It’s Summertime!

Life has been busy here in the last month and a half.  All of New England has been sitting on edge, waiting for the rain to stop and for summer to officially shine on down.  It still seems yet to break out permanently but we have taken advantage of every nice day that has come our way.  I for one, am bored of laying around the house all day.  I’ve been working so hard on fetching and now I can’t even practice!  Everyone else seems to be doing fun things…

Tyson started his new job out in Framingham so his commute is a little farther than it was to Harvard Square…leaving me alone much longer during the day.  Not cool.   He is enjoying his time there so far, working with some really nice people.  Softball season is underway so of course, every Friday night we go watch Ty play.  He’s doing well this season and even bought a new bat!  He takes church softball very seriously.

I made some new friends when Andy and Katie came to visit in June.  I loved them and was very sad to see them leave.  Tyson, Kelly and Andy got to go to the Red Sox game and got to see the World Series trophies!  Then, when Katie got into town, they all went out for a fun night in Boston.

Standing under the Jumbotron instead of sitting in our bleacher seats for this view...so good, so good!

Kelly finished up school and jetted right off to Florida to visit family.  She went to Disneyworld AND spent relaxing time on the beach while the rest of us continued to wait out the rain in Boston.  She did have a big thunderstorm on her last day so I guess it’s not completely unfair.

The beach!

Disney!

Once Kelly got home from Florida, it was finally time for ME to go on vacation too!  We all went up to Vermont for the 4th of July.  As always, Tyson and Kelly stayed at their Bed and Breakfast in Brandon.

12 Franklin Street Brandon, VT

Jim and Linda are the best hosts.  The make wonderful breakfasts and leave treats on the bed each night.

Linda's dog Sherlock left me a treat too!

Ty and Kelly loved the small town 4th of July parade as well as driving around the countryside (that’s all they ever do there).  They visited Fort Ticonderoga and even found a new restaurant to rave about!  The Common Man right at Sugarbush is a restored barn that served local, seasonal foods.  The atmosphere was fantastic!  Not too fancy but also not a “homestyle” type place either.  We had a fresh local cheese sampler, the burger and the duck.  Everything was wonderfully prepared, all the way down to the fresh berries and angel food cake dessert served in the Mason jar!  For all of you skiiers out there, this is a great spot.  Highly recommended!

I stayed at a dog kennel right nearby but really, it was a dog farm (not that kind of dog farm though!)  I had a good time playing there but the real highlight of the weekend for me, was going hiking with Tyson and Kelly.  They sure wore me out!  We did 2 hikes in one day and one was practically straight up!  I will admit, the view at the top was worth it.

You can see all the way to the Adirondeck Mountains in NY from here!

This is on the North Trail, right outside of Brandon and it’s one of Tyson and Kelly’s favorite hikes, especially in the Fall.  They claim it’s one of the best views of the Vermont countryside.  Our second hike was much less rigorous.  More of a nice stroll through the woods up to Silver Lake.  Again…worth it!  Especially since they let me swim!  If I could fetch in the water all the time, I bet I’d bring the ball back more often…

Looking for a good family hike? Check out Silver Lake!

Look at me go!

After hiking all day, I slept the entire way home.  I was calm and sleepy enough to let Ty and Kelly stop off at Long Trail before heading back to Boston.  I figured they earned it after dragging me up the mountain and then letting me get all wet and dirty.

The trip was a great way to kick off the summertime…except it rained for 2 more days when we got back home.  Oh well.  We are learning to enjoy the good days when they are here.  This must be what Seattle dogs have to deal with all the time!

Since Kelly takes 5 million pictures everywhere we go, we put the rest of the trip into an album.  There are some good ones of me in there!  And of Brandon, of course.

Vermont 4th of July