Shelby Farms Park

Having two young, energetic boxers, I often thank my lucky stars that Ryan and I live less than five minutes from an off-leash dog park. For those of you dog park naysayers...this is no ordinary park. For starters, it is over 200 acres, and is filled with ponds, wooded areas and open fields for those boxer burns. Second, it's not one of those parks where you take your dog and just watch them wreak havoc with other dogs. This place, called Shelby Farms Park, is just as much a place for Ryan and I as it is for the dogs. We love to walk and be outside, and the dogs get to play in such a unique, open space. I think they get tired just from their little sniffers working overtime, let alone all that running they do.

Since Kaia and Boomer need so much exercise to burn off that boxer energy, we take them to the park every night. And why not? It's such a beautiful time of the year here right now. The grass is green, trees have their leaves and the flowers are blooming with that wonderful springtime aroma. A few Saturdays ago, we spent two hours just walking, letting the dogs play and snapping pics as we went along.

We love going here so much that when friends visited a few weeks back, we took them, too! Carmen and Jay brought their (extremely handsome) black lab, Dallas, who, in true retriever fashion, spent most of his time in the water. Jay would throw the buoy out as far as he could, and Dallas would just charge in after it. Kaia waited patiently at the water's edge, and would try to steal the buoy from him upon his return:


Right now, it's a beautiful, sunny, 85 degree day (YES, you heard me, 85!), and Ryan just called to say he's taking the pups to the park now. No fair, I'm stuck on the wrong side of the window here at work :(