April showers and springtime fun

As March transitioned to April and much of the world was on Spring Break, we had a quiet and peaceful week around home.  The weather was typical of this time of year with every day bringing something quite different from 30s to 70s and everything in between.   There was sunshine and thunderstorm and maybe even a few snowflakes.      

It was too nice not to take advantage of the weather on Monday evening, so I decided to take the girls to Marshall for some NCT miles.  We had a really nice walk and were able to add 2.5 miles toward our 100 for the year. 

On Tuesday we had the most beautiful day of the week.  It was 74 and sunny on my lunch, and I decided to take the girls out for a fun mid-day break.  Peaches wasn't thrilled about the warmer temperatures.  She doesn't handle the heat as well as she did when she was younger, but she was still happy to be out enjoying the day.

As we headed home, clouds started to move into the area and soon we had a rainy afternoon.  Thanks to the lunchtime excursion, the girls were happy to nap the rest of my work day.  It was also a rainy, stormy evening so we spent a quiet night at home.  

Cooler temperatures moved in over night, leading to a much colder Wednesday.  When I decided to run down to the Speedway on my lunch, Peaches was excited to join me while Mina refused to leave the comfort of her cozy cave.  I decided to take advantage of the one on one time with Peaches to take her for a solo walk.  I think we both loved it.  We only went a mile, but it was nice just letting Peaches do Peaches' things.

After our walk, it was back home to finish my workday before heading to the shelter for our Wednesday night dog walk.

We were able to walk five dogs, four of them younger than 8 months old and lots of fun.  It was a good walk.

While I was walking shelter dogs, Peaches and Mina were patiently waiting in the car.  I hadn't planned to take them a long for the ride, but they insisted on joining me, and I just couldn't tell them no.  This allowed me to get them out for a walk along our dog walking route before heading home.  It really had worked out perfectly. 

Thursday arrived and my fairly quiet but productive week of work came to an end.  I had an appointment in Eaton Rapids at the end of my day, and the girls rode along.  My appointment ended quickly, and we were basically half way to Albion already, so I decided we would drive the rest of the way for our evening walk.

I love being able to combine our evening walk with a walk on the North Country Trail.  It was about 50 degrees when we got to Albion, which is great walking weather.

We started our walk in Victory Park and then followed it through town along the Albion River Trail.  Peaches was doing great, so we were able to walk 3.75 miles.  That's a really good walk for her and I was really happy with it.

I was excited to have the day off on Friday.  I decided to start my long weekend with a quiet day around home.

We had a lazy morning before heading out to Mason for Peaches appointment for her monthly Liberela injection.  Mina once again decided she didn't want to leave her cozy cave to join us.

When Peaches and I got home from her appointment, we all had lunch. Then we had a quiet afternoon while I read and the girls napped until we had to leave home to attend the Preuss Pets Dog Easter Egg Hunt. 

The girls were excited for their special adventure and were very well-behaved.

They enjoyed their walk around Old Town collecting eggs, a visit inside Preuss Pets, and some time outside making friends.  

It was such a fun event for all of us and a great start to our weekend. 

Saturday we had plans for a fun day of geocaching adventures with Vanessa.  Earlier in the week, we had discussed where to go and had decided to head south into Indiana.  The forecast called for rain, but we weren't going to let that stop us.

We had a nice drive in the rain to the Goshen area and then we were able to find several geocaches that we were able to drive right up to.  We dodged some sprinkles as we found a few caches north of town before heading to lunch.

After lunch we continued our drive on back country roads as we continued to pick up geocaches along the way.  Eventually the rain stopped, but the wind picked up and the temperatures dropped.

As we began our trek toward home, we stopped in the cute town of Nappinee for a little treat.  We stopped at a local ice cream shop and we all got a sweet treat, then we got the girls out for a walk around town.

The Amish population is prevalent in the area, so we saw several horse and buggies.  I was proud of the girls for being really good around the horses.

The girls had dinner in the parking lot in town before I got them back into the car to continue our drive home.  I had to stop at this interesting looking gas station as we drove past.

It was a quiet drive home.  We ended our day watching the Michigan vs. Arizona final four game.

Sunday was Easter, and I drove to Chesaning for the annual Johnston family Easter potluck.   It was nice to spend time with my mom, aunts and uncles, and some extended family that I don't see often.

I got home around dinner time.  I made myself a quick dinner and fed the girls, and then headed out the door to give them a little Easter adventure. I knew I had to get them out for a walk after they had been home all day and hadn't gotten out much on our rainy Saturday. 

I had planned on taking them to Marshall for a nice sunset walk.  It was a beautiful, cool early Spring evening and I enjoyed seeing all of the trees beginning to bud, some tiny Spring flowers, and everything really starting to turn green. 

 

We finished our 3.3 mile walk on the Marshall Riverwalk just after sunset.  It was peaceful and beautiful and the perfect way to end our weekend.

Then, as we left town, we made a quick stop to visit the Marshall holiday house all decorated for Easter.

I really love that this house is decorated for all of the holidays. 

We made good progress over the week on our NCT miles and are now over halfway done with our 100 miles this year.  I'm really pushing to get done before the weather gets too hot for Peaches because I want her to be able to join all of the fun.  I guess we'll see where we get. We will adjust as needed, and she'll join us as long as possible.  If we can get to 75 miles by the end of April, I'll be happy. Then we can take the last 25 miles slow and easy.

My week ahead will be busy at work and contains a lot of travel.  I hope it isn't too crazy.  

Now I'm off to watch Michigan vs UConn in the NCAA championship game.  Go Blue!

The whirlwind

Boy have we had a full week!  It is Spring, and with the change in seasons comes the season of work travel.  Luckily the late March through early May travel is just local to Michigan so I'm gone overnight and then back home the next day, but the prep work leading up to these meetings can be a lot, especially for the first one.  Luckily our meeting this week was in Livonia so it was close to Canine College and close to Nicol.  

I left home early and did my first call of the day while I drove.  Then I dropped the girls off at Canine College for their full day of play and fun before their overnight stay.  Next I headed to a coffee shop close by to join my next meeting and to get some work done.  After a couple hours there,  I had to stop at one of our advisor offices to make a drop off, and by then it was time for lunch.

I stopped at Picasso's Cafe in Novi for a quick bite and then headed to Nicol's house for a visit with Nicol, Fiona, and Picasso.  I got some love from Picasso and then played games, played hide and seek, and played with Play Doh with Fiona.  I thoroughly enjoyed my visit.  But all too soon I had to leave so I could do some final preparations for our Tuesday meeting, finish a little work from my hotel room, and then head out for a work dinner.

I ended the evening by leaving dinner before dessert to drive to Nicol's so that I could read Fiona's bedtime stories and tuck her into bed.  And finally, I headed back to the hotel to head to bed myself.  

Tuesday I was up early and busy with our day training.  Finally after the meeting kicked off, I sat down to get some work done.  Of course I also had to check in on the girls to see how their day was going.

It was a long day with the meeting followed by a social hour, and then finally being able to pick the girls up to head home.  I got home after dark and I was tired, but happy to be back with the girls and done with our first of five meetings.

Wednesday was extra busy, and I didn't slow down all day.  I was happy when 5 O'clock finally arrived so that I could head out to the shelter for our Wednesday night dog walk.

The weather was beautiful and the girls came along for the drive.  They waited patiently while I was on the walk with this really nice group of dogs.  

Then, after all of the shelter dogs were safe and snug in their kennels, I drove to downtown Mason and got the girls out for a nice walk.  I grabbed a slice of pizza from Westside Deli for dinner and then headed home for the night.

Thursday morning was warm with temperatures in the mid-60s.  After a busy start to my work day, I stopped for an early lunch to run a couple of errands.  I was so excited to see the bees gathering pollen from my crocus!

The rest of the work day flew by, and before I knew it, it was 5pm.  I had plans with my nephew Mason after work, and I was excited to see him.

We were originally supposed to take the dogs for a walk at Fenner and then have dinner, but rain had moved into the area late in the afternoon so we skipped the walk.  Temperatures had also fallen into the 40s.  It definitely wasn't the best weather.

We had a nice visit over dinner and then we drove around and I showed him some of the highlights of Lansing before heading back to campus and dropping him off at his dorm.  I had such a nice time with him.  He's really a great kid.

Finally Friday arrived, and with it, another busy day.  I had so much to get done that I just made myself a sandwich and then worked through my lunch.

When I was finally done with work for the day, I knew we had to get out for some excercise.   I debated on what to do, and ultimately, I decided to make the drive to Albion to work on our NCT miles. 

Temperatures were in the 30s and the wind added an extra chill, but this is the ideal weather for walking with Peaches, so we took full advantage of it.  We finished the evening with 3.4 miles on the trail.  It was the perfect way to start our weekend.

Saturday morning was cold, but that didn't deter us from getting the shelter dogs out for a walk.

These three were full of energy, but did a pretty nice job on the walk.  I know that they were all very happy to be out of the shelter for awhile.

When I got home I fed the girls lunch, made myself a sandwich, and watched some of the Michigan vs Louisville women's basketball game.

Then we headed out for some fun in the sun.  

It was 38 degrees when we arrived at the Paul Henry Thornapple Trailhead in Middleville, but the sun was shining , and when the wind wasn't blowing, we stayed pretty comfortable. 

I always forget about this section of the NCT and I don't know why because it is such a nice portion of the trail.  We saw a couple of other people out, but for the most part we had the trail all to ourselves. 

I was pretty excited when I spied several little Trout Lily leaves peaking out through the leaves and grass.  I couldn't get a better picture without Peaches stomping all over them, so this little leaf is the only proof I have that Spring wildflowers are coming soon.  

We walked at a nice pace for some of our walk, and we took a more leisurely pace for portions too, so that Peaches could smell all of the smells.  Mina even joined in on some of the sniffing.

It ended up being a really nice time on the trail and I was so happy that we had gotten out to enjoy it.  We finished with 3.5 more miles on the trail which puts us over 40 miles for the year!  While I decided last year that I would be okay if Peaches couldn't do all 100 miles with us this year,  I am trying hard to get miles done early this year while she is still up for the hikes and enjoying them.  I'll modify hikes, shorten them if necessary, and do what I can to keep allowing her to join us as we move through the year.  While knows, maybe she'll go strong until we finish.   I sure hope so!

On the drive home I did some geocaching, and when we got home, Peaches was so sound asleep that she didn't even move when I opened the door to let them out of the car.  I had to gently wake her up and help her jump out of the car, but she was soon her crazy, silly self again, especially once she saw her dinner was ready.  

After making my own dinner, I did the dishes and a load of laundry, and settled in for a very quiet evening. What a perfect way to spend our Saturday. 

This morning as I write, I  have been thinking about this morning 37 tears ago,, the day that my amazing daughter came into my life.  It is crazy the details I can remember from that day when  sometimes I can't even remember what I did yesterday.  🤣

At this moment on that cold, gray day in 1989, I was at the hospital awaiting her arrival, not knowing how much she would change my life.  She definitely made an impact! 

I'm looking forward to the day because I'll be joining Nicol, Tyler, and Fiona for a trip to the Detroit Opera House to see The Lion King.  I'm excited to celebrate her day with her.

It's been a quiet and lazy day here so far, but it's time for me to get moving soon to head out for the day.  So I'm off to snuggle with the girls a bit before I have to leave them.  Hope you all have an amazing day!