{17feb2011: reunion party part 3}

We're almost to the end!  If you missed Darwin's birthday party/family reunion part 1 or part 2 check out the first half of the fun!


After hanging out by the water we moved back towards the middle of the park for some running time.
We passed by our other Dane friends, like Bettis and his little sister Rooney, whom Darwin had to chase.

While Darwin tried to steal Boo's monkey, Porky tried to steal Darwin's attention.

Darwin was not happy about it.

{when a girl says no she means no!}

Soon Boo and his monkey became the center of attention. (5 out of the 8 blues pictured are littermates)

Boo got distracted by Misha and Kona tried to make off with the monkey.

But he didn't act fast enough and Boo held onto his now footless toy.

At some point Darwin took possession of the monkey, and was so thrilled as her most favorite thing to do is steal other dogs toys and have them chase her.

{neener neener neener... I got the monkey!}

When Boo finally got a hold of his monkey he and Olive joined in for a three way tug match.

Boo is not afraid to show off his feminine side with his pretty pink flamingo charm.

Darwin got a short break from Porky's affection while he took interest in their smallest sister Sydney.

While Darwin was free she went back to a game of tug with Boo... that poor monkey.

Porky's a persistent guy and came back to see if Darwin changed her mind about him yet.

She didn't.

Bella and her family were taking off so we managed to get a group shot of all the siblings.

(Boo, Bella, Darwin, Sydney, Porky and Kona)

Here's some video of the action too!

***Stumpy wanted the pupcake recipe... You can find it at this old post.  I just made cupcakes rather than a sheet cake.  And I topped it with these cookies.  

{16feb2011: reunion party part 2}

Did you see the first part of the birthday/family reunion?  Well here's part two!


Once we got the pupcakes handed out and gobbled down, we headed in the park so everyone could relax and have a good time.
Darwin had given Boo Radley a birthday gift of a rubber monkey which he proudly carried through the park (the whole time).

Carrying a monkey makes you a very popular fellow.
{Gino goes in for his brothers monkey}

{Olive (not related, but sister to Kona) tries her turn at it}

{Darwin's turn to try and steal it, while Olive and Porky (brother) watch on. Kona (brother) couldn't be bothered with a monkey}

Darwin was constantly trying to run away from Porky.

But he was very persistant.  

Memphis tried to join in the sibling party time.

And someone left their old yellow lab amongst the group while he barked and barked and barked and barked and barked at the chaos of Danes.  (He was alone, barking nonstop for a good 15 minutes before his owner came back to take him away.)

You can hear the barking yellow lab and see some of the madness in this video.

After a while Porky was distracted by the younger blue, Olive.

He even gifted her with a giant slim trail on her back.

After all of Darwin's barking when he first showed up, Remi was cautious approaching her.

Soon another sister showed up, Sydney!  And her older neice, London. (Sydney's mom's daughter owns London.)

Sydney is so tiny compared to the rest of the siblings (we've met).  You can see how much smaller in this picture (you can also see her neice London in the background with the red collar).

Meanwhile, Porky continued his love affair with Darwin.

And here's more video of the dogs by the water.

Part three to come!

{184 days old}

A week after our office summer picnic, Sydney and her (sort of) sister London came out to Marymoor to meet up with the dane group.  

We tried to get Darwin and Sydney to sit for a family picture, but of course they didn't want to cooperate very much.

{Sydney to the left, Darwin on the right}

When we saw her the week before, they were both barky and growly trying to assert their dominance over eachother.  At the park they finally were able to see who was queen bee, and once that was established they could run and play.

Darwin even got some play time in with London.

A mastiff puppy, Samwise, came to join in the fun too.

Darwin's bff Juneau showed up too!

Here's a short video of London Sydney and Darwin running through the grass.

{177 days old}

This summer our office had our annual summer picnic at one of our boss' newly remodeled home on Bainbridge Island.  It's a short 30 minute ferry ride from downtown Seattle to Bainbridge and it was Darwin's first time going to go over, so we took her up to the sun deck to give her the full experience.

It was pretty cool and windy up there and we don't think Darwin really enjoyed that much wind in her face, so we didn't hang out there very long. 

When we got to the house they have a nice big deck that we got to hang out on and enjoy the warm summer weather.  The house is right on the water, so after a while a bunch of us went to check it out.  We managed to get Darwin to the edge of the water, but when a big wake from a passing boat splashed her, she was done with the water.

It just so happens one of Darwin's sisters, Sydney, lives a few houses down and so she came over for a quick visit.  It was their first time seeing eachother since they both left their mom.

They are both alpha females so there was a bit of growling going on, but it was fun to see the two of them together and compare the two.  They look so much alike! (sorry, wasn't able to get a great picture of them together)


It was a fun afternoon and Darwin got lots of attention and was nice and pooped by the end of the party.