Twas the week before Christmas

Last Sunday Vanessa joined us for some rainy day fun.  We headed East to Swatz Creek for an afternoon of geocaching fun.  We had a pretty successful day of caching and managed to stay dry despite the rain.

Once it got dark, we slowly meandered our way home through some small towns enjoying hot chocolate and Christmas light displays. 

At the end of the evening we made a stop for a walk around the historic village at McCurdy Park before heading home.  

On Monday, the temperatures dropped into the 20s with windchills in the mid-teens.  We haven't experienced any weather like this so far this year and boy did it feel cold!

Despite the cold, the girls needed to get out for our daily walk, so we drove to Charlotte to enjoy the holiday displays in town.  

Luckily the buildings in town blocked the wind for most of our walk so we stayed comfortable and enjoyed the festive decorations and window displays.  

When we came to an open space and had to face the bitter cold wind, Mina was not pleased and made it clear she was done walking for the night.  So after a short walk around the old Courthouse, we headed back to the car.

On the drive home, we made a quick stop for a walk around downtown Porterville.  The wind was blowing wildly across the fields just outside of town, so we didn't stay long, but we enjoyed our stop.

On Tuesday, the sun was shining and it had warmed up a bit, so we took advantage of the sunshine by getting out for a lunchtime walk.

Our first stop was a walk around.the trails at Brattin Woods.   It was our first time exploring this natural area and we really enjoyed it.

Next we made a stop to pick up a geocache and take a quick walk around Newton Road Park.  Boy was it nice to be out in the sunshine!

Since we were able to get out for midday adventures, we enjoyed a quiet evening at home.  It was nice to have a night to just relax and enjoy the Christmas tree.

On Wednesday aftet work, I headed to the shelter to walk some dogs with Vanessa.

We had a great walk with Fudge and Jyri.

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The girls also got out for a walk before we left Mason...and they were complete heathens, dragging me everywhere.  They definitely had fun; I did not.

Before heading home I made a stop at Wamoff Farms to check out the indoor light display.  I didn't stay long because it was packed!  But I was glad I had stopped. 

Then we drove to Williamston for another quick walk around town.

I always love the festive gazebo in town.  After a couple of pictures, we headed back to the car to make the drive home.   

On Thursday, I was excited to join a luminary lit group hike along the North Country Trail at Fireman's Park in Litchfield in celebration of the Winter Solstice. 

The weather was mild and we had a really nice hike.  It was a 3.5 mile round trip hike and with this hike, we finished our 100 miles on the trail this year. A fellow hiker was nice enough to take our picture.  It's Mina's first time completing the Hike 100 challenge and I look forward to finishing many more with her.

After getting some hot chocolate at the end of the hike, we took the quarter mile walk to the middle of town to enjoy the holiday display.

Litchfield did a great job with a very festive display and we enjoyed a walk around this little park before heading back to the car to start our drive home.

I couldn't resist making another quick stop in Homer to check out.their holiday display too.

The girls were so good sitting nicely for pictures.   I made sure they got some extra special treats.   Then they settled in for a nap as I drove the rest of the way home, enjoying lots of Christmas lights along the way.

On Friday we brought home a foster for the holidays.   We made it to the shelter shortly before the shelter closed to meet a couple of dogs and decided that Jingle was going to be the best fit.

We left the shelter and headed right to downtown Lansing for the final Kringle Market of the season. 

We took a walk around downtown and enjoyed the festive holiday spirit that I love about downtown this time of year.  It was sprinkling and I didn't want to get stuck in the rain, so we headed toward the car after a nice walk.

We stopped at the Kringle Market again on our way back to the car to get some popcorn from one of the vendors and I tried to get a picture of the girls, but these were the best I got.  We got our popcorn and headed to the car as the rain really started to fall.  Boy was I happy we got out of there when we did!

After we got home, the girls took some time to get acquainted, and finally they all settled in for the night.  I think Jingle was pretty happy to be out of the shelter. 

She's a pretty cute little girl, and very sweet too.

We started our Saturday with a quiet morning.  I had lots of things I wanted to get done, but the girls were snuggly, so I took advantage of the moment.

Eventually we got up and moving, and my first stop of the day was the shelter to walk Winky and a couple other shelter dogs.  I'm sad that they'll be spending the holiday at the shelter, so I did my small part to make their stay a little better.

Saturday afternoon I got out to run a couple errands and to take the girls for a walk around Old Town.  We ended our walk with a visit to Preuss Pets. The girls got lots of love from everyone there. 

I spent the rest of my afternoon cleaning and doing food prep for my Christmas festivities. 

Mina wasn't pleased that I wasn't giving her more attention and snacks.  Boy was she annoying!  

She and Jingle are trying to figure each other out and have had some short play sessions. It sounds like they are trying to kill each other, but they seem to be having fun.  Mina just wishes Jingle wanted to play longer.

   

Eventually everyone settled in for the evening, although Mina isn't happy that Jingle learned how to get on the couch now because she feels like she's been relegated to the dog bed...or my lap.  She's got a tough life.

Our Sunday morning was spent doing some gift wrapping and more preparations for our Christmas Eve celebration with Nicol, Tyler, and Fiona.

We had a nice walk with Vanessa, she even brought the girls a Mc Donald's hashbrown to share.  She loves to spoil them.  With a close to 3.6 mile walk and a little geocaching afterward, we headed home.  I took the girls for a quick  half-mile walk around the neighborhood before heading inside for lunch.  I'm hoping that everyone got enough excercise to keep them happy for the rest of the day.

 

This adorable ornament arrived today from one of my favorite team members and has been added to the tree.  Now were going to watch the Lions game while I finish some final odds and ends to get ready for the arrival of my special guests 

I'm really looking forward to our Christmas Eve fun.  This is my favorite day of the whole year!

Merry Christmas 🎄 🎅.  I hope you all enjoy a wonderful holiday.