Let's go to the Dog Park

This week we spent a lot of time at dog parks. I'm not sure why, but that was just how things went.  It was a pretty quiet and uneventful week around here, even work was quiet.  Aside from a little rain, the weather has been decent, and the girls have spent a lot of their days outside during my work day.  I love when they can do that.  The days are getting warmer and the bugs are becoming more evident, but I like this time of year because it's daylight until around 9pm and we can actually get out for some fun during the week.  Tonight's sunset will be 8:59pm.  I've always loved the late sunsets.

As I said earlier, it was a dog park kind of week here, and after my busy Monday at work, the girls were ready for a run.  We made the drive to Soldan Dog Park for a little fun.  There was plenty of sniffing and running, splashing around the water and ball chasing, and we were having such a good time that I completely forgot to take any pictures until we were leaving.  Of course just before we left, Peaches found the muddy muck near the entrance and decided this would be a great place to explore and no matter how much I tried, I couldn't get her attention and keep her out of it.  So both girls got a good rinse off with the house just outside the park.  Peaches was not happy with me!  Luckily I was able to get them to stop for a quick picture on the path back to the car.

Tuesday was another good day.  The girls were in and out of the house all day long enjoying our excellent weather.  I tried to take a little break and quiet time to myself after work, but I had two girls staring at me ready for some fun.  I was able to convince them to relax for a bit, and then I decided to take a drive out to Dewitt for a dog park visit there.  We saw a couple of their favorite friends from this park and Mina spent the next hour happily playing fetch while Peaches sniffed around all by herself.  There were games of chase and lots of other fun for Mina, and Peaches even decided she'd like to play with a ball for a bit too.  Finally it was time to go, even though Mina was not ready to leave.  

Wednesday I decided to get the girls out for a walk on my lunch.  I decided to make the short drive to Moore's Park for a walk along the Lansing River Trail.  It was Mina's first visit to this park and exploring this part of the River Trail.

It was a little warm, and Peaches doesn't seem to tolerate the warm weather as well as she used to, but she did great.  It was a beautiful day along the river, and we all enjoyed our walk.  Mina was really distracted by the geese when I stopped for a couple pictures on our way to the car at the end of our walk.  And of course, Peaches found a shady spot in the grass to enjoy.

After work, I headed out to the shelter for our dog walk.  What a beautiful evening to walk our shelter dogs.  It is always one of my favorite parts of my week.  

The weather on Thursday called for some rain showers in the early evening, so I decided to take the girls to Soldan Dog Park over lunch to burn some energy just in case we couldn't get out after work.  It was another great visit to the park for them.   I enjoyed watching them run around and explore.  Sadly, I experienced my first mosquitoes of the season there on this day in a quiet corner of the park where I like to sit and let them explore a bit.  We didn't sit there long before I was swarmed and decided we'd just keep moving.  Our visits here may become less frequent during the mosquito season, if they get bad.  But for now at least, I was able to avoid them for the most part.  

After work, the sun was still shining with no rain in sight, so we headed out to the opening day of the South Lansing Farmer's Market.  I picked up a few baked goods, got my egg rolls from Ming Dynasty, and picked out some spring produce, and I got lots of compliments on how well-behaved the girls were.  After I was done at the market, the girls got their trip into Feeders' (formerly Soldan's) to check out all of the smells and treats.  It was a successful first Farmer's Market visit .

I then headed home to mow the front yard before dinner.  Luckily, I was able to finish despite the fact that I had to do the last few swipes in the rain.  It had been a very good and productive day.

Friday was hot with a chance for some evening showers, so I made plans to get the girls out before the rain arrived.  I debated on where to go and what to do, and I changed my mind a few times before we got in the car and headed out toward Eaton Rapids.  I had planned to make a stop at the Dog Park in town for a quick run before heading on to another destination where we'd get out for a walk.  But as we got close to town, I decided to stop at The Flower Garden, which is my favorite local greenhouse, to look at the vegetable plants.  They are dog-friendly, and they always have a great selection of plants. We left with $29 worth of awesome veggies that will spend the summer in my garden and provide us with lots of tasty meals and fill my freezer in the fall.  

We then headed over to the Island City Dog Park.  It was completely empty and ours to enjoy!  It is on a quiet street and I don't know that it gets a lot of use locally(we've never seen another dog here), so it's a nice spot to enjoy some quiet time with the girls.  

I walked around and threw the ball for Mina for a bit, until I eventually took a seat in the shade under a maple tree.  Boy was it hot in the sun!  Mina and Peaches ran around and explored, and finally Peaches joined me in the shade.  Eventually Mina came for a rest in the shade too.  She alternated between chasing her ball and lounging in the shade, while Peaches and I decided the shady spot was exactly where we wanted to be.  We stayed for quite a long visit because it was so nice and peaceful.  

Finally, we left the dog park to make the drive home.  I took the long scenic drive through the countryside and picked up a few geocaches along the way.  Then I picked up dinner to treat myself and headed home.  It had been an excellent evening adventure.  

I had a full day planned for our Saturday, starting with a Saturday morning shelter dog walk.  We had a fun walk with Trace and three other puppies at the shelter.  It's always a great way to start my Saturday.  On the way home from the shelter, I made a quick stop at the Holt Farmer's Market to pick up a some dog treats from our favorite treat lady, and then had an interesting visit with a couple of my neighbors when I arrived home.  

I did a couple of quick things around the house before I had to load the girls into the car to head out for a fun meet-up at the dog park at Joey's Pet Outfitters on the other side of town.  One of my fellow volunteers at the shelter reserved the space so volunteers and employees at the shelter could bring their dogs out for a little fun.   Mina made friends with Duncan and they spent a lot of time running and rough-housing.  Mina also had a great time exploring the shore of the pond and chasing birds.  Meanwhile, Peaches spent her time exploring or just hanging out with all of the people.  They took full advantage of our trip and had a blast.  

After 90 minutes of fun, we were back in the car so I could get them home and then I headed out the door for Mason's graduation open house at my brother's.  Before going to the open house though, I met Nicol, Tyler, and Fiona at my Uncle Charles and Aunt Dawn's farm so Fiona could see the cows and chickens.  She loved it!

Then we were off to the party.  After eating, I spent most of the rest of my evening chasing around Fiona.  We stuck our feet in the pool where she loved kicking and splashing, we took a ride in the golf cart with Sidnee driving and Fiona sitting on Nicol's lap, and we watched lots of games of cornhole.  It was nice to spend some time with the family.  My dad was there and wheeling himself all over with his walker, and he even made it up the steps to the pool deck to watch Fiona splash around.  It was a good evening.

It had been a long Saturday with a majority of my day spent outside and I was exhausted when I got home after 10pm.  Luckily the girls were happy to have a really late dinner and then settle in for the night.

I was excited when I realized I was going to have my entire Sunday to spend at home and had made lots of plans for all of the yard work and gardening I was going to get done, but it is now after noon, and I've accomplished nothing.  We slept in this morning, and then girls went outside for a bit while I relaxed inside, but they came back in and have settled in to a nice nap while I have been writing.  With temperatures reaching the mid-80s this afternoon, I'm not sure how much time I'll spend working in the yard, but I'm hoping to at least do some work in the garden so I can get my veggies planted this week.  Mina has now woken from her nap and is demanding a trip outside, and it is lunch time for us all too.  So I'll wrap up for this week and maybe go get to work in the yard...or maybe we'll go have a relaxing walk somewhere first.  Whatever we do, it's going to be a great Sunday.