Maple's 15-Minutes of Fame

During Milwaukee's Bastille Days Festival, Ning asked if we'd like to sign Maple up for the Pooch Parade. Fun...of course! But we soon learned (only after we were selected as one of the 15 participants) that it was actually a doggie talent show....on stage, before an audience, with a potential radio interview afterwards. And Maple's idea of performing a trick is licking her paws clean after she finishes rifling through the recycling bags in the garage (her guilty pleasure). Uh-oh.

It not only all worked out, but we had a blast! We dressed her up as a Fairy Dog-Mother -- with loads of kids in the audience, she was definitely a crowd favorite. The morning of her debut, Madeline, Charlie and I smeared peanut butter all over one of Madeline's magic wands, trying to teach her to her spin for her performance, but instead she just pinned the wand to the ground and licked it clean. I wish I could have heard her inner monologue that morning.... "This costume is humiliating, but I like peanut butter, so it's all good."

At the festival, Madeline and Charlie paraded around Cathedral Square with me and Maple, and then they actually joined me on stage -- we were first up! I introduced them to the crowd as Maple's "fairies-in-training." When I touched the (peanut butter-free) wand to her nose, she sat and shook for us. The crowd cheered like she'd just danced on her hind legs. And then what do you know....I looked over and Madeline had unexpectedly grabbed her paws and made her dance like she's watched Rob do since they were brand new puppies. 

Ning's mom was adamant that we were robbed for not winning. Family's great.

The parade before the talent show portion