Cold and snow arrive in Mid-Michigan

I was excited to have a long weekend last week and to start my work week with two days off.  After a long hike on Saturday, we were happy to spend Sunday closer to home.  A chilly hike and some geocaching at Fenner was the perfect adventure to start our Sunday.  It was a sunny, beautiful day, even though it was cold.  The girls were exceptionally well behaved for our walk and thoroughly enjoyed their walk through the woods.  

We came home after our walk and the girls napped while I watched the Lions game.  It was a quiet day.

Monday morning was spent running errands.  I had a list of thing I needed to get done and wanted to get them all done so I could have a quiet Tuesday at home.  Monday afternoon, I was busy finishing yardwork, mowing the lawn one final time for the year, and doing several other chores around the house.  Of course, the girls and I took advantage of the day off to get in a mid-day walk and a good game of fetch.  It was a very productive day.

While I had originally planned to just stay home on Tuesday, I decided to head out to the shelter to take one of the shelter dogs out of the shelter on a Sniffari.  After two quick errands first thing in the morning, I headed out to Mason to get Kramer out of the shelter for some fun.

We took a nice walk through town, enjoying our first snow of the year  I admire this tree with its beautiful green leaves covered in snow.

Kramer and I visited several businesses in town and he enjoyed meeting all of the new people.  After our walk through town, I headed back to the car to take Kramer for his pup cup from Biggby.  We spent nearly two hours out of the shelter together and he went happily back into his kennel for a nap.  The best news of the week was when he was adopted a couple of days later!

After my time with Kramer, I came home to take the girls out for a walk around the neighborhood.  Mina was very curious about this turkey. 

I also got a chance to talk to Nicol and got this adorable picture of little Fiona.  How is she 30 weeks old?!?!

It had been a really good day off and we all were ready to settle in for the night after dinner.  Mina and Peaches spend a lot of time competing over my lap.  Tuesday evening Mina won.

It was back to work on Wednesday, and I had to travel to Grand Rapids for part of the day.  I was pleasantly surprised when I showed up at the office where I was working and I was greeted by Bella.  She was a good little helper.  

Mina and Peaches spent the day at home while I was at work, and when I got home at 3:30, they were both ready to play.  There were several rounds of wrestling and plenty of games of chase while I continued to work.  Unfortunately for the girls, I had to leave to head out to the shelter for Wednesday night dog walking, so they were stuck at home for a couple of hours again that night.  Luckily, when I got home after dog walking, they were both happy to snuggle after a long day.

While I worked on Thursday morning, the girls happily snuggled on the bed.  With the unseasonably cold weather we were having, I have been limiting their time outside, so I was happy to see them happily napping.  

We were expecting more snow on Thursday, and I decided to get the girls out for a lunchtime walk before the snow really moved into the area.  I thought the colorful leaves in the snow were pretty.  

Not knowing what the weather would do Friday, I made sure to get the girls out for a second walk after work.  It was blustery and we didn't walk for long, but it was nice to get them out again before settling in for the night.

Despite the frigid temperatures and snow, Mina insisted on spending time outside on Friday.  She was obsessed with going out and just sitting in the snow.  There were plenty of zoomies too.

I spent a lot of time letting her in and out of the house so she could spend time out enjoying the snow.  Silly girl!

Friday night was Silver Bells in the City, the official kick-off of the holiday season in Lansing.  Despite the cold, I wanted to take the girls downtown to enjoy the festivities. So after a quick stop for some pizza at a local geocaching event, we headed downtown. 

This event is always a good time, especially for the dogs, since there are lots of people and plenty of things to smell.  It was made even better for them because of all of the snow.  Peaches couldn't keep herself from rolling in the snow, and Mina was jumping around and having the best time.  She especially enjoyed watching a snowball fight and trying to chase the snowballs as they landed nearby.

She was completely unphased by all of the people and noises from the electric light parade.  She even sat down to take it all in.

We spent most of our time on the Capitol grounds, but eventually we started walking down the street along the parade route as we walked toward the car.  

We always leave a little early to avoid all of the crowds heading back to their cars, so we were home and warming up before 8pm.  It had been a good night.

The temperatures were in the low 20s with wind chills near 10 degrees on Saturday morning.  I had to go to Mason to pick up some prescriptions from the vet, so I took the girls along.  We stopped at Patterson's and I took Mina inside to weigh her will I was there.  I can't believe she weighs over 44 pounds now!  

We stopped at the Family Farm and Home so that the girls could get out for a walk.  We walked up and down every aisle allowing the girls to sniff to their hearts content before heading outside to continue our walk.   The wind and cold got to be a bit too much, so it was back into the car to warm up a bit.  We then drove downtown to do a little shopping and to take a walk around downtown while we were there.  The sun was shining and the sky was blue, but boy oh boy was it cold!  We didn't spend a lot of time out there, but we had fun.

The girls got to use some of our fun brain games to keep them occupied Saturday afternoon, and eventually we settled in for the evening.  Once again, Mina made sure she got my lap!

Our Sunday has been uneventful.  The girls spent time outside playing chase with the neighbor dogs and with each other.  There were several rounds of wrestling, lots of games of fetch, plenty of chewing, and lots of snuggling with Peaches and Mina taking turns in my lap.  While I was able to get some cleaning done while the girls napped, I had hoped to finish the blog early and to work on the newsletter for the rescue, but any time I sat down, a dog showed up in my lap.  Luckily, this evening my lap was free so I could get the blog done.  I guess the rest of my to-do list will have to wait.

This week will be another short work week as we prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving and I'm looking forward to it and the start of the holiday season.  It is going to be so much fun with both Fiona and Mina experiencing it all for the first time.  I hope you all enjoy a very Happy Thanksgiving!