Focht Family Blog

Nathan and I decided we couldn’t NOT have a mastiff. I had always told him that if we were not showing anymore I wanted a brindle because I love their coloring. So… we found a family that had two 6 month old brindles left from their litter near Milwaukee, WI. We started driving on Tuesday afternoon. We left Pennsylvania around 2:00. We made it to a Walmart a few miles from the breeder’s house by 12:30 that night.

While we were driving we called the breeder to see if we could see his dogs before he went to work so at 6:30 in the morning we were looking at the brindle pups. We liked the apricot brindle’s colors better but she was very shy and we didn’t feel like that would work with our lifestyle. So… we left with the fawn brindle. They had figured they were keeping her and had named her Just Keep Swimming (Dory from Nemo). We our keeping her name since she is already 6 months old. We are ready for Disney now that we have Tinkerbell and Dory!! :)

Here is Timmy greeting the new dog:

We took a picture of Dory’s feet next to Tinkerbell’s feet while we were driving….

Unfortunately Dori has pooped in the RV 3 times now, so she was put in the extra crate as punishment. It reminded Nathan of the giraffes in the circus train from Dumbo…

This morning Timmy went with Nathan to walk the dogs. I looked out and Timmy was walking Dory so I had to get a picture…

We decided to go into the city on Saturday because Nathan could come with us. I am glad he did because I don’t think I could have waved down a cab to save my life. :)

The campground we stayed at was a five block walk to a PATH train that takes you into the city. Here is Nathan and the kids sitting waiting for the train.

Our first stop was Build-A-Bear. I promised the kids lunch at the Eat With Your Paws Cafe. We started out trying to walk and apparently I remembered the address wrong because we walked about 5 blocks and finally called and found out we were about 20 blocks away from the store so Nathan waved over a cab and we had the cab drive us. Here are the kids sitting at lunch. The straws are bear faces.

The kids all got to choose a new animal to be stuffed. Samantha chose a beagle, mostly because it had a matching puppy that grandma bought her. Here is her beagle being stuffed.

Timmy chose a Pteranodon (sp?). It is a flying bird dinosaur. Grandma also bought him a baby version. :) Here is Timmy’s being stuffed.

Joshua chose a Cheetah. This is his first Build-A-Bear animal. He thinks it is baby Jaguar from Diego. Here is his Cheetah being stuffed.

After lunch and shopping, Nathan waved over another cab and asked to be taken to FAO but the cab driver didn’t understand or didn’t know where it was so the next stop was the 4 story Toys R Us in Times Square. Here is a picture of the Ferris wheel that is inside the store and a picture of Nathan and the boys in their car.

After spending more money at Toys R Us the kids were starting to get tired so we decided to skip FAO. Nathan decided to take one more stop at American Girl. He figured it would be fun for Samantha to go to all of the American Girl stores. While there I bought the boys Bitty Twin boys. Timmy got a blond boy and Josh a brunette. Timmy was upset that he doesn’t have pajamas to change his into so I guess I will have to get him some while we are in Atlanta. :)

The next two days we hung out at the RV while Nathan worked. We had a visit from one of the “Garnet Moms” while we were there. Joy lives in New Jersey about an hour or so away from where we were staying. She has five kids. She brought her two daughters, Katie and baby Emma as well as her Garnet Caleb (same age as Josh). Here is a picture of all of us together.

Unfortunately my health was getting worse so we decided not to go back to upstate New York and just go home so I could get in with my doctors in GA. I met with the allergist and he agrees that I need shots but is worried I will have a hard time finding doctors to give them to me. In college I had two vials of serum, I am now up to 4!! So for the first year I will have to get 4 shots once a week and then it decreases over the next four years. He says that at the end of five years I will not need any allergy medications. We will see.

I am also waiting to meet with an endocrinologist because although my thyroid levels are within normal range they are at the low end and I found lab results from 10 years ago that show my level was twice as much as it is now then, so we will see if that can get settled as well. Mom meets with her doctor on Friday to find out if he feels like she needs surgery or not. Misty is still having diarrhea although she has been on medicines since we have been home. I am hoping we all feel better soon.

The stew and mashed potatoes were delicious. Mom’s new diet does not include pineapple so instead of the pineapple upside down cake she chose a Boston Creme cake. Here is a picture of mom getting her cake delivered to her.

Everyone enjoyed the day. We spent most of the rest of the week watching the kids at the playground. They were sorry to say goodbye to their cousin Alex but we will be back in NY with her for the first week of July. Unfortunately, because of my allergies going crazy we will be going back to GA after that for a couple of months so I can get my health sorted out. Mom will still have her appointment with the surgeon in NY to have another opinion and to get her records but she will follow up with her doctor in Savannah and if they decide she needs surgery (every doctor has a different opinion on this) than she will have the surgery in Savannah.