{05oct2010: day with the big dogs}

Day one of the sleepover went over well.  After all the excitement of the day, Darwin curled up on the couch and Friday curled up on Darwin's bed (at least someone knows what a doggy bed is for) and we all hit the hay.  
On Sunday, Jason woke up early to go in to work for a bit and so I hung out with the dogs catching up on Project Runway (man what an emotional episode that last one was) before we all headed out to the park.  As I was trying to watch, the girls got restless so I called Jason and told him to hurry back because the pooches were ready for park time.  Somehow it always seems that Darwin knows when it's Sunday (Marymoor Dane day) and is super hyped up to go.  
{Fridaaaayyyy, play with meeeeee}

{Okay Fri, how about this one?!}

{what's wrong with this chick?  can't she take a hint?!}

{okay fine... one game of tug}

While they were having fun, they were also getting a bit loud, so I stopped the game and made them rest till Jason got back and we could head out to the park where they could be as loud as they want.

In the fall, Marymoor park gets these wood chip hills delivered to be scattered for the pathways.  Darwin loves these wood chips hills (as do a lot of the dogs) and is always quick to run up to the top.

{I'm the queen of the hill!  Friday you're missing out!}

Friday used the bathroom, and as some dogs do, kicked up the ground around it to cover it (is that why dogs do that?) and in the process kicked up bark all over me.  

{sorry aunty brooke}

The girls had a blast at the park the rest of the time, making new friends and playing with old friends.

WINSTON!!! Winston is the husky who thinks he's a Dane.  He always manages to find the group (at least a minute or two before his parents do) and loves to play with the big dogs.

{Friday and Parker}

{bffs}

After the park time, we gave Friday a bath so she would go home nice and clean and then headed home for nap time til it was time for Friday to go home.

Darwin was sad after Friday left, but was happy to have all our attention for herself again.

{04oct2010: it's my party and I'll cry if I want to}

So Darwin hosted her first slumber party this weekend with her bff, Friday.  Friday got dropped off early Saturday morning, and surprisingly Darwin was pretty calm about it.  I thought she would've been barking trying to play with Friday but they were both quiet and Friday quickly found a bone to entertain herself with.  After feeding the dogs breakfast we headed out for a morning walk.





Our first stop on our walk was to the hardware store to drop off lightbulbs for recycling.  While Jason ran inside, Darwin and Friday got a drink of water.

Next stop was Macrina Bakery for breakfast goodies for Jason and I.  There wasn't a good spot to tie the pooches up outside, so I sat out on a table with them while Jason ran inside.  

They were both really well behaved while we waited, so on our next stop they got a special treat!

We stopped at the butchers for steaks for dinner and apple wood smoked femur bones for the dogs.

While I was buying our meat the guy behind the counter saw Darwin staring intently inside at me and asked "how's Tiny?".  I said she was a big baby, and he said he could tell.
We also stopped at the grocery store to get veggies to go with our steak and headed home.  After that 3+ mile walk, both girls were pooped!  It was perfect because we had a 1st birthday party to attend and we knew they would sleep through the time we were gone and we didn't have to worry about any incidents.
When we got back we geared up for game time (Jason's a huge ND college football fan) and Darwin let Friday borrow her bandana so everyone could be dressed appropriately for the game.

Because game time is a serious event, I gave the girls their bones so they could keep busy.

Friday, like a normal dog, devoured her bone.  Darwin, like the princess she is took her sweet little time eating hers.  When Friday was done with hers, she went over to see how Darwin was doing.  Darwin was finished and got up and came in, but as soon as Friday walked over to see how Darwin did on her bone, Darwin started whining because Friday had her bone.  I tried to give Darwin Friday's bone, but she was not interested.  She wanted her bone back.  Finally Darwin found an old bone and settled down with it, while Friday finished off Darwin's original bone.

The highlight of the night was when Friday was done gnawing on her bones and got up with the bandana flipped up over her head.

Day two of slumber party weekend coming up!

{01oct2010: flashback Friday}

Can you believe it's already October?!  This year is flying by!
Darwin is hosting her first slumber party this weekend.  Her bff Friday is staying with us a couple of days.  
Friday was not a fan of tiny puppy Darwin.  We tried to hold an introductory meeting when Darwin was a month old to no avail.

Now that Darwin's older (and bigger) Friday doesn't reel away from her, but still is unsure of Darwin's crazy puppy antics.  It's understandable because really, could you see Hilary Clinton and Paris Hilton partying together?

{28sept2010: winner}

I forgot to pick a name this weekend for the book contest!  We did it last night while trying to entertain Darwin.   
We played the cupcake pan and ball game, and with the treats in each hole we also put a paper with a name for whoever left a comment on the entry post.  It took a few tries, only because I kept turning off the recorder as soon as she picked a ball without recording who she picked!  Doh!
And the winner is.....

Tucker!
Tucker, congratulations!  Email us (darwinthedane (at) gmail (dot) com) your mailing address and we'll get the book out to you!

{24sept2010: flashback Friday}

First off, thank you to everyone for their well wishes on our blogiversary.  Don't forget if you want to enter to win a copy of The Last Chance Dog to leave a comment on that post as we'll be drawing names, maybe this weekend!

While looking back at old pictures I came across some funny ones from a year ago.

Why is it that Dane's feel the need to get their booty to the highest point possible? 

{23sept2010: camping and anniversary}

More camping pictures!  If you missed the first half of camping, check it out here.
On Thursday our other friends came out and joined us with their 8month old baby girl for her first camping trip.
Darwin had to check her out.


They also brought their dogs Torch and Oso.
Torch

The baby was an amazing camper.  She enjoyed the dogs, the fire, the people, the tents.  But I don't know if she enjoyed the outdoors as much as Darwin did who sucked it all up as much as she could.



Darwin enjoyed camping so much that on Friday when it was time to pack up and go (we had to get home before Saturday morning college football kickoff) she did not want to leave.  As everyone packed up the cars and was ready to go, we found Darwin laying in the dirt at the campsite holding her ground.  We got her up and let her take one last drink from the lake before corralling her into the car.

As much energy as she had trying to stay at the campsite, she was also that tired and kept falling asleep in the car.

The drive down the mountain we had an even better view of Mount Rainer.


On our way home we stopped to get breakfast at a great little place in Black Diamond and I also got Darwin her first ice cream cone to make up for pulling her away from camping.



And that was our last camping trip of the year.  Hopefully we'll get more in next year.

On a completely unrelated note, one year ago today we started this blog for Darwin, all thanks to our first blog buddy, Moose!

To celebrate I thought we should pass on a book we won from Stella, which if you remember is written by the holistic vet we are now taking Darwin to.

It's an interesting read about holistic medicine/treatment for animals, especially if you don't know much about it.  

If you want to be in the drawing for the book let us know in a comment and we'll pick a name this weekend!

{22sep2010: Wordless Wednesday}

Fun music video edition

{21sept2010: Twinkie's tongue contest}

Our first tiny blog friend,Twinkie is holding a Show Us Your Tongue Contest for National Dog Week.  
We can only submit one tongue picture, so I thought I'd go with Darwin's peek-a-boo tongue.

See the gap between her teeth:

It amazes everyone who notices it and I think it leaves her at a disadvantage for tug, because her gums don't grip a toy as well as teeth would.  It's probably why she lost that game of tug.