike most 'water' dogs that will just jump in the pool (especially if people are already in the water or a ball is thrown in), Gus would just hang out on the edge of the pool when Chris and I were in seemingly expressing a slight desire to be in there with us but not enough of one to actually make the jump. A few weeks ago we had enticed him to get in the pool by putting treats on a cushion that we held up to the edge of pool, but this time that didn't seem to be doing the trick. We finally got him using ice as a lure and getting him to hop on a float that I was already seated in. He freaked out at first and then loosened up as he realized he enjoyed floating around and not getting all too wet. We eventually got him to actually swim which he still seems to be warming up to. Right now we all like to say he has a healthy fear of the water where he won't get in on his own but enjoys it when we're there. Below are some of the pictures of Gus's pool adventure!

After Gus's eventful Saturday, it was time for a low key Father's Day. If there's one thing to learn about my family it's that we do holidays right...especially in the food department. My mom made a great strata for after Mass (it has egg, bacon, sausage, and bread all cooked as an egg casserole of sorts...if you couldn't guess, I got my love of cooking/baking from my mom). She then prepared a phenomenal and very time intensive dinner that seemed to very much please both my dad and grandpa. She also had the idea to 'bake' a peanut butter pie. Some background on this pie: back in the day when Food Network was still new and Emeril Lagasse (yea the guy who trademarked the term BAM) was one of the reigning stars, we saw a recipe for Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Pie. My mom used to make it quite frequently considering how time intensive it is and it was always a big hit with whatever crowd she brought it to. My dad is a HUGE peanut butter nut (which stinks for Chris since he's allergic, but it's ok last night he made amazing brownies...it's one of his favorite things to make and he even tweaks the box mix...impressive for a 14 year old boy) so this pie is perfect for him. Since I was the one who went to Publix yesterday to get the supplies I was also the one who took on the task of making the pie after only having made it once before for my friend Olivia's birthday our second year at UVa. The pie itself is pretty easy to make but takes a decent amount of time as it has to set for two hours two separate times. I also (as you are getting used to I'm sure) enhanced the recipe quite a bit making my own decisions about how much peanut butter and other ingredients should actually go into the pie. While this blog is about my summer cupcake challenge,  I figured I'd share a picture of the pie since it was such a huge hit...enjoy!

Coming next: I will hopefully take on making high hat cupcakes for Chris's birthday, but my baking might be interrupted this week as my dad should be having surgery tomorrow...keep checking back for more!