Decisions, Decisions (Happy Halloween!!!)

We interrupt Brutus' Earlventure posts for some obligatory Halloween fun!  It's come down to the wire, but the Frenchies are still trying to make up their minds on what to be for Trick-or-Treat this year.  Maybe you all can help...

Ever notice that there are qualities about someone that just shout for a particular costume?  That's where this idea came from - Brute just has the face for it!  I swore I'd never use a dog costume that had arms, but to say this first one is a popular choice is an understatement (the photo's gone viral on Facebook).  Not sure how Brutus feels about being a villian, though... 

I sense the force is strong with you...

Darth Brutus contemplates the allure of the dark side.

I mean...  The facial resemblance is uncanny, no?

Then we were going through our Halloween supplies, and ran across some old things of Duncan's.  They met with mixed reviews form Brute.

Oh, no.  No.  You've got to me kidding me!

This costume is making me crabby.

Then I pulled out something a little more appropriate.  I think this one gets Brutus' vote.  He CAN fly after all, we just need an action shot of Super Brutus!

MUCH more distinguished.  I'm definitely superhero material!!

Do I hear a damsel in distress??  Super Brutus up, up & awaaaaaaaaay!

Such a well-attired dog as Brutus has to have something more comfortable to change into for the "after-party", so here is this years' choice:

I gotta be me, after all!

OK, now for Carmen.  She's a little more of a challenge - partly because we had no "girly" costumes, and partly because she tried to eat everything I put on her!! 

Nope.  Off the mark with the witch hat.  What else ya got, mom?

I was trying to keep it simple for Carmen, so thought maybe this cute spider costume would do the trick.  It was supposed to be a hat, but she kept grabbing the legs that dangled around her head and thought the ankle cuffs were fun to chase.  After a few minutes of failed attempts, we bailed on the spider idea too.

Aaaahhhh!  Spider!

It got me mom...  Don't know if I'm gonna make it...

When actual costumes weren't working, I tried the utilitarian approach; just a simple T-shirt.  That worked until she found out Brutus wore it last year & she didn't want a hand-me-down.

Oh, come on.  I need something more... ME!

Finally I found something fit for my little Drama Queen.  Simple, elegant.  Very Carmen.

Now, where are my minions??

It's good to be the Queen.

If you think I'm taking this crown off, you are most mistaken.  It needs to become part of my daily attire!

And then of course my little diva needed to have something in case she got any invitations to a Halloween Ball.  She was completely comfortable in this snappy little number, actually wore it for over an hour and never even tried to roll it off!

Hey, boys....

Eat your hearts out!

Mason didn't feel like playing dress-up this year, plus Paul gets irked when I put clothes on his dog.  Thought about just draping a sheet with eye-holes over Mason and making him a labraghost (he'd just sit there), but thought I'd let the ol' boy keep at least a little of his dignity.  Instead, here's a recycled image from last years' Halloween post so that Mason doesn't feel left out here.

Your feeble attempts at humor fail to amuse me.

So from all of us - Darth Brutus, the Drama Queen, batty Mason, myself & Paul (who's birthday just happens to be today...) - hope you all have a super-Happy Halloween!  

Now get out there and score some treats!!!

Psst.... Brutus!  Trick or Treat!!

Coming to you from Fort Wilderness

Mornin' everyone!   Brutus here again, reporting from the wilds of Fort Wilderness... wherever the heck that is.  Still working on that mystery, but wanted to let you know that we are alive & well, and won't rest until this mystery is solved!

We continue to see strange signs all over this place.  That funny-looking Frenchie profile with the round ears is just everywhere!!  I think I heard someone refer to it as a "Mickey".  Hmm.  Not a very good name for a Frenchie in my opinion, especially not a famous one.

Anyways, he pops up in the strangest places, often on random, everyday objects.  Like manhole covers (look closely)...

Power lines....

Even the plants and food around here seem to end up resembling his shape.  Very weird.

His likeness turns up in the oddest places, even on our walks.  You can't tell me these pine cones just fell this way...  

Mom and dad keep disappearing everyday, and frankly - we're starting to get a little worried.   They've come home smelling really weird, and showed us pictures of these crazy creatures they've been hanging out with!!  I tell ya, I don't know what kind of strange beasts live in this part of the country, but mom seems to really be interested in them!

Mom said her name was Maria, looks like they got along pretty well, should I be concerned??

They must of have really hit it off, Maria even took mom for a walk  er...  swim.  Geez, I can do that!  Just get out my life jacket for pete's sake!

She and Dad also spent part of the day with some flying bathmats.  At least that's the best I can figure what they are... 

Great, mom was even petting them.  What could possibly be so cool about a flying bathmat?

Hey - how did Mason get out there?  I didn't think he even liked to swim???

Oh, wait a minute...  Mason's right here.  Clearly you could see how I was mistaken, there is an obvious resemblance!!

Speaking of dogs, get a load of this!  Even dad has been out there making unapproved new friends...  Who is this guy???

Take a closer look.  I mean... He has his own STATUE!  Sheesh!  I don't even have one of those, and I'm MUCH better looking!

So there you have it - incriminating evidence I'd say.  Wherever they've been off playing, we're stuck back here.  You'd think the "happiest place on earth" would be more dog-friendly...  While mom & dad relive their childhoods, we're limited to the areas that say this:

Guess it's better than nothing...  But do you have to call me a "pet"?  I'm part of the family, you know!

Mason, Carmen, and I have been putting our heads together (Ouch! Mason, that hurt!!) and I do think we're getting close to the bottom of this mystery.  

By the time I post again, I vow to you to have it figured out!  For now, mom's home & wants to take us for a walk!  Let's go Carmen...

Later, taters!!

Well, are ya' coming???

(almost) Wordless Wednesday: Traveling Edition

What in the world is mom doing with us here???

Gosh - I'm stumped, Carmen.

Yeah - sorry, Brute... Me too!!

On the Road Again

Hey everybody!  Sorry to keep you in suspense, mom is being a bad blogger AGAIN!  Does she think that being on the road is any excuse for not keeping up with my blog?  Sheesh...  So once again, I will pick up the slack and try to catch you all up on where we've all been in Big Earl!  I'm playing catch-up here, so by the time you read this our adventure will already be behind us.  Still, I insisted to mom that you all need to know where we've been, so let the story of our Earlventure begin!

This is Carmen's first official trip, but it seemed like she had no problem relaxing and making her self at home.

We drove for almost two whole days, just stopping a few times for gas and a short night's rest.  As comfortable as Big Earl is, it still seemed like forever.   I was starting to wonder if you could get around the world by road! Here's a few of the signs we saw on the way down  - I guess the humans need things like this to know where they are

Hey, look - Mason has a whole town named after him!

Hm, Kentucky.  Never been here before.

Apparently I was sleeping, no ears in this picture!

Georgia on my mind!

Sounds like a nice enough place!

Through all that time on the road, we did an awful lot of this:

and this,

...and this.

At long last dad guided Big Earl off the highway and we were all anxious to see where on earth we had ended up.

Are we there yet?????

FINALLY we pulled into a driveway marked by this sign:

 

When Dad backed Big Earl onto a this little pad and put out the slides, we knew we were "home."

So we are "here", but where the heck are we??  I keep seeing all sort of versions of this shape:

Looks suspiciously like my very own profile, don't you think?  Hm, maybe I better have a word with the management here about copyright infringement...

Anyways, mom told us to get comfortable, that we'll be here for a week.  Mom also says that since she and dad will be busy, I can have free reign of the laptop while they're away.  The whole idea is for me to keep you posted on what we're all up to (since mom is absolutely lousy at that these days).   It's also my job to keep these other two hooligans in line.  A tall order for sure!

Dad keeps saying we are at "the happiest place on earth", for whatever that's worth.  I'll be back to let you know what we pooches think of it.  Apparently they have a saying around here, and since it seems appropriate way to end this post: