I love lazy Summer mornings. Especially days like today, when the weather was perfect for sleeping with the windows open all night and the morning starts peacefully and slowly. I'm not a morning person by nature, but I love when I can wake up without an alarm, lounge in bed for a bit, and just enjoy some quiet time to myself. I've always felt this way.
Growing up, Summer was always my favorite season because I could sleep in and then start the day at my own speed. I didn't have to rush around, didn't have to worry about to-dos and commitments. There was no daily grind, nothing to keep me from just enjoying the day. I'm definitely that same person today. There's just something special about how Summer mornings make me feel.
These days, my alarm has four legs, but I'm thankful that they also enjoy slow mornings. On Monday, we woke in Eau Claire, WI with only one goal for the day-to get home from our road trip. The girls woke me up for breakfast and their morning potty break, so we went out for our morning walk. The girls made friends with a couple and their two grandkids on the elevator, and then we ran into another couple with a beautiful GSP getting off the other elevator when we arrived at the first floor. We talked to them for a bit before we continued our short morning walk. Once we were back inside, I fed the girls breakfast and then ran downstairs to grab some oatmeal for myself.
We took our time that morning, there was no real rush to get on the road. So I enjoyed a little quiet time while the girls took their post-breakfast nap. But soon it was time to hit the road. The drive isn't bad from Eau Claire if you can avoid terrible traffic, and we had decent luck for the start of our trip, making just a couple quick stops for gas or a snack before we made it to the Illinois border and I decided to get the girls out for a walk around the Welcome Center.
After a quick walk to stretch our legs and take a potty break, we were back in the car, and before we knew it, we were stuck in construction traffic outside of Chicago. While we sat waiting for traffic to move, I had to grab a couple of pictures of what traveling with Mina looks like. She never comes into the front seat, but she really wants to be touching me at all times. This is how we celebrated the second anniversary of her coming home with me.
We finally made it through the Chicago traffic, and continued on through Illinois until we reached the Indiana border. Nothing says Welcome to Indiana like the picture below. Thankfully the Indiana traffic cleared pretty quickly, and we made a quick stop just outside of Gary to get gas and food before continuing on toward home. Due to the traffic delays, we got home quite a bit later than I had expected, but it was still daylight, so I was happy with that. After 8 days, we were home.
It was a quiet week at work with lots of people out for the July 4th holiday, and it was pretty quiet around Lansing too. It made for a great week to get caught up from our time out of the office. The girls spent a lot of time outside enjoying our beautiful weather during the days while I worked.
On Wednesday after work, I got to head out to the shelter for our Wednesday night dog walking club. I walked this little cutie. He was a sweet boy and a great walker. It was a little hot, so we shortened our walk, and the group spent time lounging in the shade with the dogs for a little while. I love when we can spend a little time with the dogs like that because their personalities really shine.
July 4th arrived on Thursday, and I had decided I was going to make the drive to our annual Hayt Family reunion which is held at one of my uncle's houses. This reunion has been on July 4th for as long as I can remember, and I haven't been there in a couple of years, so I thought it would be nice to go. I needed basil for my passing dish, and I was excited to get into the garden and make my first harvest of the season. It smelled so good!
I made the drive to my Uncle Tom's for the party and stayed for a couple of hours. It was nice getting to catch up with family, especially with some cousins that I don't see often. My parents didn't make it to the reunion, so before heading home, I visited them too.
When I got home, I knew that I needed to get the girls out for some exercise, so we took a quick walk around the neighborhood and then got in the car to make the drive out to Eaton Rapids for some time at the dog park. As I suspected, there was no one else there when we arrived, so the girls had the whole place to themselves. Mina and I played with her chuck-it ball while Peaches just sniffed to her heart's content. It's such a great place because it just feels like we're in our own private yard with no one around to bother us. I really enjoyed watching them both enjoy themselves and the peacefulness of the evening.
Before heading home, I made a stop along the way for a bag of cheesy popcorn so that we could continue our Independence Day tradition of eating popcorn during fireworks. Then we settled in for an uneventful evening at home. While the war zone of fireworks went off around us outside, we settled inside to watch fireworks on TV and eat our popcorn, and then the girls crashed for the night, unphased by all of the noise going on around us.
Friday I had a full day at work, so the girls got to spend a lot of time outside enjoying their day. They both really love to hang out under this spruce tree to watch the world go by, but I think Peaches loves it best.
I had promised them a trip to the ice cream social at Preuss Pets on Friday after work, so we made the drive there shortly after 5:30pm. We got our voucher for the ice cream from Preuss and then made the one block walk down to the Artic Freeze which was providing the tasty treats for the dogs. Then we found a nice spot in the shade for the girls to enjoy their treat.
After they finished their ice cream, we headed inside the store. It was crazy, but the girls loved it. We ran into our friend Betsy, and the girls made a few new friends with both two and four legs. And after I got them into the car, I got to make a new friend too.
On the way home a storm system moved through the area and we had quite the down pour. I made dinner and then we settled in for a quiet evening at home.
After a short stop in the town of Sheridan, we headed to Sidney to visit the Montcalm Heritage Village and Kenneth Lehman Nature Trails at Montcalm Community College. While I didn't expect crowds of people, I was shocked that we had the whole place to ourselves. The girls were crazy and so happy to be checking out some place new. Thankfully they eventually settled down and I could enjoy a bit of our walk.
After our time in Sidney, we made the short drive up to Stanton. I was surprised to see sunflowers in bloom already. Our Summer really needs to slow down!
This is such a nice area and we all enjoyed our little adventure. It was such a peaceful day spent in the country. While I had hoped to spend time walking the Fred Meijer Heartland Trail which runs right through this area, the sun came out making the pavement too hot for the girls' feet, so I guess we'll just have to go back for another visit.
Mina has been busy helping me.with my writing this morning, but I think it's time for us to get moving for the day. But first.I have to share a picture of Fiona from the 4th. She wasn't happy that her mom was taking "smiles."
Now I'm off to clean and garden and maybe even have a little fun with the girls today. I hope you all have a wonderful Sunday!
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