Howloween Fun

Happy Sunday everyone!  This morning as I sit here writing, the girls are nearby, one on either side of me, and they are both snoring away.  We had a busy but fun week with an extremely busy Friday night and Saturday, and I am grateful for the calm, quiet Sunday morning.  

The days of this week seem like a blur because my work schedule was extra busy this week.  There was no time for lunchtime walks and I didn't finish work on time any day other than Friday.  

While anyone who has followed me for awhile knows I don't love Fall, I do appreciate the beauty of the changing leaves and the beautiful colors against a dramatic Fall sky.  I wanted to make sure we got out to enjoy the peak colors before they were gone.  I knew that meant I had to make the most of this week.  For the most part, the weather was nice with most of the rain we got coming at night.  This afforded us the opportunity to get out each evening to enjoy the Fall colors before they are gone.

After enjoying the beauty at the Apple Butter Festival at Fenner Nature Center on Sunday, I wanted to find somewhere else we could also enjoy the trees on Monday.  I decided a trip to Frances Park would be perfect for our evening walk.  While it isn't the woods, it has a lot of beautiful trees, a small wooded area, and a beautiful walkway along the river, plus it's pretty close to home.  I was not disappointed by this choice.

The colors in the park were beautiful and I really enjoyed our walk along the river.  Pictures with reflections in water are some of my favorites.  

The girls thoroughly enjoyed their walk and we were heading back to the car, when I noticed a beautiful pink sky through the trees.  So we headed back toward the river to get a view of this beautiful sunset.  As we walked to the car, the sky turned a brilliant shade of red, but we just enjoyed it from afar.  What a beautiful way to start our week!

Tuesday I was tempted to go back to Frances park again for our evening walk, but decided instead to make the drive to campus.  There are lots of trees there, and we always enjoy our walks along the river and around the historic buildings.  

The color along the Red Cedar was just starting, but there was still plenty of shades of green.

We walked along the river toward Farm Lane and got to check out the new pedestrian bridge that crosses the river now.  Look how happy Peaches was to be out for an adventure!

The prettiest views were definitely found along the river, but it was not easy to capture the full beauty.  

This was a challenging walk with the girls because college campuses are full of squirrels and this time of year the squirrels are busy preparing for Winter.  We saw so many squirrels and the girls were continually on high-alert.  Try as I might, I could barely convince Mina that she should pay attention to me and not drag me down the sidewalk in pursuit of those furry little critters.

This is the only picture I could get of her actually looking at me all night.  She was distracted and CRAZY!

I was happy to see that there were still some flowers in the Beal Gardens and loved watching this bee gather pollen.  While we stood there, I got excited thinking about all of the beautiful tulips that will be in that same area in just a few months.  I love this spot.

I was also fascinated by the imprint that this leaf had left on the sidewalk.  There were several just like it in this area where I'm guessing the wet leaves had recently been swept away.  

And another see of flowers outside of the library really got my attention. They were so pretty.

As we walked back to the car after a nice long walk, I made the girls stop and pose for a picture on the bridge near the library.  I always enjoy my walks on campus.  It is such a beautiful place.  I'm already looking forward to Spring and all of the walks we'll take then because I think that is the most beautiful time to be on campus.  

Wednesday came and after a busy morning completing final preparations for some work travel, I packed the car, loaded the girls up, and hit the road for Livonia.  On the way, I made a stop at the Shelter to get Bogeyman out for a walk since my travel didn't allow for our normal Wednesday night Dog Walking Club.  All of the other dogs had recently had their spay/neuter surgeries, so he was the only dog available for a walk and I wanted to make sure he got one.  This guy was a sweet boy and we enjoyed a nice walk with a few a sprinkles along the way.  I am happy to report, he was adopted this week too!

We arrived in Livonia and got checked in and settled in to our hotel room, and then I headed out to get the girls a short walk so that they would relax while I finished my workday.  Mina loved the view from our patio door in our room.  

We were also able to get in a nice walk to do a little geocaching after I had finished my work for the day and before I had to head out for dinner.  Before leaving for dinner, I fed the girls and then Peaches settled in for a good nap.  Mina was still ready for more fun, so I took her for  a quick walk.  I decided to take Mina along for the ride to the restaurant and she could nap in the car during dinner.   I thought Peaches might enjoy a break from her crazy little sister.  

I met my friend Kim for dinner and we were joined by Nicol, Tyler, and Fiona.  It was nice catching up with Kim and spending some time with the kids.  After dinner, everyone came out to the car to see Mina and she was very excited to see everyone.  Of course Fiona was also looking for Peaches and was very upset that Peaches was not there too. So many tears. We said our goodbyes and I headed back to the hotel for the night.  I had an early morning ahead of me.

On Thursday morning, we had a big training event and I would have a long and busy day.  I had made arrangements for the girls to visit a doggy daycare in the area to complete their temperament tests which allowed them to stay for the day free of charge.  You can't beat that deal!

I am pleased to say that they both passed their admissions test to Canine College with flying colors and spent a full day there playing and having fun.  I love that they give out these cute admissions photos on their first day.  

After our meeting ended, I picked the girls up from their day of fun and made a stop at Nicol's so that Fiona could see Mina and Peaches and I could miss some of the rush hour traffic. I expected two very tired girls, but they were their normal crazy selves when they got out of the car to say hello to Nicol and Fiona.  Fiona's face was beaming with joy when she saw Peaches.  It was pretty adorable.  

We visited for a bit, but then it was time to hit the road and make the drive home.  Fiona was sad to see us go and there were lots of tears.  This is a new occurrence and it's kind of sweet, but also breaks my heart.  

When we got back to the Lansing area, we headed to the fairgrounds to enjoy the Jack O' Lanterns Unleashed event being held there.  This event is held for several weekends before Halloween and Thursdays are dog friendly.  Since we'd had a lot of rainy nights over the last few weeks, I had held off going, but this was the final dog-friendly night of the year.

They loved this event last year, and they loved it again this year.  This year was a lot busier with a lot more dogs.  I'm assuming that's because we are closer to Halloween and the weather was so nice.  

The girls were happy to drag me around the path and were busily sniffing everything and making friends along the way .

We completed one loop around and the girls were still going strong, so we walked the loop a second time before we left.  I was glad that the second time around it was less crowded and I could enjoy the walk a little more.

We finally made it home and Mina headed outside to zoom around the yard while I unpacked the car and started to take care of stuff.  Once she came inside, I had a shadow until I sat down.  I was completely exhausted after a long day, but apparently 7 hours of doggy daycare, 2 1/2 miles of walking, and zooming around the yard for 10 minutes didn't phase Mina.  We all slept really well Thursday night, though.

Friday finally arrived and I was excited to take the girls to Howloween in Old Town after work.  This has been a favorite event of ours for over a decade.  This year Vanessa joined us for the fun.

It was a beautiful 70 degree Fall day and Peaches was especially unruly for the whole event.  Poor Vanessa was dragged around the whole time!  Luckily she loves Peaches despite her craziness.  

We visited all of the Trick-or treating spots, made a visit to Preuss Pets for some great deals, and saw lots of cute dogs.  The girls had the best time!  Just look at those happy faces.

And they made quiet the haul as well.  So many goodies!  It was a great night and another successful Howloween adventure.

After getting the girls home, fed dinner, and settled in for the evening, I made the drive to Chesaning to watch Mason's football play off game.  Chesaning won 31-6 and I got home late, but I was glad I went.

Since we hadn't been able to walk on Wednesday night, I was happy to get out for our Saturday morning dog walking club.  We had a great walk with five dogs.  Selene and Thackery Binx were pretty happy with their walk and Thackery was adopted yesterday!

We then headed to Holt for a quick visit to the Holt Farmer's Market.  I had a couple things to pick up and a little time to kill before taking the girls to Doggy Trick-or Treating in Mason.  

Then it was back to Mason for more Halloween fun.  Lots of local businesses were handing out treats including our favs from Patterson Veterinary Hospital.  We were pretty excited to see Cassidy, our favorite vet tech and her GSP, Annie.  Annie is 4 years old and super sweet.  I was so excited to finally meet her, especially since Cassidy had shared with me when Maddie died that my girls were the reason she chose to get a GSP.  I'm still so proud that Imke and Maddie were such great ambassadors of the breed.  I think Mina and Peaches are doing a pretty good job continuing that legacy.

Some nice stranger offered to take my picture with the girls at one of the businesses where there was a cute picture area.  I am glad I'm getting more pictures with the girls and me.

And we ended our Trick or Treating fun with a stop to visit our Patterson Veterinary Hospital friends.  The girls were very spoiled.  They had an amazing day and got another nice haul.  I shouldn't have to buy treats for a while!

Finally we made our way home to take advantage of the beautiful weather in order to get some work done around the yard.  I finished picking the final tomatoes off of these very sad looking plants, pulled the plants and tomato cages, removed the garden fence, and completed a little garden clean up.  Then I mowed the lawn.  Most of the leaves have now fallen from my maple trees, so that gave me the opportunity to mulch the leaves.  I even added some to the garden to help improve the soil.  

The final harvest of the year was small, but I'm happy with all of the goodies I got over the course of the garden season.  I also had a chance to clean up my last basil plant and I am happy to have a little fresh basil to use this week and lots of dried basil to use throughout the year.

At the end of the afternoon, I made a trip to the R.E. Olds Museum downtown.  I have never visited before and decided that it would be fun to check out, especially since they were having a Skeleton Invasion event.  

There is lots of interesting local history and automotive history and so many cars.   I learned that they also have a large storage garage on another site because they have so many cars that they don't have room to display them all here.  

It was a fun little event with cider and donuts at the end.  I'm glad that I checked it out.  We've got a lot of great little gems here in Lansing.

And on the drive home I saw this...the State Christmas tree has arrived and is in place outside of the Capitol.  There are no lights on it yet, but I know that will happen soon since Silver Bells in the City is less than three weeks away.

 

The girls and I got outside one more time after I got home and I did some raking and leaf clean-up.  The driveway was full of leaves so I spent time cleaning it off and then cleaning up some of the leaves along the curb.  By next weekend I think all of the leaves will be off my trees and I should be able to finish the job.

After a very busy, but productive, day, I headed inside to do a few things around the house and then settle in for a quiet night.  What a great day we had had and the 50 degree temperatures had been perfect. It was a very quiet Saturday night.

Today we had plans for some fun with Vanessa so after a peaceful morning at home, we got ready and headed out for the day.   We made a quick stop at Soldan's because they were giving away a free goodie to any dogs who visited in costume. 

Then we met Vanessa at the farm to get some donuts before taking the girls to the dog park for a good run.  

Finally we made the drive out to Sleepy Hollow for a nice walk and some geocaching.   It was a great day to be in the woods.

The girls were full of energy and loving all of the smells of Fall.  They happily dragged us around the woods for nearly 3 1/2 miles.  They had the best time.  

With temperatures in the mid-40s and the beauty of Fall all around us, Vanessa and I also enjoyed our walk through the woods.  As a bonus we found several geocaches.  It was a great Sunday afternoon. 

We made a couple quick stops on the way home, had dinner, and are settled in for a quiet night.   

We have some fun plans for the coming week, but it won't be nearly as busy as last week.  We'll continue to take advantage of any nice weather to get out for fun when we can because we know soon enough the snow will be here.  

Wishing you all a Happy Halloween!