Baseball, berries, and dog walks

We had a really great week full of fun activities and adventures.   While the weather was humid, it was a good week for more Summer fun.  

Monday we stayed close to home.  After a busy day of work, I was happy to be able to get out to mow the lawn and do some work around the yard.  We took a short walk around the neighborhood and then I spent time after dinner playing lots of rounds of fetch with Mina.

Tuesday I worked our local election.  I always work the afternoon/evening shift after working the morning at my normal job.  

Before leaving home to work the election, I took the girls for a short drive and a walk around a local park which we rarely visit.  It was nice to get out before being stuck inside the rest of the day.

Wednesday I took the afternoon off from work to take the girls to a Lansing Lugnuts baseball game.  Throughout the Summer, every Wednesday home game is dog-friendly, and I figured an afternoon game would be perfect to take both girls because I expected it to be less busy.

We showed up just a few minutes before the game started and before taking our seat, we did a couple of laps around the stadium.  

There were lots of kids at the game because it was also a Summer Fun Day and there were plenty of kid groups in attendance.   The girls loved seeing all of the kids and eating all of the popcorn and Dippin Dots that they dropped around the concourse. 

We didn't spend a lot of time sitting, but we did use our seats a few times.  Mostly we walked laps around the stadium so the girls could meet people and othe dogs.  We even stopped in the lawn so the girls could play with a puppy that we had met at the game.

Before leaving the game, we got a picture of us all together.   It had been a lot of fun and by the time we got back to the car, we had walked 2 1/2 miles.  The girls had had the best day and crashed as soon as we got home.   

While the girls spent the evening snoring away, I had to head to the shelter for Wednesday night dog walking.  

Since there were only two of us walking that night, we decided to shorten our walk a bit and take three groups of two dogs each out for a walk.   I had the privilege of walking Kia, Dump Truck, and Wyclef.  They were so much fun!

In total we walked 4 dogs 1.8 miles and the final 2 dogs walked about 1 mile, for a total of just over 4 1/2 miles for me.  It was humid, but I really enjoyed spending time with the dogs and was happy to know everyone had some time out of the shelter. 

I also enjoyed some yummy blackberries along our walking path.  I love fruit season!

Despite all of the excercise and mental activity Mina has been getting this week, she has been extra crazy.  Her behavior is definitely being affected by her post-spay hormones.  On Thursday she was especially crazy.  Peaches and I both got yelled at, attacked, and driven a little crazy.  I can't wait until these hormones get back to normal and I get my calmer Mina back!

I was happy to get the girls out for our South Lansing Farmer's Market trip Thursday after work. There were more vendors and more interesting things to buy this week, and I took full advantage of our visit.  I was especially excited about the duck and quail eggs.

Of course I also got my weekly cookie and Ming Dynasty egg roll too.  We ended our visit with a walk around Soldan's while I ate my egg roll and the girls got some extra love from some of their favorite employees.   It was a great trip.

After dinner, we made a visit to campus for our evening walk.  We have to make the most of the short time remaining before the students return to town. 

It was a beautiful evening walk and we even met a fellow GSP owner.  

As we walked around campus, I could really feel the changes that come with August.  It was a beautiful, peaceful evening. 

After a fun week, we started our weekend with a visit to Fenner Nature Center.   We were expecting storms to move into the area Friday evening, so I wanted to get the girls out for an adventure before the rain started.

The late Summer flowers are blooming across the short grass Prarie and the deer were out in force.  It was wonderful to see them all, including a couple of beautiful young bucks.

We hadn't visited Fenner in quite awhile and Peaches was so happy to be back.  She loves the grass prarie and was happy to roll around in the grass every chance she got.

We got lucky and the storms never developed so we were able to get in a nice three mile walk before heading home..

I forgot just how much the girls and I enjoy our walks here so we definitely need to get back again soon.

I started Saturday morning with our shelter dog walk.   We were able to walk three dogs that didn't walk with us on Wednesday and I got to walk sweet Firebird.  She walked so nicely and was just a really great dog.

After our dog walk, I took Fiat out of the shelter for a short walk too.  She is on activity restrictions since she was spayed earlier in the week, so we just took a slow meandering walk in the grass and I'm pretty sure she loved her 15 minutes out of the shelter. 

Once again, Saturday morning there was rain in the forecast, but I wanted to get the girls out for a nice adventure. 

We made a stop at the Farmer's Market in Holt to pick up some treats from our treat lady since she wasn't at our Market on Thursday.  While the girls couldn't go into the building, they did get to walk around outside and the treat lady came out to give them a treat and to say hello.

We then drove to Mason for a walk on the Hayhoe Riverwalk and around the Courthouse downtown.   We had a really nice walk and managed to avoid the rain.  It was another successful adventure. 

Sunday I spent a little time in the garden and I'm happy to report i finally got a couple of tomatoes and some green beans. Everything should start ripening a lot more quickly now.  I so love garden season!

I've been having some knee issues the last couple of weeks, so we had a Sunday rest day after all of the walking I did this week.  Both girls did a pretty good job relaxing and I really enjoyed the quiet day.

We ended our evening like we have many nights this week, with a good round of fetch.  Mina loves to chase anything I'll throw, and I got to enjoy a beautiful Summer evening while also keeping her entertained.   It was a great way to end our weekend.

The weather looks cool and raining for a lot of the upcoming week, but I'm hoping we'll be able to enjoy some more Summer fun.  I hope you all have a wonderful week too, making the most of our Summer.  Mid-August has come far too quickly, and Labor Day is just around the corner.  How can that be?!?