As the Summer reaches its end

It feels like I've been missing from here for a long time, although, in reality, I only missed writing the blog last weekend. But so much has happened since I last wrote.  We've been busy enjoying what remains of our Summer, starting with lots of Labor Day fun.

We started our Labor Day weekend early with a nice evening walk around the Capitol Building with our buddy, Bentley.  He's never been in any Capitol pictures with us and we figured he should be in one, since he's such a big part of our lives.   It was such a beautiful evening and the dogs were all so good.

We then spent the weekend taking short walks on the North Country Trail, as we work toward completing our 100 miles on the trail this year.  With several small walks over the long weekend, we were able to add just over 11 miles and we now only have 22.6 miles remaining until we complete the challenge.  It is our plan to complete the 100 miles together and I'm working hard to make sure we do!

Our first stop was the Albion River walk.  It was a warm day, but we had a nice walk.

We then headed off to Litchfield to do a short walk along the trail through some wooded areas.

And our final stop of the day was a very short walk through the town of Homer.  

On Sunday, we headed toward Battle Creek to do a walk along one of our favorite part of the trails close to home at Historic Bridges Park.  It was so hot and humid that we didn't go far, but the girls were happy to be out and they got a chance to take a dip in the river.

On Labor Day we headed back to Albion to join a group hike with several others, however, due to the heat and humidity, we had to shorten our hike.  We still had a great time though!

Last weekend, we made a trip to Illinois to attend the Illinois Shorthair Rescue reunion.  We have attended them over the last several years and it is always a good time.  Great food, people who understand my love of these crazy brown, spotty dogs, and, best of all, lots of brown spotty dogs!

Peaches added two new states to her list of places she's visited. As you can tell, she was thrilled!

We drove into downtown Chicago to pick up our friend Emmalee who joined us for the reunion fun.

And then we headed out to the park for some fun!  The highlight of the day for the girls was the peanut butter eating contest!  

After some food, fun, and friends, it was time to head home.  The girls were exhausted from all of the fun and they slept all the way home!

This week was a busy one, but we got in lots of good walks, some time out enjoying the yard, and just time living our daily lives.  

As we enter the final week of Summer, the daylight hours grow shorter and the evening temperature begin to cool.  And it makes me a bit sad. 

I am not one of those people who looks forward to the end of Summer.  I don't long for cooler temperatures and I am not a fan of sweatshirt weather.  I hate when I have to wear socks and shoes! I love the warm temperatures of our Michigan Summer.  I'd be happiest if I could wear shorts, t-shirts, and no shoes all year long.  Although Fall colors are pretty, I much prefer the green grass and trees full of green leaves.  And I had hoped to make one more trip to the U.P. before the Summer ended.  

With all of that said, I do know that I'd never appreciate Spring and Summer as much as I do without the changing of our seasons and the cooler temperatures of Fall and Winter.  I can't imagine living anywhere that the seasons changing doesn't really encompass much change.  So I will embrace the warm days remaining and prepare for the long winter ahead by enjoying the next week and making the most of every minute of what is left of our Summer days.