Wow, what a crazy couple of weeks! Two weeks ago, I sat down to write the blog for the week. We had had a great week of adventures that I was looking forward to sharing. I had planned to sit down to write that Tuesday, but as I'll share below, a plumbing issue prevented me from writing that night. The craziness continued between work and some planned adventures and I had a hard time finding time to write. I assumed as we reached mid-December, things would start to slow down a bit, but over the course of the next week and a half, long work days during what normally would be a much quieter time for me, kept me busy. I ended each long day exhausted, but still had to make sure to get the girls out each evening for a walk, and the evenings quickly passed without a chance to write. The weekends didn't seem to slow down much either while I tried to get out with the girls and make the most of the holiday season.
Before I knew it, Christmas week had arrived, and with it, continued craziness at work. Christmas has now passed, and thankfully, I am officially on vacation for the week. So today, I will get you all caught up on all of the excitement of our holiday fun. While I was busy with work, I love the holiday season and I planned to make the most of this year's holidays so I have plenty to share.
As I mentioned above, two weeks ago we had a plumbing issue. I went downstairs on my lunch to start a load of laundry only to find water on the laundry room floor. This isn't the first time that this has occurred over the years, there are plenty of trees in my yard causing roots to grow into the main drain line in the basement. Luckily, I caught this early before the entire basement was flooded. The amount of water on the floor was minor. I called the plumbing company and waited for them to arrive a few hours later, and then I spent most of the rest of the evening dealing with this issue. Unfortunately, the initial attempts to clear the drain weren't successful and I ended up having to wait overnight for him to return to use a fancy hydro-scrub machine to clear the pipes. Thankfully it was a success! Living without working plumbing is not fun!
The last few weeks were filled with holiday themed adventures. Basically, when I wasn't working, I took any chance I could to enjoy the short holiday season and to make the most of the sparkling lights. The girls are always happy to join me on my adventures and they don't care where the adventures take us as long as we are together.
One Tuesday night early in the month, I had to drive out to Eaton Rapids for a quick meeting and decided I'd bring the girls along so we could get out for a walk through a local park there. The change of pace visiting new areas is great for the girls and for me too. We started our walk not long before sunset and didn't have much time because it was getting dark, but I knew that any time in the woods would make Peaches happy. Plus both girls love to sniff and there is nothing better than all of the new smells in the woods to create extra excitement for them.
We enjoyed our short walk before my meeting and, when the meeting ended it was still early, so I decided to take a walk around town and maybe even pick up some take out before heading home. We headed into town, found a parking spot, and headed out to stroll around the downtown area and enjoy the holiday sights.
Eaton Rapids is a nice little small town that in some ways reminds me of my hometown. It was beautifully lit and the small town businesses had some beautiful window displays to enjoy as well. The evening was chilly, but not too cold, and the town was pretty quiet as we walked the main street to one end and then crossed to the other side. I love the tree lined streets full of lights and just wish pictures would do them justice.
We proceeded down the street heading back toward the car, but then came to the town Christmas tree and decided to stop for a picture. There is a small island in the river in the middle of town, just past the tree, and I was pleased to see that it was decorated for the holidays too. I decided to walk around the island and take in the lights there as well.
After walking around the island, we continued on our journey to the car, and I was happy to see that the local Mexican restaurant was open for business via a small take-out window so I ordered a taco dinner to take home with me. It had been a nice night exploring just one of Michigan's many small towns.
The next day I had a mid-week day off, so I decided to head to Frankenmuth for a day of German Christmas spirit.
Frankenmuth is famous for its chicken dinners and Bronner's Christmas store, but we didn't visit either of those locations. Instead, we took our time and just slowly walked around town. It had been years since I had been there, and I had forgotten just how small the town really is. It was the perfect place for a walk with Maddie.
We walked the town learning about the history and I took plenty of pictures of the girls in holiday themed areas.
Peaches and Maddie were both fascinated with the Nativity. I'm convinced that they both thought the animals were real. After a couple of hours of exploring, we stopped for some beignets before heading back home. It was a nice way to spend our day and I'm glad we made the trip.
That Friday we had plans to attend another drive-thru light display with Vanessa. We met her for a little late afternoon geocaching adventure along the way to our final destination in Grand Blanc. We didn't have a very successful day of geocaching, but we still had fun.
We made sure that we arrived at Bicentennial Park early to get in line before they opened.and boy were we glad that we did. Like most of the light displays this year, the line grew quickly and the crowd was large. This particular event only ran for two weekends and admission cost was the donation of a toy or perishable food item so I expected it to be busy.
We were excited about the promise of hot chocolate and cookies as part of our admission. Unfortunately the hot chocolate was cold, but luckily the cookies were good.
The light display was nice, but small, and we made it through very quickly once they opened. Of course we had to find some hot chocolate for the ride home...after all hot chocolate is officially our holiday light tradition!
Mild weather continued for that weekend, so I decided to take a ride to Kalamazoo with the girls on Saturday evening to visit the lights in Bronson Park. The entire downtown area of Kalamazoo was beautifully decorated for the holidays and I was very glad I had decided to visit.
The display at Bronson Park was one of the best we saw all year long. It was full of lights and we thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to walk around the display and enjoy it on our own time
We left Kalamazoo and headed toward Battle Creek for another walk-thru display of lights. The extra special thing about the display in Battle Creek for me is that much of it follows the North Country Trail through the downtown area. The majority of the display is the 12 days of Christmas in lights.
The downtown area was quiet and we enjoyed our walk through the light display. We even spotted Santa and his reindeer.
The best thing about the displays in Battle Creek were the motion light displays. The display was very impressive.
We'd had a busy night and Maddie was ready to head home for the night so we loaded up in the car. As we left town, I made one more quick stop...I couldn't resist pulling in to get a couple of pictures at the Kellogg's headquarters. It was beautiful. We'd had an amazing weekend of light viewing.
The week started off with a crazy work schedule. After a couple of days of short walks around my neighborhood, I decided mid-week that we needed a real adventure. Every year we spend at least one night walking at the State Capitol and around downtown Lansing and we hadn't a chance to make that visit yet. So off we went!
It was a cold and windy night, but there is just something special about the Capitol at Christmas. I love walking around the Capitol grounds at night and the tree adds an extra special feeling.
I also love taking a walk around downtown and listening to the Christmas music playing in the streets. It is one of my favorite things about the Christmas season. Everything is shiny and beautiful and it makes me feel like the spirit of the Holiday is alive all around me. I think that I love this visit more than any other holiday tradition
After my crazy week of work, another Friday arrived and I was excited to continue more of our holiday traditions. Before sunset, we headed out for a walk at Fenner Nature center. It's the first time we've walked there with snow on the ground and we were able to take a new trail which is normally swampy and overgrown. No matter where we walk at Fenner, the girls love their time on the trails, but they seemed to enjoy this walk more than normal. While it was a short walk before darkness arrived, we loved our time there.
We left Fenner, ordered a pizza for pick-up, and then headed to Frances Park. Every year we drive around the neighborhood surrounding this park to enjoy the neighborhood Christmas lights. I eat pizza and listen to Christmas music while driving around and, of course, I always share some crust with the girls.
This year, due to Covid, the city employees decided to do a small, free light display in the park. That was our first stop for the night. While is wasn't much, I appreciated the thought and effort made by the employees to bring a little joy to this difficult year.
After leaving the park, we drove around several neighborhoods in the area enjoying the lights, but I have to say that this was my favorite display for the night. It's always nice to see someone with a little sense of humor.
We were able to get out for some short adventures on Campus on Saturday and enjoyed some geocaching as well. While it was busier than I expected, it was a peaceful walk. I love walking on the campus when it's quiet and empty.
I think the highlight of our walk for Peaches was the beaver we spotted along the river. Maddie got pretty excited about the beaver too.
We also enjoyed a quick walk around the children's garden, which was decked out for the holidays, before heading home for the day.
On Sunday we drove out to see my parents for a few hours. It was a cold day, but I knew that Peaches and Maddie would enjoy some time in the fresh country air. Poor Peaches doesn't get the quality walks she needs always because Maddie slows us down, so I knew she'd love this trip. As soon as I let her out of the car, she just ran and ran. She zoomed around the yard sniffing and exploring and having a grand time. Meanwhile, Maddie and I slowly meandered around the yard with my mom.
After a good run for Peaches, we sat down in the garage with propane heaters blaring away to keep us warm while we visited. It took a bit, but the girls finally relaxed and snuggled up together. While I didn't get many pictures that day, this one makes me smile.
After taking Peaches for another run around the yard, it was time for us to start the drive home, but we couldn't leave without making a visit to the cemetery to visit my grandparents and watch the sun set on the last day of Fall.
Winter arrived Monday morning and it was back to the grind of another crazy work week, but thankfully this would be a short week ending in Christmas. Most of my Christmas preparations were done, but I still had some errands to run. I spent some time during my lunch and after work finishing up some to-do's and taking care of some donations. One of the benefits of dropping of donations at the shelter was getting to meet some pretty adorable puppies!
For our Monday evening walk, we headed to East Lansing for a Winter Solstice Luminary walk. It was drizzling, but warm as we slowly walked through the neighborhood. It was so beautiful; I think that this will be a new annual tradition for us.
After our walk, we had one final stop to make and we headed out to Dewitt to visit one more small light display. This one was put on by a local church in their parking lot and would be our final light display visit for the holiday season. It was a cute little display and everyone was so friendly and merry. I had almost decided not to go, but I was glad that I did.
Wow! We had such a great time this holiday season. Despite being busy with work and all of the craziness going on in the world this year, I am so glad I made the time to get out and enjoy as much of the holidays as I could. I love the lights of Christmas and the joy the season brings. What fun we had.
I have officially caught up on sharing our pre-Christmas adventures with you. In my next blog, I'll share more about the two days leading up to Christmas Eve as well as our Christmas Eve and Christmas day celebrations. I look forward to sharing those with you soon and have a special blog planned for the year-end/new year. As always, thanks for following along on our adventures, we appreciate it!