Beat the Heat - 5 Beach trip

In late June the northwest had a small heat wave with temperatures around the Puget Sound getting up into the 90's.  We decided to beat the heat with a trip to the coast where temperatures were in the low 70's.  We always wanted to check out La Push, so we packed our bags for a long weekend.  We stayed in Forks, and old recessed timber town recently brought to fame by the Twilight books.  The La Push beaches are just a short drive from Forks.  We ended up spending time at 5 different beaches and the dogs were able to go to 4 of them (all except second beach).  This was probably Javi's first trip to the ocean. We all had a fabulous time on our short trip.  I love the Washington coast!

 Kalaloch Creek and beach.

 Bella Swan's truck from the Twilight movies.  Okay, yes, we did check out some of the movie-related stuff while we were in Forks.

 First Beach at La Push.  

 Carmen with her dried "Kelpy Man" (bull kelp).  The dogs loved this stuff.  We call it "beach leather".

 We had one of those perfect sunny, but not too warm days at Rialto beach.  The ocean felt surprisingly warm for Washington.

 Everyone that reads this blog probably knows that I'm with child, but in case you didn't: surprise!

 Javi with his beach leather Kelpy Man.

 Ahhh...amazing views and sunset at second beach.

Ruby beach.

One last stop at Kalaloch on the way back home.  Thank you Washington Beaches!

Father's Day Weekend

Brandee's Dad came up to Olympia for Father's Day weekend.  It was a pretty mellow yet fun time.  We did a lot of stuff locally and just enjoyed the nice weather.

 Dinner picnic at Boston Harbor.

 Hiking at Burfoot Park.

 Puget Sound waterfront at Burfoot Park.

 Breakfast at Dingey's at the Oly Farmer's Market.

Yummy summer dinner with neighbors Jeff and Merey.

Driveway Marathon Party

The route for the Capital City Marathon and Half Marathon goes right by our house every May.  We've always said that we should host a marathon viewing party.  So this year, we did!  Over a dozen of our neighbors came over and we enjoyed the morning.  We also had as many friends running in the event this year, so it was great to cheer them all on.

 If you look closely, you can see Jeff pretending to flash the camera.

 Runners go by as we enjoy our coffee.

 Eric getting in the athletic mood and sharing donut holes and pumpkin bread with everyone.

 The spread...

We joke that when Javi gets into trouble that his punishment should be suspending him from balloons in the front yard (joking of course).  He's a good sport.

M's Win!

Back in April we took our friends Daniel and his son Ronan to the Mariner's home opener at Safeco Field in Seattle.  It was a good game against the Houston Astros.  Garlic Fries, hot dogs (veggie for me), peanuts, cracker jacks... and the M's won!  We got upgraded for free to some really nice box seats along the 3rd base line.   It was a lot of fun.

Javi Time!

We haven't posted in a while.  Things have been very busy.  We are currently going through a kitchen remodel, that is going really well, but has definitely made our lives a bit chaotic.  I will post the before, during and after pictures of our remodel in a few weeks.  Anyways, this current post will be an update on some of the happenings in the Miller family over that past couple of months, but through Javi's experience.

Javi has enjoyed frequent hikes to Priest Point Park, Watershed Park and many other beatiful places in Olympia and the Northwest.  Here is a picture with our friend and neighbor Merey taken at Priest Point Park.

 Javi spending time with the Myles-Era family.  Here snuggling up with his cousin Ethan.

Betsy came to visit us in late February.  We stayed a couple of nights in our favorite Port Townsend Palace Hotel.  Javi was pretty spoiled and got to sleep with Betsy every night.  He really missed her when she went back home.

 Snuggle time with Javi's "Aunty" Betsy.

Javi had a herding assessment at Fido's Farm.  He got a C grade.  He showed some herding potential, but really he was interested in eating sheep poop!  We still have no idea what breeds Javi is.  He does seem to herd other dogs when playing.  He's also become a pretty good retriever with balls and sticks.  He LOVES the dog park and plays for ages with any and every dog.  He's scrappy and fast.  He keeps up with the big dogs.

For a late 37th birthday weekend for me, we all went down to Portland for couple of nights.  We stayed at the hip Ace Hotel.  We checked out some dog parks, walked around the city, and took the dogs to the dog friendly Tin Shed restaurant for dinner.  We also saw our favorite Seattle band "Boat" at Mississippi Studios in Northeast Portland.  We are kind of groupies, but they are really cool to us and always chat it up with us after their shows.

So, Javi is generally a pretty good boy, but every once in awhile he reminds us that he is a teenager in doggie years.  He needs lots of exercise and when he doesn't get it, he might act up.  In the above picture he chewed one of Eric's library books.

The dogs here are enjoying some spring sun by Eric's bulb bed in the front yard that we called the Easter basket.

During the first part of our kitchen remodel we were lucky to house sit for our neighbors (Jeff and Merey) while they were away.  Javi was hilarious because every time we turned on the gas insert he would sit right in front of it and enjoy the heat.  He'd just sit there and pant.  He loves heat.

We are looking forward to summer adventures with Javi.  We hope he'll try hanging out on our paddle boards while we paddle (just need to get him a dog life vest) and we are hoping he'll learn to like to swim.  So far, he's like Carmen, and just goes in the water up to his chest.  Go Javi!