Happy Sunday, friends. As I sit here writing this today with Maddie snuggled up against my leg, her chin resting on me knee, my heart just melts. There isn't much better than Maddie snuggles. It really is her way of showing love. She's always had a lot of love to give and I am happy to be a major recipient of it. I know I'm her person and she loves me best and that is pretty special.
We continue to plod along through our Summer enjoying our time together and making the most of our days. After the great weekend we had last week, I have watched as Maddie began to slow down a bit more, little by little, day by day, throughout this week. Mid-week always seems to be the hardest for her, and this week was no different, but this weekend has been harder too. I find that her mobility is best first thing in the morning (she even waddled down the hall to hide from the vacuum cleaner this morning), but her ability to move on her own continues to decline. She needs a boost to get up more frequently and many times she needs a leg to lean on as she moves along or a helping hand to make sure she doesn't tip backwards on her potty breaks, but she is still standing and moving on her own at times and I'm always happy to offer her a little extra support whenever she needs it. After all, if the tables were turned, I know she'd do the same for me.
While we still have time left, the reality of our lives is that that time gets shorter daily, and it becomes more evident every day that we are growing closer and closer to the end of our time together. And while that makes me sad, I won't let sadness consume me and tarnish the days remaining. There will be plenty of time for grieving later...for now we will just enjoy each other's company and live in the moments we have for as long as we've got.
I don't share this for sympathy. In fact I don't want anyone to feel sorry for us because we have had an amazing life together. And this special time at the end is just another part of our story. Her life now is slower and comes with some old lady aches and pains, but she still experiences excitement and joy, and she still wants to do dog things. So I'll give her a boost whenever she needs one and continue to live each day the best that we can.
The weather this week has been some of the best weather we've had all Summer, so we made sure to get out and take advantage of it. The stroller has gotten a lot of use this week as we look for places, both old and new, with paved paths for our nightly adventures. We visited a local park that we hadn't been to in quite some time, even though it's less than two miles from the house, and the girls were pretty happy to be there. There were softball games and pick-up basketball games and kids on the playground. It was nice to see the park alive again after last year, and we enjoyed our walk despite nearly being carried away by mosquitoes when we reached the shady, wooded portion of the park.
Wednesday Maddie had her weekly laser therapy appointment and Peaches joined us for the ride. Peaches enjoyed a nice little walk around the parking lot and then waited patiently in the car for Maddie to get done with her appointment.
Maddie was spoiled by the staff and I was once again told by yet another staff member just how much everyone at Patterson's loves my old girl. I love knowing that they love her and spoil her and take such good care of her. They're the best!
Wednesday night we took a stroll around the neighborhood and had a nice 2+ mile walk. Once again, Maddie and Peaches thoroughly enjoyed themselves. It was one of the best walks we've had in awhile. After we got home the girls wandered around the yard a bit before heading inside for the evening.
On Thursday, we spent the morning outside before the warmer temperatures really moved in to the area. The girls each spent time doing their own things, but eventually Maddie ended up right next to Peaches in the yard. Peaches was on the hunt for our friendly neighborhood toad; Maddie just wanted to be close to Peaches. When she got too hot, she'd come back and sit with me in the shade on the patio, but she was really enjoying the sunshine that morning. It was a good way to start our day.
Friday I was beat! It had been a busy week and I was ready to have a quiet, relaxing evening at home, and with some rain moving in for the night, I was definitely going to have that opportunity. But first the girls and I took a ride around town for a bit just to get them out of the house before settling in for the evening. We came home and had dinner, and then Maddie and I snuggled up on the couch to watch a little tv. I was thankful for the opportunity to just spend that time snuggling with her.
Saturday was a special day as we went to visit our friends Tom, Barbara, and Sherman. I knew the girls would love the chance for this visit and that Tom and Barb would be happy to see them too. When we arrived, Shermie and Peaches had a good game of chase, but that quickly ended and Maddie and Sherman spent much of their day near us on the patio as we visited. Peaches, on the other hand, was excited to be in a new place with new critters to hunt and lots of new smells. She stood at the fence watching for any movement, and would periodically come up to the patio to check in, and each time would drag a tennis balls off the patio and into the yard only to leave them wherever she happened to drop them. By the end of the day, the yard was littered with balls.
Eventually it was time for us to leave, but not before Shermie and Peaches got in another good round of chase. It had been a good day and an excellent visit. We look forward to our next visit when it's a bit cooler and Sherman and Peaches can play chase a bit more.
As we headed out of town, we made a quick stop at the Lowell Riverwalk to check out the new Showboat and make sure the girls took one last potty break before the drive home. It was a hot one out there, so we quickly loaded up the car so Maddie could relax in the air conditioned comfort. We also made a quick stop for ice cream at Ball's before hitting the road because no trip to Lowell is complete without a stop there!
We took the long way home along the back roads because back roads are always better than the highway, and we made a couple stops along the way. We didn't actually spend any time at the Ionia State Park, but since we were driving by, I wanted to get the girls picture with the sign...and we got swarmed by the mosquitoes. Boy am I glad we didn't have plans there!
We found a few geocaches along the way too. Peaches was happy to help me search while Maddie waited in the car.
I decided to pick up a pizza for dinner from Detroit Frankie's, a new wood fired pizza place in town, just to try it out. The people there were very friendly and the pizza came out to me quickly and then we headed home to eat dinner and settle in for the for the night. We had a really good week of adventures and ended our fun-filled Saturday with a night at home, Maddie and I snuggling once again as a storm moved through the area. The girls slept soundly after the excitement of their Saturday while I watched the Olympics to end the night.
We've got lots of fun things planned for the rest of our Summer because my little old adventure dog is still excited about car rides, walks in her stroller, and new adventures, and we're going to adventure on as long as Maddie wants to keep going. As she slows down, we'll always go at her speed and we'll continue to take Maddie-friendly adventures for as long as we can. We all enjoy the time we spend together and look forward to sharing more of our fun with all of you.
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