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!