For the love of dogs: January 2011

This post is a journal of our 2010 Christmas vacation in the Catskill Mountains of New York! I apologize for the delay in publishing this journal but I wanted to post only the best pictures out of the 800 clicks from our Catskills trip and that was one 'BIG’ job- the editing! So here it goes-

On the 23^rd of December 2010, the three of us drove to Big Indian, New York for a fun vacation in the Catskills. We left pretty late in the evening so we didn’t get there until almost midnight! We were quite tired after the drive although it was only two hours on the road. I guess we were drained out from the rushed packing and other miscellaneous errands we had to run earlier in the day. When we reached our cabin in the Cold Spring Lodge, we felt so warm and welcomed by our hosts who had already set up the fireplace for us. They also gave us one of the best cabins in the Lodge. Like I mentioned in one of my earlier posts, Elwyn and I had already stayed at this lodge 3 years ago and last time we were given a different cabin which was quite nice too but this one was so much more spacious and lovely. The best part was that Walley got his own room in the cabin and you will see that in the pictures I’ve posted. Isn’t that awesome? We were really tired when we got to the cabin but the thrill of being in Catskills and warming up by the fireplace kept us awake for a few hours before we retired to bed! Walley spent the first half hour just sniffing around and checking out the entire cabin; every single room in it, to make sure everything was all right (for him and us) and I must say that our little munchkin was very excited to be in a new place. He almost believed that the cabin was going to be our new home. We wished it were true too! So anyway, after unpacking and unwinding over some red wine (Walley, of course, excluded from the wine), the three of us slept soundly for several hours.

We woke up at around 10 am on the 24^th after a very refreshing sleep. We had some light breakfast in the cabin before we got ready for Christmas Eve! It was a beautiful day outside, sunny and clear blue skies with snow on the ground. It had just snowed the day before we arrived at the Catskills so the snow was fresh and glistening because of the sun! We hadn’t really planned anything for Christmas Eve so we just decided to 'take it easy' and do some ‘surprise’ last minute shopping for Walley in Woodstock (a quaint little town about thirty minutes from our cabin). Elwyn and I drove to Woodstock in the afternoon and made our first stop in Candlestock to buy some beautiful candles for our Christmas celebration. I must tell you that if you ever visit Woodstock, you should check out Candlestock. This store has amazing candles and candle-stands and the place is simply fascinating! After Candlestock, we stopped at Woofstock (pet supply store) and bought lots of yummy treats for Walley! We had already bought a nice Christmas present from Orvis for Walley but we wanted to get him some delicious holiday treats from Woodstock too! After the shopping, Elwyn and I walked around the quaint little town of Woodstock for a while and were thrilled by what we saw! The town of Woodstock had organized a lovely Christmas Eve celebration with Christmas caroling and Santa Claus arriving on a sleigh! It was all so magical, just like I had read in books and watched in movies! Elwyn and I joined the crowd in singing some carols and took some pictures of the town’s Christmas tree and waited for Santa Claus to come by in his sleigh. It was surely freezing to be outside for a long time but we warmed up with some piping hot tea/coffee (FYI, I am a tea-person and Elwyn loves his freshly brewed coffee). The celebration was so much fun. We didn’t want to stay too long in Woodstock because we knew Walley was waiting for us in the cabin and we wanted to get back in time for our Christmas Eve dinner too! We got back to the cabin and fixed some dinner for Walley and us! Just so you know, Walley had a delicious Menu, set for him by the Wellness brand of Dog-food during his stay in Catskills. He had Beef Stew on Christmas Eve while Elwyn and I fixed some steak and mashed potatoes for us. One of the things that we really enjoyed at the Catskills was cooking our meals in the cabin every single day of our stay out there! From breakfast to dinner, we only ate in our cabin and we just loved it! We felt so much like being relaxed at home, making our own food! After dinner, the three of us settled on the couch and watched the famous Holiday classic, “How the Grinch stole Christmas”. That was our Christmas Eve! (And no, the mean Grinch didn't steal our Christmas!)

The next day was the 25^th and the much anticipated Christmas day! Initially, we had planned to open up our Christmas presents on Christmas morn but we changed our plans later as Elwyn had a special surprise for Walley and me and I will reveal it to you shortly! On Christmas morn, we had a nice breakfast in the cabin and as we were brunching, Elwyn and I reflected on all of our blessings in the past year, especially thanking the Lord for our Walley and his unconditional companionship! We are so thankful to God for our beautiful family and can’t wait for it to grow in size with our own babies some day! In the afternoon, the three of us spent a couple of hours playing in the snow! This was one of the best highlights of our Catskills trip and I am sure you will agree with me after seeing that video I posted a few days ago! Walley would just run in the snow like a reindeer and it was such a sweet thrill to watch him play in the snow! He even ate some snow (as you’ll may know, our munchkin loves to eat ice too!). Walley enjoyed his freedom of running around unleashed in the snow and there was luckily a vast stretch of land behind our cabin for Walley to unleash his energy by running and playing until he got tired! After our play in the snow, we went back to our cabin and got ready for the big surprise! The pleasant surprise for Walley and me (especially for Walley, since I was already aware of it) was Elwyn dressing up as Santa Claus for the evening! Yes! Elwyn dressed up as Santa Claus just for the two of us! At first, Walley failed to recognize Elwyn because of the disguise and his facial expressions were quite funny due to the confusion in his mind but when he did realize it was Elwyn dressed up as Santa, he was super-thrilled! Elwyn was sweet to surprise us this way because unlike last year, we didn’t get a chance to take pictures of Walley with Santa this year at Petco (the famous Pet store in the US) so thanks to Elwyn and his amazing surprise, we now have even more special memories of Walley with a very lovely Santa! Elwyn, being Santa Claus for the evening gave Walley his Orvis gift. Walley loves the brick puzzle toy we got him for Christmas. Also, he enjoyed his Holiday treats from Woodstock, which included some cookies, an oatmeal bone, chicken patties and a turkey 'gobble' bone! We took a video of Walley playing with his brick toy, which I will post in a few days. So what is the brick puzzle? It’s actually an amazing activity toy for dogs that love to eat ( Not that I know of any dog that doesn't love to eat!). Our Walley, being a big-time Foodie, thoroughly enjoys this puzzle. We hide treats under the bricks and Walley finds them using his nose and paws to slide the bricks. After Walley got his Christmas presents, Elwyn and I exchanged our presents too. How exciting! Christmas is truly the best time of the year! We fixed our dinner after opening up all of our presents and enjoying them. The special Christmas meal for Walley was Turkey and Duck Stew! Elwyn and I had steak again but we marinated it differently from the previous night. The two of us hadn’t eaten steak in ages so we really didn’t mind eating it on two consecutive days! After dinner, we relaxed and warmed up by the fireplace before retiring to bed!

On the 26^th, we were hit with a snowstorm so we stayed inside the cabin for most of the day. We only spent an hour playing in the snow outside with Walley. We mostly watched Holiday classics on television and thankfully we had some of our own DVDs as well. It was a very relaxing day for the three of us and considering that we were going to be heading back to New York City and getting back to the usual busy routine, we wanted to spend as much quality time as a family in the cabin as possible! In the evening, Elwyn and I celebrated our 4^th anniversary a little bit in advance. Our wedding anniversary in on the 29^th of December but we were so carried away by the beauty and serenity of Catskills that we thought it was only apt to celebrate our anniversary too! Catskills is truly a winter wonderland!! For dinner, we fixed some herb-breaded Chicken and creamy mushrooms and toasted to 4 years of blissful married life with a bottle of Champagne and Strawberry shortcake! Walley loves Strawberry shortcake too, so he enjoyed a share of the cake after his dinner of Chicken Stew!

The last day was the 27^th and it was the day we were heading back home to Manhattan so it was mostly a day of packing our bags and cleaning up the cabin! Before we left the Lodge, we spent an hour playing in the snow with Walley as the storm had just ended the night before and it was a beautiful day with clear blue skies and sun shining brightly! The three of us wanted to enjoy the last bit of our vacation to the max and actually that was the day Elwyn and I took several video clips of our munchkin running and playing in the snow. We always want to treasure every single memory of Walley and us and what better way to do that, than to capture our most cherished moments in the form of videos! I am sure you all enjoyed the video that I last posted of Walley and us playing in the snow! We still watch it at least once every day as it brings back such wonderful memories of our trip!

Well, that was our old-fashioned Christmas in Catskills. It was truly memorable and will be cherished by us in the years to come! The three of us just didn’t want to leave the Catskill Mountains and come home to Manhattan although we love our city so much! There was something magical about Catskills and we really wished we could stay there for much longer!

I know I have a written a really long journal of our Christmas vacation in the Catskills and the best part is yet to come- the pictures!! So I will stop typing now and let you’ll enjoy the lovely pictures below!

Enjoy your day and have a great weekend!!