Ok... I must admit that when Cadence's mom, Heather, pm'd me about hosting Barney, I was excited.  Really excited.   I'd followed the Kill Barney Tour; I'd read the posts. I should have known better...  Barney is one manipulative beast!

We all gathered around to open the box.  MB Tom, like a kid at Christmas,  was more interested in the cardboard box than its contents.  He eventually pulled Barney out and immediately engaged him in a death roll.

Barney used his magic powers (sucked from Tripawds all over the world) to put Tom in a trance and quickly made his escape.  

Barney reappeared in the backyard the following morning.  I have three kids under ten; rules are a big thing at our house. Shortly after he arrived, I explained the house rules to Barney; rule number one-- never use the backyard zipline when Tom is outside (something to do with hard wired prey drives).  Barney, fresh off his defeat of Bernie Bin Laden, thought he was hot stuff.  Next thing we know, Barney's riding the zipline.  Tom is after him in a flash.  It gets ugly.  

Barney nearly becomes an amputee.  

Tom gives Barney a good thrashing and explains to Barney that the reason for a rule often becomes obvious the moment you break it.

To get his mind off his injuries, we decide to take Barney out for a drive; show him the sights.  We head down Route 66, stopping at Pops for sodas.  Barney has trouble deciding between Freaky Dog Soda and Dog Drool.

In the end, he goes with Freaky Dog (in honor of Tom).  Besides, he's had enough of dog drool over the years.

He then checks out the historic Round Barn in Arcadia, OK

I thought we were having a good time, but as we we leaving, Barney did something unbelievable.  He spied a Wildlife Conservation truck and staged a sit in.  

Claimed he was being abused; claimed he'd been forced to do slave labor in Illinois (and he had photo evidence).  Eventually the officer returned to his truck.  Barney stated his case.  The officer (this being Oklahoma) offered to shoot him.  Desperately wanting to avoid bloodshed, I made Barney a deal.  If he'd come along with me, we'd take him anywhere he wanted to go over Labor Day Weekend.  Barney said he's always had a hankering to go to Wichita, Kansas.

Saturday morning, we head to Wichita.  First stop was the Tanganyika Wildlife Park.  Barney cozied up to a strange looking dog.

Then, he checked out the view from the treetops at Botanica Gardens.

Before heading back to Oklahoma, he dined in Old Town, checked out the Star Wars exhibition at Exploration Place, and visited the Sedgwick County Zoo.  Barney really likes zoos (he once went to the San Diego Zoo with Angel Abby's mom). I personally think this is because dogs aren't allowed in zoos.

Back in Oklahoma, he visited the Oklahoma City Zoo and Science Museum Oklahoma.  Things became rather scary.

At home, things became even scarier.  Tom and Barney were connected at the hip-- well, Barney's hip, Tom's mouth.  Tom LOVED Barney.  Carried him everywhere.  Sometimes, Tom was happy chewing on Barney; other times, he wanted to snuggle with Barney in the sun.  Definitely a love-hate relationship.

On his final day here, Tom found Barney hitting on Dorothy the Dinosaur out by the pool.  Dorothy was not interested in Barney's advances and raised her arm to slap the offensive beast.  This was too much for Tom.  Barney had to go.

So, we packed Barney up and sent him off.  Tom was sad, but he chose to keep the buffalo from Miss Pegz as a reminder of his visit from Barney. So far, the buffalo has been the perfect house guest.