Finn Update

Finn has been with us for 2 1/2 weeks. Over that time, he has definitely settled in and made himself at home. He's a huge goofball and loves nothing more than snuggles, playing with Huck, and treats. 

He is also growing like crazy!! He's grown over an inch in the past week (yes, we mark the dogs' height on the door frame right along the kids' heights ... just quite a bit closer to the ground!)

Finn is still working on potty training, but considering his age and the fact he's only been here a few weeks, that isn't a surprise. We are making progress in that department, but have also had our fair share of "whoops" moments. Such is life with a puppy! His upper respiratory infection seems to be a thing of the past (hurray!!) and we suspect that fact has helped him sleep better at night ... which means Eric and I sleep better at night (double hurray!). He still snores a bit/makes piggy noises when he sleeps, but the sounds are so cute that we can't complain! 

What really tickles us is how Finn is a back sleeper. We've never had a dog that sleeps on its back like this! (Note: Finn's brother Grey sleeps on his back, too, per their foster mom in Texas! Must be genetic!) Often, we'll find both dogs snuggled up on a dog bed curled together like yin and yang.

 

Nap Time

Back Sleeper Smiles

Over the past week or so, Finn has really started to hold his own when he plays with Huck. They race around the back yard taking turns chasing each other at top speed. I think Finn's growth spurt has helped him feel a bit more confident while playing/rough housing with Huck... their size difference isn't quite as dramatic as it was when Finn first came home. Huck loves to be chased by other dogs when playing with them, which makes me pretty sure his happiest day EVER was when Finn realized chasing Huck was part of the fun and took off after him. Finn still tires out faster than Huck (hey, his little legs have to work harder to keep up with long-legged Huck), and when that happens, Finn hunkers down under one of the bushes in the yard and nibbles on on a stick or pine cone. 

Big Dog, Little Dog

The kids are still completely enamored with being a two-dog family (except when Finn has one of his "whoops" moments ... then they are slightly less enthralled). More often than not, we'll find the kids snuggled up with one or both of the dogs, just as happy as they could be. 

Kid and Dog Pile

Finn has the craziest ears! They are often flipped inside out. Huck will sometimes have one ear that flips inside out, and we call it his "crazy ear". Finn has taken "crazy ear" to a new level, often having BOTH ears inside out. On occasion, we'll see his ears right-side-out and forward... quite cute and about as common as a Bigfoot sighting! ;)

Finn's Crazy Ears

Finn on the Hammock... with his "Not Crazy Ears" on display

Sleepy Pup

I have to say, I can't be more grateful to Eric for suggesting we look into adopting a friend for Huck/pandemic pup and to the Big Dog Rescue Project for connecting us with this sweet boy. Finn has been a wonderful addition to our family and upped our cuteness level to an all new high. 💓🐕

Introducing Finn!

 Last Friday, the Olson clan grew by 4 more paws. Yup! We adopted a new puppy and he is wonderful. As a family, we thought Finley would be a great name for him, but wanted to have eyes on him before making the decision final. He's definitely a Finley (Finn for short) and has quickly worked his way to the center of our hearts. 

Before I go into the details of Friday, a little backstory:

A number of months ago, Eric turned to me (rather out of the blue) and said, "I'm surprised you haven't suggested getting a puppy with all of us home during the quarantine" My reply was rather matter of fact, "Huh! I hadn't really thought of it until now. NOW I am thinking about it!" After a number of conversations about the merits of adopting another dog, we decided to pull the proverbial trigger and reach out to the rescue coordinator who found Huck for us last year. We were very low-key about it, just that we were thinking Huck would like a buddy, so if a good fit for our family crossed her path, to please let us know. On July 27th, she reached out to me via text and told me about some lab/shepherd pups (in TX) who were going to need a home and wondered if we'd be interested in one of them. It all seemed to fall into place. Once we got confirmation that he was a healthy pup, we told the coordinator that we'd like to adopt him. We were put in contact with the pup's foster mom, who was truly wonderful and gave him such a great home for his last couple of weeks in TX. She sent me so many pictures and updates, for which we were (and are) so grateful!

Fast forward to last week:

Eric and I had kept news of the puppy from the kids, just in case anything fell through. We didn't want them to be disappointed. Our plan was to keep the pup a secret until I arrived home with him Friday night. A few days before pick-up day, I told Eric that I was thinking it might be good to tell the kids so they could help weigh in on names and because there are so few things to look forward to right now (hello, life in a quarantine) and anticipating a new puppy would be a lot of fun for the kids. That night as dinner began, Eric pulled out his phone and had a pic of the puppy on the screen. He ooh'd and ahh'd over how cute this picture was and when the kids asked whose puppy was in the pic, we told them the news that he'd be ours in a few days. Needless to say, the kids were over the moon. (I now regret that I didn't think to take a video of us telling them so we could capture their reactions ... oh well!)

On Friday (8/14/20), Conor and I set out on what was the longest drive either of us had made in MONTHS (if not all year.... again, hello life in a quarantine). We didn't go straight to Olympia, where the rescue transport was going to do the puppy hand offs. Instead, we "swung" through Issaquah/Renton to pick up a knee scooter for my sister who broke her ankle a few days before (hi, Suzanne!) and then headed to Tacoma to pick up some chocolates from Johnson's Candy (get well gift for said broken-ankled sister), a socially distanced wave with our favorite priest (hi, Fred!) and to have a socially distanced coffee with my best friend (hi, Kate!). Then, we were off to Olympia to pick up our new up. Unfortunate for Conor and me, traffic was horrific from the time we left the house until we got to Olympia We got to our destination about 20 minutes late, which when you're anticipating picking up a new puppy, seems like FOREVER!!!

Not long after arriving at our arrival at the designated location in Olympia, we masked up were handed our new pup. 

Having Conor with me was a huge help in terms of getting Finn home. Conor kept Finn calm and as relaxed as possible, which was no small task considering Finn had no clue who we were or anything about what was going on!

Needless to say, when we got home, we were greeted by a very excited crew! Annika could barely contain herself and Eric could barely contain Huck and his excitement!! 

One disadvantage to Finn's arrival was the smell that accompanied him. After transporting 3+ days with many other dogs from Texas, let's just say, there's a little "ripeness". We were given a heads up about this potential, so had anticipated he'd need a bath that first night. Fortunately, he's small enough that the kitchen sink proved to be the perfect place to de-stink him!

Over the past few days, we have helped Finn figure out how to be an Olson and he has reminded us how to be a puppy family. There have been lots of belly rubs, naps (the dogs, not us), and snuggles. 

Welcome to being an Olson, Finn!! 

Our Silly Pup

As winter starts to fade and spring starts to show its pretty face, Huck has been asking to spend more time outside. (Really, who can blame him???)

A few days ago, he was out on our deck keeping watch over the neighborhood when I heard his tell-tale "I'm up to something" prancing sounds. I peeked in on him and was highly entertained to watch him play with the prickly husks of our horse chestnuts that the squirrels left behind.

You would have thought he found the best toy EVER with his reaction to the husks! Silly puppy!

DISCLAIMER: I have since swept the deck, so it now looks better .... until the next wind storm sweeps through town!

A Sunny, Beachy, and Puppy-ful Whidbey Weekend

Oh, what a weekend we had and we are so grateful for Eric's mom (aka the birthday girl) and dad hosting our crazy clan for another sleepover.

When we go to Whidbey, we usually head up early Saturday morning to avoid sitting in a long ferry line. Unfortunately, Annika had an event at school Saturday night that precluded us from following our normal schedule, so we opted to head up as soon as the kids got out of school Friday afternoon and prayed that the freeway traffic and ferry line were kind to us. Oh boy, were they ever kind!! We made it up to the ferry terminal in pretty darned good time, especially considering it was a sunny Friday afternoon. We did miss the first ferry that we were aiming for, but considering we were able to pull right into the parking lot instead of waiting in the ferry line waaaay up the hill, we were feeling mighty great.

To celebrate the sunny weather and to bide our time as we waited for the next ferry, the kids and I popped over to Ivars for some ice cream. Yum! I was too full to finish mine, so Buca even got a bit of a treat.

Buca says, "Nom, nom, nom"

Before long (and after a few ice cream drips down the kids' hands), we were on the ferry and taking in the gorgeous views from the ship deck.The kids "helped" the ferry make the crossing by pretending to be a couple of ferry captains. Thank goodness they accept payment in the form of ice cream!

Keeping their eyes peeled for signs of the Whdbey ferry terminal

"Driving" the ferry

Once the kids safely docked the ferry, we made a quick drive to Eric's parents' house. The kids are always excited to visit Bestefar and Bestemor, but this visit was even more exciting than the rest because this was the first time they got to meet Eric's parents' new puppy. Needless to say, Kodi was the star of the weekend and captured our hearts immediately. I'm pretty sure he had a magnetic impact on our kids; whenever they were out of sight, we knew they were playing with Kodi.

While the kids LOVED the newness of Kodi, it became pretty evident after a little bit that Buca was absolutely worn out by all of the puppy's energy. Poor Buca is becoming an old man and even hung out in the bushes for a little peace and quiet... that and he LOVES to spend time in the mud!

At some point during the weekend, I mentioned that we have a neat book of "Dad and Me" projects and Annika really liked the idea of making stilts and a teeter-totter. Naturally, almost as soon as the breakfast dishes were cleared, Eric and his dad were out on the woodshop putting together a set of stilts for the kids. Annika's current professional dream is to be a trapeze artist, so it is good for her to get some circus skills down now. She took to stilt walking quite quickly and was happy to wobble around the driveway for all to see.

As soon as we unpacked our gear on Friday, Annika started hounding Eric's dad to take her for a ride on his ATV. Unfortunately for her, Bestefar was completely exhausted because (a) they returned from Montana rather late the night before and before we arrived on Friday afternoon, he had already played 18 holes of golf and mowed their massive lawns. Soon after the stilts were built and the kids were out of their PJs, out came the helmets and ATV for some fun around the property. The kids even got to take turns driving! Naturally, the ride-on mower also came out so both kids could have rides at the same time. No child left behind!