Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween everyone!  My mom said that I didn't have to wear a costume this year, but then she made me wear this stupid collar anyways.

Photochallenge Day Twenty Five: Close Up

I didn't like it very much, so I moped around for a little bit.  But it was better than a costume, so after my walk, I felt much better and didn't mind wearing it around the apartment, even though it has jingle bells on it.  Mom says that it makes her happy and puts her in a Halloween mood, even though she can't go out and celebrate tonight because she's studying for the MPRE.  She's not even wearing her Twister costume tonight!

Mom's also happy because she got to go on a tour of the State Department building today.

In the Diplomatic Reception Rooms, they have one of the biggest collections of American furniture from the eighteenth century.  On the tour, she got to see the desk where the Treaty of Paris was signed.  That's the treaty that made the United States an independent country.

She also go to see a whole bunch of things that Thomas Jefferson owned, like this desk.

This official seal of the United States would have been attached to a treaty signed some time in the 1800s, but a traveler found it in a flea market in Argentina!  Now it lives in the Diplomatic Reception Rooms

In the rooms, there is a ton of porcelain from China. She thought it was funny that all the people on the plates look Asian.  Even though the Chinese porcelain makers were commissioned to make scenes from American history, they had never seen a European!  The plate on the right depicts the Battle of Saratoga.  Neither side looks white and neither side is wearing the correct uniform!

United States Botanic Gardens

Today, my mom was supposed to go out to some pumpkin patches on a farm in Maryland.  But when she woke up, she called the farm and they said they were all closed up for the season because of the rain yesterday!

My mom was sad at first, but then she went to the farmers' market and took me to go play fetch in the park.  I got really muddy.  It was so much fun!

After we played fetch for a while, my mom decided to visit the United States Botanic Gardens.  It was a nice sunny day today, so she didn't want to be cooped up inside.  She didn't care that the puppy got cooped up!

Anyways, Mom took some pictures of the pretty plants she saw at the botanic gardens.

Did you know that the bird of paradise is the city flower for Los Angeles?

Photochallenge Day Twenty Five: Something Pink

She said that they had TONS of pretty orchids.

They even had some desert plants.  Mom felt like she was back in California!

Day Twenty Three: Sunflare

They even had a cool greenhouse where my mom could walk around and look at the canopy layer of a man made jungle!

Mom really enjoyed herself and she got another opportunity to look at some pretty fall leaves before it snows again and ruins them all.

She even saw some holly berries and started to get excited for Christmas!  I'm excited too.  Last year, I got a whole pack of new balls on Christmas!

This is the "romantic" section of the garden.  Mom didn't stop because she was by herself.  She should have taken me!

Our First Snow

Today, I got to experience SNOW for the first time.  Mom says that sometimes, snow sticks to the ground and makes everything turn white.  I thought the snow today just seemed like very cold rain.

Our windows are still really dirty, but Mom tried to take a picture so I could show you the snow.  Mom felt bad for me because we couldn't go on any walks or to the park today.  She let me play fetch inside for a little while!

Photochallenge Day Twenty Four: Animal

I wanted to play more, but Mom said that it was too loud and she had to focus on studying for the MPRE.

Tonight, my mom is going to her friend's house for a Halloween party!  She is dressing up as the game Twister.  I think that's funny.  I'm just glad that I don't have to wear a Halloween costume this year!

I hope Mom turns on the heater tonight when she leaves!

The MPRE

Mom and I are being boring tonight.  We had our first cold day here today.  It never got above 50 degrees all day!  We went for a walk this morning, and for the first time, I wished I was wearing my jacket.

Mom is staying in with me on this cold night.  I'm glad, because I don't  like it when she goes out with her friends on Friday nights.  I think Friday nights in with the puppy are just fine.

Mom isn't happy she's staying in tonight.  She studying for the MPRE.  The MPRE is a test that Mom has to pass before she can become a lawyer.  I hope she fails.  I want her to be a stay at home mom and just play with the puppy all day.

Photochallenge Day Twenty Two: Hands

Mom couldn't do Photochallenge Day Twenty Three: Sunflare today because there was no sun!  It might have to be a few days before she can do that one!

Snow??

Today I went to daycare again.  I didn't try to escape this time because I knew that my mom wouldn't be waiting for me in the lobby.

I'm really starting to like daycare.  I don't even whine or pull on the least to get away anymore when my mom drops me off.  In fact, sometimes, I pull on the leash to get into daycare!

Going to daycare is really making me more comfortable around other dogs.  I make lots of new friends at the dog park.

 This is me when my mom said that I had to leave my dog friends.  I didn't want to leave!

Photochallenge Day Twenty: Bokeh

But when I got home, there was a surprise waiting for me!  My mom bought me two bullies!

She had to do work on her computer because she's taking the MPRE next Saturday.  That's part of the Bar Exam.

Photochallenge Day Twenty One: Faceless Self Portrait

It's hard to get out of bed these days because the sun doesn't come up until 7:30.  And it's hard to go to the park when Mom gets home from work because the sun goes down at 6:15!

And worst of all, the weather says that it might snow on Saturday!!!  That means a whole day of wearing my sweater!

Fall Weather

It's getting cold out, which means that sometimes when we go to play fetch, my mom makes me wear a sweater.

I HATE sweaters.

Other than the occasional appearance of the dreaded sweater, life has been pretty routine around here.  Mom and I get up in the morning and go on a walk as soon as it gets light outside (around 7:15 these days).  Mom goes to work and I nap all day.

At night, sometimes we go on a run and sometimes we go to the park, but it gets dark really early.

Photochallenge Day Eighteen: Your Shoes

Then Mom makes herself dinner while I scrounge around for scraps.  She got a new toy in the mail and she uses it all the time for dinner now.

Photochallenge Day Seventeen: Technology

We usually spend the nights hanging out and playing with our toys.

This weekend, my mom was supposed to go apply picking, but her friends got too busy and she didn't end up going.

Instead, she visiting the Holocaust Museum with some of her friends.  She said it was very well done, but really intense.  Definitely worth a visit.

After the museum, she and her friends went to a rooftop bar at the W Hotel.  The W is right down the block from the White House and the National Mall.

They got to watch a beautiful sunset over the monuments.

Photochallenge Day Sixteen: Long Exposure (My mom's first attempt ever at this trick)

Photochallenge Day Nineteen: Something Orange (a gift from Gramy!)

Halfway

Yesterday, October 19 was the official halfway point of our DC adventure.  In exactly eight weeks, we will be coming home to California!

To celebrate, I escaped from daycare seven times!  I jumped over the fence from the playroom to the lobby. The dog handlers said that even the big dogs can't do that.  They told my mom that I'm "quite a jumper."  My mom is happy that they didn't kick me out of daycare.

Today, Mom got home from work a little early, so we got to have a nice long fetch session at the park!

Photochallenge Day 14: Eyes

Photochallenge Day 15: Silhouette

Books!

My mom sure reads a lot... Here are some of the books she's read since we got to Washington DC.  Anybody have any suggestions for her next novel??

Photochallenge Day 13: Yourself with Thirteen Things

Mom and Paul's Anniversary

Tomorrow is my mom and Paul's two year anniversary of the day they started dating.  Tonight, they are going to be nerds and watch a movie and eat pizza together - virtually.

Paul even sent my mom a present:

 A body pillow to cuddle with while she watches!

Mom also finally got her food/ processor from her Westlaw research points - incentives given by legal research companies to get students hooked on their very expensive products.  I guess this means that my mom will be doing lots of cooking and movie watching.  Hopefully there's still time to play with the puppy!

I'm gunna be bored... but at least my mom took me to the park today.

Photochallenge Day 12: Sunset

(a note from the photographer: I kept forgetting to grab my DLSR before heading out to the park during sunset, so I had to snap this picture with my iPhone.  I tried to make it cooler by using the Instagram app (thanks Allison Clark!) but I'm not sure I succeeded)

White House Garden Tour (and Presents from California!)

This weekend, my mom went with some of her friends on a tour of the White House gardens.

She got to get really close to the White House and saw all the trees that each of the Presidents plant while he is in office.

I was jealous, because I thought maybe I would get to go and play with Bo, the First Dog, but they wouldn't let me!

Mom got to see the Rose Gardens, designed by Jackie Kennedy, but they didn't have as many roses as she thought.

She got her picture taken outside of the Oval Office!

She got to see the First Family's swingset on the South Lawn!

And Michelle Obama's vegetable garden, part of her "Let's Move!" initiative.  Mom learns a lot about Let's Move because she works in the Public Health Division. 

Photochallenge Day 10: A Childhood Memory

When Mom and her family last came to Washington DC in the summer of 1998, they sat on this fence outside the White House for their Christmas card.  Now, no one can get that close to the lawn.  There are two other fences blocking tourists from taking that picture.

When Mom got home from her White House tour, there was a package waiting for her from Gramy!  She got some towels and a book and stuff, but I didn't care about that.  I got a new pumpkin toy and some bullies!!  I've already eaten the bullies.

I also ate the chicken breast that Mom didn't finish from dinner.  I jumped up onto the kitchen counter to get it!  I don't feel so good.  I think I'm ready for bed.

Day Eleven: Something Blue