The Orange Juice Saga

In Mr. Newton's 11 month post, I mentioned the beloved Orange Juice, his favorite friend to cuddle with.   Here is the story and the latest saga of our dear orange dog. 

We got Orange Juice at a bowling alley a couple months ago, out of one of those machines that usually takes all your money and leaves you empty handed.  You know, the one with the big claw?  Well, on his first try, Daddy got this orange dog for Mr. Mister who so aptly named him.  Mr. Newton discovered him a couple days later and they instantly became best friends.  Mr. Mister graciously gave him to his brother and everyone was happy.  

This is the best picture I have of the original Orange Juice.
Hard to see what he looks like, but the love is obvious.

Fast forward to last night, the fifth night in a row that one of our kids has been awake for much of the night. (both have coughs and ear infections!).  As Mr. Newton cried endlessly, we looked frantically for Orange Juice and couldn't find him anywhere.  We tried substitutes, but he threw every other stuffed animal to the side.  No one had ears as long and soft as Orange Juice.

Somehow, we made it through the night (actually, in desperation, we put him in his crib with Daddy's cell phone so he would be quiet and distracted until he finally fell asleep. I'm sure that is somewhere on the parent's list of things not to do, but at 3am we weren't very concerned with that list.)

So this morning, as my husband so graciously let me sleep a little longer, he set out to find this dog. We could not endure another night without him!  

First, he looked online for an easy replacement, only to find that this particular stuffed animal is only sold in bulk for vending machines.  So we'd have to buy 144 of them!  In retrospect, that might not have been a bad idea.

 Then, he retraced our steps from all of the places we went yesterday and landed on the possibility that he may have been left somewhere at Bass Pro.  Where else would we have been on Easter? 

But the nice lady who answered the phone at Bass Pro said that he hadn't been turned in.  So Daddy, in all of his determination, took both boys to the bowling alley.  This time he wasn't so lucky as to get another dog on the first try.  Twelve dollars in quarters later, we had another Orange Juice!  Last night, we would have paid $50 for a new one so $12 sounded like a good deal.

Orange Juice #2 looks a little different (the spots aren't quite as handsome in my opinion) but Mr. Newton embraced him with just as much enthusiasm and love.  I don't think he realized it was any different.

When they got home, I was changing Mr. Newton's diaper and in the short time with no diaper on, he peed right on the brand new Orange Juice!  That got him a bath and a trip through the dryer (the dog, not the boy).  All this work for a goofy looking orange dog! But Mr. Newton is happy and we will be happy if we get to sleep tonight.

 

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