it is no surprise that eliza has talked of and dreamt of
and planned for a dog wash for a long, long time.
thanks to an adult friend’s listening ear at a july 4th party,
the plans got really specific. and we just went for it.
with a couple of days notice, we sent an email to our area dog friends.
and eliza irene got to wash 4 dogs, not including sally
(who, ironically, never got washed).
randy, meagan and sara, you may not realize the joy you gave eliza.
she says she never thought it would be that good.
as usual, she wanted josie to stay longer.
(“i’ve known her her whole life, mom!”)
so, welcome to our dog wash:
there were two kinds of shampoo available
or people could bring their own.
we had towels, thanks to the thrift shop.
we filled the pool earlier in the day so it could warm up a bit,
but it was still really cold well water.
some dogs liked the water more than others.
(side note: usually i have no trouble deleting multiple photos
of a similar shot, much to my dad and some friends’ cringes,
but these i couldn’t delete. this was the moment the first dog walked in.
they are so subtly different, i couldn’t choose one.)
eliza wore her halloween costume from a couple of years ago
when she was a dog groomer. she was stocked with treats.
once the dogs were “clean” they were given
a rainbow ribbon on their collar and
another doggie treat (purchased by eliza, i might add).
there were drinks for kids, adults, and dogs,
pretzel sticks (like sticks that dogs chase),
and puppy chow, of course.
there was a fan in the “waiting area” in case people got hot.
we had music going.
all the songs had “dog” in it…
though i never heard “dog” in “girls just wanna have fun.”
but thanks to
sally
axle
dixie
annie and
josie,
eliza really did have fun.
maybe it’s good i didn’t have more
than 2 hours to get ready for this.
imagine all the other things that
could have been added!
maybe next time?
because you can imagine
there are requests for a “next time.”
prairie daze 
What an amazing post and story! thanks for sharing all of those wonderful pictures! Your daughter has as lot of drive to pull something like that off, even if she did have help. Kudos on your parenting skills!
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oh, “parenting skills” are all relative. what i think a lot about these days is HOW i do what i do. it doesn’t matter if i give my kids nice clothes, a sweetly arranged plate of food, all the art supplies they can use, help them set up a dog wash unless it is done in a spirit of patience and love. patience and being present is what i am working on. thanks for the kind words.
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A spirit of patience and love. Thanks for these words to ponder. It is a joy to see Eliza’s pleasure in what she is doing.
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Kristin, this is just fabulous!!!!!! Wow, a dream come true indeed, and even more so the way you documented it. I absolutely love the way you have celebrated this part of her, and seeing that expression on her face. . . priceless!
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Oh, and I have to add one thought I had while reading through this post: Eliza’s dog passion must be similar to the way Kristin loved babies as a child.
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brilliant, katie, i bet your last comment is spot on!
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well, katie…that is true. i can’t stop thinking about the times i set things up like this in my yard hoping-believing-that someone would drop off their babies for me to take care of. her dog passion is so steady and honestly, quite exhausting at times. right now she is waiting to turn 10 so she can volunteer at the humane society. i’m waiting for that too.
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You amaze me, Kristin. I love all of this. I just drank it up like melted ice cream. So sweet, and such a wonderfully LOVING thing to do for Eliza.
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Thanks for sharing such a great story! I wish I had a dog to bring to Eliza’s wonderful doggie wash, she really treats the pooches like royalty!
My son wants to have a snow-cone stand this summer, now my mind is buzzing with ways to make it extra-awesome. As always, you are a source of great inspiration!
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Wow…how fun!! Way to go, Eliza and Kristin! :D
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100% cute goodness. Great post K.
Brad
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Geez. I love this SO.MUCH.
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Send us an email next time. :)
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we will!!!
: )
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Again! Again!
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This was great fun, and Annie still smells of the lavender baby shampoon. Count her in for the next dog wash…and her humans too. Now I know who to call when Annie needs another walk around the block…Eliza. Love.That.Kid.
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So, so amazing! I want to be just like Ms Kristen when I grow up (and have THAT kind of amazing patience, creativity, and passion with my schmoopies).
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actually, no. you don’t want to be who i have been this morning.
grrrrrrrr.
time for a cup of coffee and at attitude adjustment.
maybe i just need the order and delight of preschool again. : )
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ROCK ON.
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now that i think about it……waffle would have been NUTS with all those dogs.
so it’s probably good we weren’t there.
maybe we could bring him for a private bathing. :)
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