Yesterday was a gorgeous, warm November day that felt like it was somehow leftover from the first week of September. I went hiking out at Great Falls (on the Virginia side) along with my friends Riles and Alison, as well as Bowser and Alison’s dog Winston. There was lots of tromping through the woods, into leaves and puddles, as well as plenty of homemade trail mix and Riles’ backpack (very important for carrying the trail mix). Bowser and his little legs did surprisingly well, walk-running the entire hike and still not being tired at then end of it.

It always amazes me that, even while living in the city, it only takes a 30 minute drive and a quick walk to be in the middle of nature, and what feels like the middle of nowhere.

…to Thursday! This guy is a little more well-behaved than Bowser.

So, we felt we didn’t have quite enough life-changing decisions going on lately (grad school, engagement) and decided to add another this weekend. New puppy! Meet Bowser. He’s an 8-week old Boston Terrier who enjoys long naps and trying to jump over things 5-times taller than he is. So far, he’s been a pretty big handful since he is so tiny. But we got him to wear a little cat-collar (the only thing that was small enough) with a bell on it — makes him a little easier to keep track of. Today is his first day spending time alone, so hopefully the kitchen is in one piece when we get home from work today!

   
A lady that lives near Kalorama Park has these two parrots. She lets them perch outside while she is gardening her little spot there, and we’ve walked past them a few times on our way back from getting breakfast sandwiches. I’m not kidding when I say that, one time, we heard someone on the nearby basketball court screaming obscenities at the birds to be quiet. The weird part is that we didn’t even hear them making any noise! crazy birds!!

Matt took this photo of his sister’s dog, Tiki, using an Oktomat Lomo camera. It takes 8 successive shots over a period of about 2 seconds. I’m actually surprised that there is even a part of Tiki in every frame knowing how rambunctious of a dog she is.