When taking Taylor to get her bath one day I saw a flyer for a "Be Like Spike" contest. The Spike they referred to was the dog from the new Rugrats Go Wild! movie cominig out in the summer. The contest was sponsered by Nickelodean, B96, The Chicago Anti-Cruelty Society and Chicagoland Taills. The contest was for the dog who was most like Spike and the winner took home a $250 cash prize.

Spike is a goofy cartoon dog and I am not even sure if any real life dog looks like him. When Corey, Breanna, Shannon and I arrived at the Barking Lot we found 20 dogs from the Anti-Cruelty Society all ready to be adopted, and about 15 dogs there for the contest of just hanging out. Not one dog in the entire place resembled Spike in any way. Taylor was nervous around all the dogs, but we brought her around to socialize. Eddie and Jobo from B96 were there overseeing the event. They both had their dogs with them. Eddie's was a white mut. Jobo had a pug which was wearing a pink dress and had a pink collar to match.

The contest started around 11:00 a.m. The judges said they dogs were to be judged on looks and behavior. I had to check with Corey and Breanna to find out Spike's behavior. They said he was excited all the time. We put a big, red and white polka-dot clown's bow-tie around Taylor's neck to convey silliness.The first dog wouldn't even walk up the stage. Shannon took taylor up on the stage and she went up well and sat like a little princess. Then he brought her down and paraded her in front of the judges showing off her happy attitude. I told Eddie that she was named Taylor after the Taylor Street Homes where she was found.

Our competition were a few other muts, a cocker spaniel and a little Italian Minature Greyhound wearing a collar and a tag that said "Spike". When he got up on stage his owner put a little ball on his nose. The dog just sat and shivered because he was scared. The top three were announced and they were the greyhound, the cocker spaniel and Taylor. The other dogs were a bit boring and just sat there quite. and Taylor was very playful with all of us. She took home top prize. At the end the judge told Shannon it was th bowtie that did it.

With our winnings, we bought $50 worth of toys for the dogs at the Anti-Cruelty Society. They are locked up in cages all day and become very bored. They were taking donations of toys as part of the event. Corey and Breanna picked out a box-load of toys for the dogs. With the rest of the $200 we went to the mall and Corey and Breanna got their summer wardrobes (and Corey snuck in the new Yu-Gi-Oh Game Boy Advance Game).

In addition the the money, the kids each got posters, stickers, coloring books and more. We also got free sneak preview passes to the Rugrats Go Wild! Movie at McClurg Court, 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, June 7, 2003. The line for the movie was all the way down the block. The kids and I had to get out and get in line while Shannon parked the car. They wore their new clothing that Taylor bought them with her winnings. Kids were suggested to come in the most outrageous beach or swimwear they could find. It was a cool day so they couldn't be in their full bathing suits, but they did wear them underneath their clothing. The theater was very crowded and luckily we were able to get in and get four seats together. The kids each got blue raspberry popcorn flavoring to sprinkle on their popcorn. They also handed out a smell-o-vision strip. During the movie, red numbers would flash on the screen we were to look on the card and find the glow in the dark number. Next to the number was a scratch and sniff of something similar to what was going on in the movie. Sample smells where flowers, muffins and even stinky feet! We all enjoyed the movie and would definately recommend it.