Old limp balloons

It's a common misconception that old whithered balloons have lost their appeal and should just be thrown away, forgotten. Not at the Niffer household. It seems like we always have old balloons within close reach.

Addie absolutely LOVES old balloons and will insist on dragging them behind her for hours at a time. It's not uncommon for her to want to bring her old balloon with her to a store, choosing it over a stuffed animal friend.

Ellie, on the other hand, I'm pretty sure she only likes the balloons because Addie does. However, even she has taken it one step further and pretends that the balloons are pet dogs. We even went for a walk with our pet dogs (Oh how I wish I had a photo of that). There we were... Addie, Ellie and I... walking around the block of our neighborhood. Each of us had a balloon "doggie" dragging behind us.

Ellie would occasionally stop to lecture her doggie, who was having a hard time understanding the concept of "Heal doggie, Heal!" But Ellie did seem please with the balloons ability to sit.

Addie, too, was walking right along with us. She'd stop occasionally to look back to make sure her doggie was still on the end of the leash and then she'd let out a little squeel and continue on.

Me... well I was just happy with whatever my doggie did. At least he didn't pull on the leash too much. However, I did have to give him to Addie when she let go of her doggie's leash and he decided to run away in the wind. Sigh. A good dog is a rare thing I tell you.