Summer Fun in Michigan

What a year it has been so far!  It is crazy to think that we have already reached mid-August...where has the time gone?!?  While we are living through some strange times, I am not letting that hold me back from getting out and having fun with the girls.  Recently I decided to start visiting some new places in Michigan.  I've always thought it would be cool to visit every county in the State and when I saw a list printed of the most beautiful spot in each county, I decided it was time to start checking them out.  

So last weekend I started with the counties closest to home-Ingham, Eaton, and Clinton.  While I've been to Eaton and Clinton county numerous times, I had never been to the locations considered the most beautiful spot in those counties, so our Saturday plans were made.  I decided to tailor the weekend adventures so that I could take each of the girls on an individual adventure to a location that best fit their personality and would make them happiest.  

The first adventure of the day was some one on one time with Piper hiking the trails at Rose Lake State Wildlife area near Bath in Clinton County.  The trails there are wooded and beautiful and it was a great place for a walk.  It's only 20 minutes from home, and after our walk there, I can't understand why I've never walked the dogs there before...we will definitely be back!

Piper does such a good job walking alone and she was loving all of the sounds and smells of the woods around us.  It was the perfect morning for a peaceful walk in the woods.  We had a great time and got in a nice 3.6 mile hike.

After my walk with Piper, I headed home for a quick lunch and to get Peaches for part two of the day's adventures.  For Peaches' one on one time, we headed to Fitzgerald Park in Grand Ledge in Eaton County to hike at the Ledges.  

Once again, this is a location that is only about 20 minutes from home, and yet I had never visited.  Peaches was thrilled to be out on an adventure on her own with me and was even happier to be somewhere that she could climb on rocks.  After allowing her to drag me around the trails for nearly 2.5 miles, we headed back to the car to head to Oak Park, on the other side of the river, to explore a bit more.

We took a short walk around Oak Park and Peaches was fascinated by the rock climbers at the park.  She's pretty adventurous and if someone would have volunteered to take her with them, I'm sure she would have loved to join them!  Instead we hiked the path down to the bottom so we could look up at the ledges instead.  It was a great time!

 

We then headed home so that I could get Maddie for her adventure with me.  Maddie's adventure took us somewhere we have visited many times-the State Capitol grounds.  The State Capitol grounds are listed as the most beautiful place in Ingham County, and I knew it would be the perfect place to spend my one on one time with her.  

We had a slow, meandering walk around the grounds and I allowed Maddie to lead the way.  She picked where we went and when we stopped and it was an enjoyable, quiet, late afternoon spent with my very special girl.  After a day spent out with the two youngsters, a slow stroll with Maddie was just what I needed.

One of my favorite parts of the day was stopping to chat with a couple (who you can see pictured in the background) who were planning to get married on the steps of the Capitol building and were there for the rehearsal.  What a cool idea!  And what a nice way to end my day of individual adventures with the girls.

After a busy Saturday of individual adventures, I was ready to get all three girls out together for a few more adventures together, so we loaded up the Jeep and hit the road.  Our main plan was to visit Buell Lake, the most beautiful place in Genesee County.  It was a hot day and I thought a trip to a lake would be perfect for the day.

We arrived at the County Park and were pleasantly surprised with some very pretty views of the Lake, but no good place to access the lake for the girls to take a swim.  So instead we did a short hike to check out the really large park and at the end of our time, we checked out the fishing dock.  I think this dock was the highlight of the trip for the girls.  We really enjoyed our time here and I would have loved to explore more, but it was far too hot to do much with the girls so we headed back to the Jeep for our next adventure.

As we left town, we found this cute little park with memorials to war veterans and firefighters.  While it was small, I was very glad I stopped.

On our way home, we made one more stop.  This adventure took us to banks of the Shiawassee River in Owosso at the DeVries Nature Conservancy.  While I grew up only about 20 minutes from here and drive by it any time I visit my home town, I had never been here before(are you sensing a theme?). This is considered the most beautiful spot in Shiawassee County.  It had some nice trails and a beautiful view of the river and a several small garden areas.

It was still very hot and humid, so we couldn't take a long hike, but we did spend a little time exploring the trails near the river and some of the smaller gardens.

But my favorite thing about this stop was the field of sunflowers.  I love how beautiful they are.

I ended the weekend with three happy girls and was so thankful that I had gotten out for a little road trip to do some exploring.  It was a great way to spend the weekend.

My weeks are filled with work followed by busy nights of walking dogs and trying to get things done around the house.  Each night flies by and it seems like I never have the time to get the things done that I want to get finished.  So, when the weekends arrive, I am trying to use them wisely to get some things finished around home as well as get out of the house for a change of pace.  I think with the decision to start taking some small weekend road trips to visit counties nearby, I have found a good balance.

Last weekend we were off again for some adventures not far from home.  For Saturday, we traveled to McCourtie Park, the most beautiful spot in Hillsdale County.  It is a unique and beautiful little park with several unique cement bridges.

 

The girls really enjoyed exploring this park, splashing in the creek, and just having a fun time!  The cement bridges were beautiful with lots of detail.  What a wonderful and unique place.  This list of places to visit has not yet disappointed and I am so glad that I have been introduced to all of these cool new places that I probably wouldn't have otherwise visited.

On Sunday after getting some things done around the house, we made a trip to a local sunflower field to get a few pictures of  the girls in a field of flowers.  They were so good sitting nicely with lots of distractions.  Well, everyone but Piper.  But at least she stopped long enough to be in the picture!

We also found a new trail to hike in the area and picked up some sweet corn from a roadside stand and then just drove around the country roads before heading home.  I had a busy Sunday night cleaning and prepping vegetables and preparing for the week ahead, but thankfully the girls were ready to relax after our weekend of fun. 

I've had another crazy week, busy every night, but I sat down every night with intentions of finishing the blog...with no luck.  So I wrote a little each night and here were are at Friday and I'm finally done!  We have some exciting things happening again this weekend and all next week as I'm finally using a full week of vacation!  I'm ready for a nice week off, and while I have no specific plans at this point, it will be nice to have some time away from work and some time to get caught up on my to-do list while also finding ways to take some time to incorporate some fun into our week. 

I promise to check in on Sunday with a weekend update, and then next week I'm hoping to have lots more fun things to share.  Maybe we'll make some progress on visiting some counties a little farther from home...and maybe we'll even visit a Great Lake and finish the only item that is left on Peaches' bucket list.  Stay tuned to see what fun we have to share!