As Summer turns to Fall

We have had a slow start to our Sunday morning,  the way I prefer Sundays to be.  All week long I have somewhere to be and things to do so I spend my mornings rushing around to get ready for each day, but Sundays can be peaceful, quiet days spent however I please, and I prefer quiet, slow, lazy mornings.  They also give me an opportunity to finish the blog.

The girls have had some good wresting matches this morning, and Mina has dragged half her toys unto the bed to keep herself busy between naps, while Peaches sleeps and I spend some time reading and writing.  We are expecting a rainy Sunday, so I'm going to make some soup, maybe bake a little, and just relax.  Well...as much as I can with a puppy in the house!  I'm looking forward to a nice relaxing day at home.

On Thursday evening, I attended a retirement open house for one of our advisors in the Grand Rapids area.  Since I had worked all day and knew I wouldn't get home until close to dark, the girls got to ride along with me, which of course meant the opportunity to get out to explore a spot we may not visit often.   

If you know me at all, you know I can't resist  any chance I get to visit the beach, and since we were only about 20 miles from Holland and Lake Michigan, I decided that's where we had to go.  

Much of the day at home had been gray and dreary, but the skies in Western Michigan were a beautiful blue and the sun was shining, and I was determined to see the final sunset of the Summer(which didn't end until 9:03 that night) over a Great Lake before Fall arrived.

It was windy and cool, and I was surprised by the number of people there when we arrived around 6:30, althoughmost of them never left their cars.  I guess I'm not the only one who enjoys a good Lake Michigan sunset.

While much of the beach isn't dog-friendly, we walked the sidewalks along the beach from one end to the other, then took a walk out to the pier for a good view of the lighthouse.   We walked in the sand where we could and even snuck out to the lake to stick our toes in the water.  The girls also made sure to get a good drink.

Mina and Peaches were having the best time watching the flocks of seagulls, and I think I need to get Mina into lure coursing.  You should have seen the way she would chase after the feathers blowing in the sand.  The pure joy of a curious puppy is so fun to watch.  We were all definitely happy to be there!

Since I still had to make the nearly 1 1/2 hour drive home, I didn't plan to stay until the sun had fully set, but we were enjoying ourselves so much that I wasn't paying attention to the time.

We ended our visit walking some of the Dune trails which offered some amazing views of the Lake, beach, and lighthouse.  

By 7:30, we were in the car and heading out of the park while many other cars were still heading in to see the sunset.  Even though I left a little before the 7:42 sunset, I was so glad we had made the visit.  The girls were happy and so was I, and I had a quiet drive home.  By the time we got there, it was officially Fall.

After another busy day of work, Friday evening I took the girls to Ted Black Woods for our walk.  I wanted to do a little geocaching and this park seemed like the perfect spot for it.

I really enjoy this park any time I visit, but we don't visit often since it is on the other side of town.  It was obvious we don't get here often by just how crazy Peaches was acting when we got there.  She was in rare, crazy form! 

All of the new smells kept the girls busily sniffing along the way which didn't help while I was trying to find caches, but we worked through the challenges and ultimately had a nice walk and geocaching adventure.   

Saturday started with the Dog Walking club at the shelter.  I got to walk handsome Conklin.   He was a very good boy and loved his walk. 

After the walk, I drove to the opposite side of town to join in a short geocaching "flash mob" event.  I had some interesting conversations with a couple of other cachers, joined the group photo, and got into the car as it started to rain...it was a fun little 20 minute event.

 

After my fun Saturday morning adventures, I headed home, loaded the dogs into the car, and headed out to visit Fiona.  

She wasn't quite as talkative as she haf been my last couple of visits, but she was busily scooting around and playing.   We had a nice visit and spent some time outside with the girls and then headed home as Fiona headed off for her afternoon nap.

On the way home, we stopped in Brighton so the girls could get out for a walk.  Thanks to geocaching, I found this interesting cemetery where former Michigan governor George Romney is buried.  It had several unique headstones and far too many children buried there.  

We finished our time in Brighton with a walk along the Mill Pond Trail.

It is in the heart of the city , but had some pretty views.   The girls enjoyed the ducks, geese, and swans, and at one point, as we came around a corner we were faced with two ducks just a couple of feet in front of us, I thought Peaches was going to pull me into the water.   Thankfully that didn't happen! Whew!

Plenty of people stopped to say hello and it was a nice little walk.  

 The garden is still producing a good amount of veggies, but I know it is nearing it's end.  I'm just hoping we can avoid frost for a little longer so I can take full advantage of all of the bounty it has to offer.   I'll have a fair amount of tomatoes, broccoli, basil, and Brussel Sprouts to pick in the next couple of days.  

Now I'm off to enjoy the rest of my Sunday.  I'm currently being stared at by one little puppy, and it may be time to get out front our walk.  Hope you all have a wonderful Sunday!

Summer's last Hurrah

I have spent the last week making the most of what remained of our Summer.  With Fall arriving on Thursday evening and the weather cooling down considerably, I didn't want to waste one minute of the end of this Summer or our warm weather.  

We had a busy, fun-filled weekend which left me no time to sit down and write. Monday was busy.  Tuesday we had a beautiful end of Summer thunderstorm.  I thought that I'd be able to use the quiet evening at home to write, but a sassy little puppy had other plans.  But tonight, the stars aligned and I found time to sit down and focus on writing.

Our week last week started quietly with a visit with Katelyn and Arlo to pick up some eggs.  Peaches jumped out of the car and immediately decided to torture the poor chickens, but I got her wrangled and had a nice visit.  The gray skies were so beautiful on the way home that I had to stop for a picture. 

Tuesday evening was spent at home working in the yard and playing an endless game of ball with Mina.  She's really beginning to love chasing a tennis ball around the yard and Peaches usually enjoys it too. 

By Wednesday, the girls were in need of an adventure, so we headed to Crego Park for a walk around the lake and then a short walk along the River walk.  This time of year it gets harder to get out much after work and before dark, but we made it work.

Both girls thoroughly enjoyed our time there and it also gave me an opportunity to work on a little training.  We've got to keep working on being good girls even with distractions.  They did pretty well.

The goldenrod was plentiful and we even saw our first pop of Fall color.  It is still pretty green around here a week later, but I am seeing more touches of color here and there.  I'll keep enjoying the green of Summer as long as I can though!

Thursday i awoke to Peaches unable to stand or straighten her hind legs.  It was a terrible way to start the day, completely unsure of what could be wrong.  But I got Mina outside, rifled through the closet to find Maddie's help em up harness, and got her moving.  While she did use her front legs a bit while I held up her rear, mostly i had to carry her to get her to move.  Poor Mina didn't know what to make of the situation either and really just wanted to play with her friend.

By 7:45 I was in the car and headed to our vet with no appointment, hoping that they could squeeze us in sometime in the morning.   I called to let them know we were on our way and when we arrived just a few minutes after they opened at 8am, they came right out to take her inside for triage.  Some how in the drive there, she started feeling better and got herself up and out of the car with a little helping hand from me.  

She was wobbly, but walking, and I felt a little sense of relief.  By 8:30 we were in being seen by the doctor.   A spinal exam and very basic neurological exam showed that those were not the issue and, based on previous conversations I'd had with Dr. Jason,  the cause was determined to be arthritis pain.  We did x-rays to confirm and have now added a pain killer to her daily routine of glucosamine, anti-inflammatory, and some other supplements I've been giving her.  Sometimes I forget the she is a senior dog at almost 11 years old.  She's been doing well since starting her new routine.  

As hard as it was to see her in pain, I reminded myself just how lucky we are to still have her here to deal with old lady issues and to watch her grow old.  

Since Peaches was feeling better, on Friday we drove out to Porterville for a walk around town.  It was a beautiful evening and we had a nice walk and worked on training again.  I'm determined to make sure Mina will look at me when I take pictures so we are going to keep practicing!

Despite our nice walk and training time, I still had to make time for a 9pm game of tug with a puppy.  

Saturday arrived and I had plans for a productive and fun day.   Peaches woke up pretty happy...she must have known it was Saturday too.

After getting some stuff done around the house, we headed out to St. John's for the Fall Feastival.   It is a fun, food filled festival with vendors ranging from food trucks to farmers.

We walked around, sampled some items, bought some items, and got lunch from one of the food trucks.  We were stopped a million times and the girls got to practice how to behave when strangers want to say hello.  It was an excellent way to work on appropriate behaviors and continue our training.   I was so pleased with how well both girls did.  In addition to a few treats along the way, they were treated to a flavorless snow cone by one of the vendors.  They loved their icy treat!

As we left the festival and walked in front of the Courthouse, they both were very interested in this pool and fountain.  What a fun time we had had!

 

We finished the adventure with some geocaching and a couple of short walks in the area before heading home.

We enjoyed dinner out on the patio and had a few rounds of fetch before heading inside for the evening.   It had been a great day!

Sunday morning was filled with house cleaning, laundry, and lots of time preparing veggies from the garden for freezing.  The girls lounged most of the day with the occasional wrestling match while I worked. 

All of that hard work was rewarded with a walk and some geocaching at Sharp park with Vanessa.  I got one terrible picture near the end of the day and one picture of two pooped girls in the car after our 5 mile walk.

After getting home and eating dinner, I had a very quiet Sunday evening. 

Monday rolled around far too quickly, but we had made the most of our weekend, so the girl were quiet most of the day while I worked.  Mondays have become exceptionally busy at work lately, and by the end of the day I was exhausted, but two good girls were ready for some fun.  

Since it was a beautiful night we headed downtown for a walk around the Capitol grounds. Peaches is definitely feeling more like her normal self because she decided to teach Mina the fun of walking on walls.

And I was pleasantly surprised by the girls sitting so nicely for pictures in the beautiful evening sun.

As I mentioned earlier, we had some beautiful Summer thunderstorms move through town on Tuesday evening so we spent a pretty quiet evening at home. 

Storms moved through again this morning and the day stayed gray, but warm.  After another busy day of work, we spent our final Summer evening on the last full day of Summer taking a nice walk around campus.

It is crazy to think about everything that has happened this Summer.  Three months ago, we had just said our goodbyes to Hershey.  Peaches and I headed North to start the Summer in Copper Harbor, we traveled to Minnesota and then, on our way home, we added Mina to our family.

I have watched Mina grow and learn, and it's been crazy having a puppy in the house again.  She's had some firsts and I look forward to many more Summers full of adventures with her and Peaches. 

My little Fiona turned 5 months old on Monday.  She loves to be outside and she's not going to be happy when the weather doesn't allow her to spend all her time there.  

She's sitting up on her own and has lots to say...and she loves to laugh and smile.  

I look forward to lots of Summer adventures with her over the years too.  I can't believe how fast she is growing up!

So tonight I say farewell to my friend Summer and I'm thankful for all of the wonderful things that have happened to make it memorable.  

I'm never ready for Fall, but we'll make sure to make it a memorable one too.  

Hiking and Geocaching adventures

It has been a gray, dreary, and rainy Sunday.  I've been fairly productive today.  While our original plan for today had been to travel to the ISR reunion in Illinois for the day,  the reunion was postponed due to the forecast of some pretty heavy rains expected in the area.  I was bummed that it had to be rescheduled, but I'm thankful for a rainy day at home.  

Our week was pretty uneventful, although it did start off on Labor Day with a trip to Hell for some exploring and a good geocaching hike.   It was Vanessa and Mina's first visit to Hell.

After we explored Hell, we enjoyed a nice hike along the Mike Levine trail nearby and picked up several geocaches along the way.  We finished our trip with lunch at the Hell Hole Bar.  It was busy and the food was excellent.

  

Tuesday arrived and our vacation came to an end, but I don't think any of us were ready for me to go back to work.

The girls had a lazy morning, but I was busy.  The day was full of TEAMS meetings and catching up from my week out of the office.

   

Mina and Peaches spent a lot of time outside during the week enjoying our beautiful weather while I worked.  Because I was busy and worked late a couple of nights, we didn't take any exciting mid-week adventures, but we did get out for our nightly walks.

Mina has been crazy this week.  I think she's in the middle of a growth spurt and so our previous routine isn't working for her.  I think she's gotten to an age where she needs more excercise and mental stimulation than she has needed previously so we'll be making some adjustments.   

She was a little bit of a monster this week, and my work schedule didn't help.   And while I'm not loving the late evening zoomies and some of her bad behavior, she is awfully cute when she is sleeping.

Friday we were able to get out for a little adventure at Anderson Park.  We saw some beautiful late Summer flowers.

It was such an enjoyable evening walk.  And we experienced a beautiful sunset on our way home.  

Saturday started off with our Saturday morning Dog Walking Club at the shelter.  It was a great walk and I really enjoy spending time with the shelter dogs.  They are always so happy to spend some time outside of the shelter.   

I then headed home to spend some time in the garden.  I had a lot of work to do and Mina joined to help me.  Normally I wouldn't let dogs in the garden, but Mina has figured out how to sneak around the fence which makes it hard to keep her out, and she sits so nicely, so I don't mind.

Peaches enjoyed the time outside too, soaking in the sun.

The garden bounty was pretty amazing.  I got my first Brussel Sprouts ever and I can't believe I'm still getting zucchini.  I spent time Sunday taking care of all of these lovely veggies.

Since we expected a rainy Sunday, we joined Vanessa for some fun exploring Grand Woods Park and Hawk Meadows. 

It was a hot and humid afternoon, but we enjoyed our geocaching adventure with the dogs.   We saw lots of pretty views and even saw some swans. 

Shockingly, I even remembered to get a picture of the girls!  We walked 5 1/2 miles total and definitely earned the stop for ice cream at Twisters on the way home!

And most of the evening was spent quietly enjoying some college football. 

We slept in a bit this morning and had a slow start to the day before heading out to run some errands, get groceries, and stop at local Orchard for a cider slush and doughnuts.  

The flowers at the orchard were beautiful, so I couldn't resist getting some pictures. 

Once we got home I did some work around the house while watching the Lions game.  Overall it was a pretty good Sunday.

Lots of wrestling and some good brain games for the girls kept them happy despite the fact we couldn't get out for much of a walk with all the rain.  

And I end my Sunday with some puppy snuggles.  Not a bad way to end the day.