Marymoor Meetup

A couple of weekends ago, we went on a doggie meetup to Marymoor Park and Lucky Jack's Latte. Lucky Jack's is located just outside Marymoor, and they welcome doggies. The namesake, Jack, is often found wandering around, greeting customers - human and canine alike.

This meetup group isn't limited to dachshunds. Our Pup 'N Pints group is for dogs of all shapes and sizes. We usually go to a park to get the dogs' energy out, then eat at a dog-friendly restaurant or cafe. Sometimes we'll head to a brewery to get the "pints" part of our meetup in!

While we always enjoy our doxie meetups, it's nice to socialize with other kinds of dogs, too. Swift and Kool can be a little reserved around other dogs. They finally interact with other dachshunds, so now we're working on being nice to other kinds of dogs.

Here are a few pictures from our wonderfully sunny day!

Amber and Swift sniffing something.

It must have been gross, because Amber decides to roll in it!

The Boston Terrier is Zoe. Her owner is Jessica
(a different Jessica from our doxie group).
She started the meetup and does a great job organizing.

The brown Boston's name is Kona. He and Zoe are neighbors and best friends.
They are quite the pair when you get them together!

Doxies walking next to Jack (not Lucky Jack).

Amber, our little sweetheart

Looks like somebody might have treats! Nothing else could get
Swift's and Kool's attentions like that!

Fur Monster, Tag!!

Jack is a cutie-pie! He's 10 years old. I couldn't believe it. He's so small!

What do you see in the woods, Tag?

I think Ozzie is soooo adorable! I love dogs with beards!

Swift trying to be a people, like always. I think he's hoping
that someone left a bag with treats in it.

One of our many attempts to get the doxies to look at us at the same time.

Blue Heron nests

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Always Stretch After a Hike!

Several weeks ago, during one of our rare sunny weather breaks, I took the boys on a hiking adventure. We hadn't been out in the woods on a "real" trail for several months. We've been around Greenlake and done a couple of urban trails, but this adventure took us out to Snohomish County near Monroe - Lord Hill Regional Park. It's close to where Janis (Lindsay's mom) lives, so we drove out to meet her, Tag, and Amber and head to the park in a convoy. We met Jessica, Chester, and Gretel at the park.

As I mentioned before, the weather was perfect. It was early February, but we always get gorgeous weather for about a week or so, and we picked the right weekend. It was sunny but not hot. The dogs wore coats but we weren't too worried about them getting overheated or too cold.

Showing off their coats and sweaters!

Well, hello, there, Kool! Are you ready to go hiking?

We took a lot of pictures. Chester and Gretel are so used to Jessica taking pictures, they just stand patiently and wait for her.

"Okay, mom. Whenever you're done, I'm ready to go."

The scenery and view were great. I thought these trees were pretty cool. I loved all the moss hanging off the branches. It was nice to go on a hike to a new park where we hadn't been before. 

The trail map was a little confusing (even for expert adventurer Jessica), so I'm not quite sure which trail we took. I do believe this is Beaver Lake, though. Unfortunately, we didn't see any beavers. I'm not sure what the dogs would have done if we had!

Beaver Lake

I really love my boys. I love watching them hike. They're just so cute in their matching red sweaters. They are great hikers, but we do have some problems working with the leash doubler. I keep saying I need to get a longer one, but I haven't yet. It might also be nice to get one where you can adjust the length of each side. Swift always pulls Kool along. Although in this picture, it looks like Kool is the one in charge!

"Come on, Swift! Doesn't that look like a beaver to you?!"

At first, I thought this water was part of the lake we saw earlier, but looking at the trail map, I'm pretty sure these pictures are of Temple Pond. So beautiful.

When all was said and done, we probably hiked 4 miles. As I mentioned in the title, you should always stretch after a hike. Did we? No. I just got in the car and drove home. I stopped to grab a pizza on the way home, and my legs were so stiff that I could barely get out of the car. Obviously, I hadn't been hiking in a while. For almost two weeks after that hike, I had trouble sitting down and getting up and walking up and down stairs. Man, am I getting old! It is now my responsibility to make sure everyone stretches after our adventureweiner meetups.

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Catch Up: New Year's Eve

As mentioned before, this post will help you play catch-up with our comings and goings during the past few months! Next week, you'll start to see more recent content! Yay!


My boyfriend left shortly after Christmas to visit his family in Indiana. I was spending yet another New Year's Eve alone. I had been spending a lot of time with Janis and Lindsay (as evidenced in the last couple of posts), and we had bought a Groupon deal together to go on a tour of Pike Place Market. It was the first time we had spent any time together without the dogs, but we still got along fabulously! So I decided to invite myself to their house for New Year's Eve. I casually asked Lindsay, "So what are you guys doing for New Year's?" They weren't doing much, so I subtly suggested it might be fun to do something together or something with the dogs. Somehow or another, I got myself invited to their house. (I know I thought I was super-slick, but I'm sure Janis and Lindsay knew what I was doing all along!)

I brought the boys over to Lindsay and Janis's house, and Janis made a delicious dinner of crab cakes and pear arugula salad. We all had a blast, drinking wine and watching the dogs play. I brought one of Swift's new extra small Kong tennis balls. He and Tag had "fun" trying to keep it away from each other.

First, Swift had it

Then Tag tried to keep it away from Swift

But Swift didn't give up

Swift eventually got distracted and began to play with "orange man." This did cause some problems, since orange man is one of Tag's favorite toys. Swift loves orange, so he apparently thought he owned orange man. I don't think Tag appreciated Swift trying to kill orange man.

Swift looks so vicious!!

Even though we had a couple of skirmishes, the dogs all started to bond.

Lindsay and I with all 4 dogs playing a puzzle game

Tag and Kool bonding over rawhide

Kool and Tag, best buddies

Soon it became contest time - who could be the cutest?

Tag went first. Amber barked her approval for her brother.

Not to be outdone, Swift showed off his skills in front of Tag

We called it a tie. Just look at those four adorable faces.
How can you choose just one?!

Swift is such a little lover. Lindsay is his new best friend. Every time we see her now, he runs over and wants to give her love. But on this night, he refused to give any kisses.

"Nope. No kisses for you!"

The dogs got a special treat for dessert. (So did we, but dogs can't have Black Forest cheesecake!)

Kool licking his doggie ice cream, unaware he has some on his nose!

Well, we pooped those pups out! Swift and Kool were out like lights before the ball even began to drop!

Sleeping doxies are the sweetest!

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Catch Up: December 2011

As mentioned before, this and the next post will help you play catch-up with our comings and goings during the past few months!


December was full of all sorts of activities. I'm sure lots of you had a very busy holiday season, as well. I got my mom a webcam for Christmas, so unfortunately, I forgot to take any pictures Christmas day, as we were busy using the cam on Google Chat. The boys love Christmas, and they really like helping me unwrap my presents. I wish I had gotten a few pictures of them with the wrapping paper!

Regardless of the lack of Christmas-day photos, I do have others to share. Swift and Kool got to visit Santa for the first time this year! They got to wear (read "were forced to wear") special holiday collars. I absolutely adore this picture of the boys. I'm definitely framing this and putting it up next Christmas.

Swift and Kool with Old-Fashioned Santa

We also joined a new meetup group called Pups 'N Pints. The group goes to a dog park to have fun and play and then heads to a dog-friendly restaurant or cafe for lunch or beer or coffee. The first meetup we went to, we skipped the park (it was a very muddy day) and just met everyone for lunch at Norm's Eatery & Ale House. Norm's is a bar in Ballard, well-known for allowing dogs. Its namesake, a golden named Norm, was there the day we showed up, wearing a Santa hat.

We knew that Santa was going to show up at Norm's, but we had no idea the kind of turnout Santa would create. It got crowded and hot really fast. We snapped a few pictures of the dogs with Santa and took off.

Hipster Santa (it was Ballard, after all)

After we left Norm's, we headed for University Village, an outdoor shopping mall near the University of Washington. Who knew most of the stores were dog-friendly? (Apparently, everyone but me!) The dog-friendly ones are indicted by a sticker in their window. We wandered around a bit, but we started to get chilly since it was December, and UVillage is an open-air mall. We stopped for one quick photo with all the babies.

Left to Right - Amber, Swift, Kool, and Tag

I think Swift and Kool are starting to get the hang of posing with their buddies. I love Swift's expression - he is just staring right into the camera. Tag, as usual, looks like he's too good for this, and Amber and Kool are looking up (maybe at a treat hanging in the air??).

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!

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Catch Up: November 2011 Trip to Whidbey Island

As mentioned before, this and the next few posts will help you play catch-up with our comings and goings during the past few months!


Every year, Spoiled Dog Winery on Whidbey Island holds a Spoiled Dog Contest. The winner receives wine and a complimentary copy of the book that is published with all of the entrants. Last November, one of our besties, Tag, won first place!

Winemaker Karen Krug presents Tag with his book and bottles of wine

The book featuring Tag in First Place!

The winery held a special event for all of the contestants, so we decided to take a little day trip to Whidbey Island with the dogs. I met Janis and Lindsay at their house, and we carpooled with 3 humans and 4 dogs.

Silly puppies on the ferry

View on Whidbey Island

Of course, our first stops were to the pet stores.

Myken's

Amber trying on a fashionable hat in Myken's

Amber and Tag got stylish scarves and Swift got a squeaky ball

We made quite a scene walking around downtown Langley. We made friends with all sorts of people.

After our walk around town, it was time to head over to the winery. Tag was presented with his awards, and we showed off how Tag won.

Yes, that is a stroller for the dogs.

It was a long day for everyone, but we all had lots of fun.

Sleepy babies

"Don't worry, buddies. I'll keep watch while you sleep!"

pictures courtesy of janis higdon

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