It’s Friday afternoon and our weekend is almost here.  Which makes me realize I didn’t show you our fun adventure from last weekend – whoops!  We took advantage of a perfect cool Seattle summer day, packed up a backpack, and went hiking in Seattle’s Discovery Park. 

It was much more of a trail hike than I was expecting (like paved roads), and it turned out to be really fun.  At the bottom of a giant hill we discovered gorgeous views of the mountains and the water.

And look who else got to come…

Now that we are living in the Pacific Northwest and there is all this fun outdoor adventure to be had, I am determined that we are going to have normal dogs that can do normal dog things – like hiking with us on Sundays!  Our city dogs are a bit pampered and don’t always behave well in public, but bit by bit I think they are getting the hang of it.

It’s so much more fun when we have them with us too! 

Absolutely gorgeous.  I can’t wait to explore more of this park on a day when I have more energy.  Only had a few miles in me this time!

Time to keep moving…

Attempts to get a family portrait.  Probably the best you can do with two moving targets!

Days like this make me so happy that we live out here.  The air is cooler and different, and definitely in a good way.

I was always mesmerized when I saw the monuments in DC, and it never got old to drive or walk and around and see their massive presence.  Out here, I feel the same way about the mountains.  This could absolutely never get old.

If you can believe it, this coming weekend is Sarah’s LAST weekend here with us in Seattle.  It truly feels like she just got here, and I think I’m in denial that two months have flown by so quickly. 

We are going to fill it with as much fun as we possibly can.  Have a great weekend!

Can you believe it has been almost two months since we moved here to Seattle?  Time flies!  One of the questions I have been asked the most since we arrived is how the dogs are adjusting to their new life on the West Coast.

Moving our dogs 3,000 miles across the country was one of the biggest sources of stress surrounding our move.  In fact, at one point I suggested turning down the Seattle job offer because the logistics of moving them that far were just way too complicated.  Clearly that wasn’t true, as here we are all safe, happy, and healthy.

Casey was my hero and actually drove the dogs the entire 3,000 mile journey with his mom along to keep him company and help with dog transportation.  Our dogs actually do surprisingly well in the car, so the road trip itself went really well.  They had their first experience with riding in elevators, sleeping in hotels, and riding through the mountains, and they stayed cool and calm through all of it.

Since Casey was nice enough to drive them, I took care of booking the trip logistics ahead of time.  Finding pet-friendly hotels that will accommodate 100 pounds of dog is trickier than you might imagine, but in the end it all worked out.  Finally after their big voyage, they arrived to their new home in Seattle and were turned loose to check out the new digs…

They were pretty excited to finally be out of the car and get a chance to explore the new surroundings.  I wonder if they could tell how different the air is out west!

Eventually, they calmed down and settled in with the help of two big plushy new dog beds.

And once the furniture was unpacked, Indy made quick work of finding all his favorite spots to be lazy all day long.

Huey’s favorite spot is the backyard, sitting in the sunshine.  He is happy to sit there all day long while I work just inside at my office desk. 

The backyard is small, but still much bigger than our patio in Virginia, and seems to provide adequate space for exploring , sniffing, and chewing sticks.

Huey’s other favorite spot is under the lounge chairs when someone is sitting in them.  I think he thinks we don’t know he’s there..

And on gloomier days when outside isn’t so fun, they both like to curl up in the office with me during the day and keep me company while I work. 

I have always said that Huey is a special dog, with strange quirks and a personality unlike any other dog I’ve met.  So it should come as no surprise that his favorite place inside the house is…the bathtub.

We have an abundance of bathrooms in this house, and there is a full bath on our main floor that I can’t see anyone ever actually using (there are two more upstairs).  So that has become the place where the dogs hang out when we are gone, and the bathtub is filled with cushy dog beds and pillows for them to sleep on.  Totally ridiculous, but you do what you have to when you live in small spaces!

So I guess this is my very long-winded answer to the question “how are the dogs adjusting?” – they seem to be doing just fine!  They love going for walks in their new neighborhood, and playing with doggie friends at a nice daycare close to our house. 

And so the next question to be answered is – do they know there is a baby on the way? 

They have 16 weeks left to figure it out…