The Year of the Dog
Hi. I’m Scout. I’m sure you’ve heard of me or seen a cute picture or two. I joined the Troxell Family in 2021. Because the creation of Troxell Trivia sparks some drama in the household — Dad’s creative process and Mom’s holiday card production timeline don’t ever seem to quite align — they have asked me to help out this year. I have no clue what “trivia” is, but I will tell you all about the 2023 Troxell highlights from my unique puppy perspective.
SKIING
Most weekends in the winter, Mom, Dad, Alex, and Andy all vanish with their friends and family to a place called “The Mountain”. They dress up like Eskimos with these big, long, flat things that they stick to their feet to slide down a hill.…SOUNDS LIKE FUN! I’ve gone with them a few times, but I only get to stay back in the cabin (sometimes with my friend Hazel, so that works out well enough.) But, really, you could put me on a sled and take me out there with you. I could handle it. Just think about it for next season.
NEW HAMPSHIRE
In January, we got to go up to a magical land called New Hampshire. I met a new best friend named Crosby. I got to play with him a lot while Mom, Dad, Alex, Andy, and the Melders (who are his owners) went skiing at Pat’s Peak. There was so much snow in their backyard. (I love snow!)
WOODWARD
Dad, Alex, Andy, and Andy’s friend Charlie and his dad left for a place called Woodward as a celebration for Andy’s 11th birthday in April. It's basically a massive skatepark, that's indoor and outdoor, for bikes, scooters, and skateboards. I’ve seen Andy and Charlie hit some crazy jumps in the neighborhood and the woods behind our house, so I’m sure they had an amazing time at Woodward where they said everything is just BIGGER. While they were out having their fun boys’ weekend, Mommy and I got to stay home and snuggle all weekend. (I love snuggles!)
NEW FRONT PORCH
Towards the middle of the afternoon when Alex and Andy are about to get home from school, I am always waiting on the front porch to say greet them. But then one day the porch disappeared! A bunch of guys with funny hats and beards (Mom kept calling them “Amish”) came and destroyed it. Then they built a new one in just a few days! I love the new front porch. It's perfect for watching over my neighborhood or just staring out into the world.
MY NEW BEST FRIEND
I just found a new best friend in the neighborhood. Even better, he lives right next door. His name is Walker and he’s a little wild, which is okay. And he eats everything, which is okay, too. We love to play in the backyard, roll around in the mud, and be super cute together. It’s so fun to have a new best friend!
PICKLEBALL
Mom, Dad, Alex and Andy do a lot of weird things, but probably nothing as weird as what I’m about to tell you about. They take this hard ball with little holes in it — I like the squishy green ones with curvy, white strips way better — and whack it over a net. Like I said, real weird. They don’t even let me play with them. I could just hang out in the kitchen the whole time, I’m already super good at that.
REHOBOTH BEACH
Every year in the summer, Mom, Dad, Alex, and Andy disappear. They go to some weird place with white, grainy stuff on the ground in a state (whatever that is) called “Delaware”. They come back with stories about swimming in the ocean, eating pizza and French Fries on the beach, riding around the boardwalk in a “Bike Limo”, and getting everyone together for a gigantic clam bake. I never get to go to Rehoboth Beach, but they let the Oylers and Gerstenbergers go with them this year. I did get to have fun with my dearest friend Linnea at home. But, please Grandad, can I come with you next year, pretty please?
1000 ISLANDS
Right before Alex and Andy went back to school in August, we got to go on a trip to the 1000 Islands with our friends the Hendricksons. We had a fun time in the car, and I got to be within a 2-foot radius of everyone at the same time for 7 hours — if you know me, you know my happy place is near-if-not-on-top of the people I love, so I didn’t mind the long drive one bit. When we got to our destination, we got to see this MASSIVE stretch of water called the St. Lawrence River that has almost 1,900 islands in it! We took a “Pontoon Boat” (that is fun to say) out on the river. We explored just a little bit of this incredible waterway — finding tiny islands with tiny houses and big islands with big castles. We jumped off the boat onto a little, floaty raft over and over again. I had a blast. They even got to explore the oldest train tunnel in Canada in the town of Brockville. And, lucky them, there just so happened to be a Poutine Feast in Brockville that day!
NIAGARA FALLS
I went on my first ever international trip as part of our adventure in August. Dad just told me that an international trip means that I left the country. I don’t know what a country is either, but anyway, I got to go to Niagara Falls! We had a blast. We did some walking, some more walking, and some more walking! My favorite. And then, all of a sudden, we saw this huge cliff with water falling over it. So much water! We stood there for a while and looked at it. Next, we did some walking back, some more walking back, and some more walking back! It was awesome.
Oh, and as a bonus, I got to road trip with my friend Hazel for part of the journey! I loved it, and I’m pretty sure Hazel did, too, even if she looks a little sus in this pic.
AVONWORTH SOCCER
Alex and Andy both play this weird game called soccer. I’ve seen them play before and I think you just kick a ball around and into a big net. I don’t get to go to any of their games, but I know that Alex played for the Avonworth Middle School soccer team for the first time this year and that Andy played in his community league plus an indoor league. Alex and Andy also go with Mom and Dad to watch the Avonworth High School soccer teams play. I heard that the girls team won the regional title for the third year in a row and were State Champ runners-up! I have no idea what any of this means, but they go to the games with a group of their friends, and it makes them all very happy. So then soccer makes me happy, too!
MARCHING BAND
Every Friday night in the fall, Alex is mysteriously gone! He does something called Marching Band at something called a High School Football Game. From what I've figured out, halfway through one of the football games, he walks around in cool patterns playing his trumpet (which is this scary silver thing that I am slightly terrified of) in front of a big audience. Sounds weird, but Alex seems to really enjoy it. And then Dad tells all these stories about when he was in marching band — Mom said something about “reliving his Glory Days”. All of this is a bit mysterious (and quite noisy) to me.
ALEX’S BIRTHDAY
In October, Alex celebrated his 13th birthday! He and his friends Henry and Gabe went to this big ice castle where they watched people whack around a little black thing with long, curvy sticks. It’s called Hockey and the team they got to see play was the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Penguins won the game that night and Alex got an autographed picture from Sidney Crosby as a gift from the Penguins organization! He also got a “Jake Shake” which is supposed to be really yummy, but Mom and Dad said I’m not allowed to have one. No fair!
WASHINGTON, D.C. TRIP
Back to the topic of that weird Marching Band stuff, I’d like to tell you about another trip that Mom and Dad wouldn’t let me go on — the Avonworth Marching Band trip to Washington, D.C. in November! I could've played with my dog cousin Louie there. I’m sad I missed out, but Alex got to march in the first ever National Veterans Day Parade! He also got to perform his field show in front of the Washington Monument on the National Mall (which is a field not a mall…weird, right?). I wish I could’ve seen it. Maybe I can go on the next band trip??
MERRY CHRISTMAS
Right before the end of the year, we celebrate this awesome thing called “Christmas.” I get to open presents with Alex and Andy, and I even have my own sock! I mean stocking. I get those two things confused sometimes. There were lots of presents, and sometimes I forgot which ones were mine.
The weekend before Christmas, Mom, Dad, Alex, and Andy left to go to some place called Carlisle to celebrate Christmas with Gram & Grandad and the rest of the Troxell family. I didn’t get to go, but instead I had a sleepover at my friends Emmy, Luca, and Beau’s house! It was so much fun.
