What do you do when your frenemies (third cousins) come for a visit? This lot stopped in for a visit with Miss P and she was not best pleased.

So off we went with the dog parents for some fun at the Manitou Arcade, a tourist trap in the heart of Manitou Springs.

There is a similarity to tourist tat throughout the world, but having a trough to pan for gold is somewhat unique and different.

And it is a lovely setting, and it would have been perfect; if it was not cool and rainy instead of the expected warm and sunny.   Also there were lots of actual tourists and they kept getting in the way, although Miss P did get plenty of love.

We did drop a certain number of quarters in the vintage pinball machines.    But I only came in second in the skeeball sort of horse racing game, so I missed out on winning a tiny coffee cup 🙁  I think the winner was some sort of pro.

So we had lots of laughs and it provided a perfect photo op.   Then it was off for some ice cream, even if it was cold.

One thing about life with Miss P, there is never a dull moment.   Of course there are aggravating moments,  sad moments, goofy moments, expensive moments, embarrassing moments, etc.

She does have that adorable face and curly fur, and she gets frequent compliments from total strangers about these.

She has a lot of appointments to go to; once a week she gets acupuncture and physical therapy for her back legs.   And she goes swimming as well to keep in shape, because a girl has to watch her figure.

Here she is at a political rally, with our congressman growing out of her head.   She gets around!

She’s a “lady who lunches”, out and about town.

In her never-ending quest to break the bank, she is a frequent visitor the the veterinarian’s office.    Her most recent visit came about because of two incidents:   She takes a lot of pills, and a spoonful of liver sausage makes the medicine go down (I think that there is a song about this).   I foolishly threw the outer plastic wrapper in the trash.   This is apparently an open invitation to raid the trash can in dog language, so she did.    And then she was up several times in the night needing urgently to go outside, the brat.   The other incident was not really her fault, she stepped in a gopher hole and fell on a cactus!    Curse you, evil gophers.   So I pulled out the more obvious cactus spines, but I couldn’t really see the tiny spines, so it was off to the vet’s office.    They did try not to laugh, but it was a unique and goofy problem.

I stole this idea for a picture from the internet, but I think it totally fits her personality, half dog and half rampaging monster (not sure if it’s 50/50).   But I love her and she is a special dog, at least to me.

Miss P just had her 12th birthday.  Of course I have no idea when she was actually born, but she came into our life on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, so that is the official holiday.   She is not doing well and my veterinarian suggested that I count my blessings and make a list of all the things that make her a great dog.

She was awarded the title “Miss Monkey Paws” of 2004, 2005, 2006 etc. because she likes to use her paws for everything!

She has a great nose for mischief and can smell a bit of dropped food (like this desiccated pizza) at 50 feet and if she finds it, it’s hers! (Unfortunately, she can also detect dead birds, rabbit poo and other revolting things).

She has always been a ‘wiggle butt’, when she is happy she doesn’t just wag her tail, she gets everything moving.

She loves the water and is part-mermaid.   She has a wading pool in summer, and will try and bite the stream of water from a hose. Although she tries, she has never been able to stop the evil hose monster, no matter how hard she bites it.

Squeaky toys are also evil, and need to be destroyed as quickly as possible.   Her latest birthday present lasted 4 minutes.

She has beautiful naturally curly hair, especially right after her bath.

And people often comment on her beautiful face.

That’s because they don’t see this face, when she has been using her monkey paws to get into trouble. 😉   She is my perfect partner in crime, and I love her.