February has arrived

It felt like a slow adventure week as we moved from January into February, although it was a fairly busy week at work.   It was cold and a lot of the trails and sidewalks in the area just aren't that safe to walk.  But I tried to make sure we got out for a little fun every day.

Over my lunch on Monday we drove out to Mason so the girls and Smokey could visit our favorite vet tech, Cassidy.  Cassidy is a GSP owner and was inspired to get her GSP Annie because of the time she spent helping with Maddie and imke over the years.  She recently had her second child and has been out of the office, so she hadn't met Smokey yet.  When we went in for his appointment last week, she left a funny note on my account asking that I stop scheduling appointments when she wasn't at work.  I decided to show up for a visit on her next shift.  She was so happy to see them and they wiggled and wiggled and enjoyed every minute of the visit.   Before heading home we got out for a chilly walk in the sun.

Tuesday was another chilly day.  The dogs spent some time outside and then had several morning wrestling matches while I worked.  Over lunch I decided to take the dogs downtown for a walk.  We got in a really nice walk despite the chilly weather.

On my Wednesday lunch, I ran to the gas station to fill up, and on the drive home I decided I would find a place to get the dogs out for a short walk.

Luckily there is a nice little park down the street that has a wooded section and a disc golf course. 

We were able to take a lovely walk through the woods and the dogs were happy to get in lots of sniffing along the way.  The fresh air and time in the woods was something I think we all really needed.

Despite the regular walks, brain games for at least two meals every day, and plenty of play time outside,  Smokey has been feeling extra whiny...and driving me crazy during my work days, the last couple of weeks.  I think we're all still recovering from my week of being sick and the fact that I've developed a cough which is exacerbated when I walk the dogs in the cold air.  So on Thursday after work, I decided to take a drive to Eaton Rapids to visit the dog park. 

We made it to the Island City Dog Park around 5:40 and all of the dogs were so excited to be there.

Peaches and Smokey spent most of their time sniffing every corner of the park while Mina and I played fetch.  Both of the old dogs had a couple of sassy moments when they got playful and either played with me or spent some time wrestling with and chasing Mina.  And of course Peaches had a couple of good runs.

After 30 minutes, Peaches and Smokey were ready to get in the car, so I loaded them up and then spent a little more time playing fetch with Mina.  When we left at 6:15, it was still light enough to see the ball.  It is so wonderful to have it light later every day.

On Friday after a morning potty break and breakfast, everyone settled in for a quiet day inside.  It steadily rained most of the day until the rain switched to big fully snowflakes mid-afternoon.  The dogs finally decided to go outside in the snow and played for a bit with the neighbor dogs.  With the snowy weather, we spent a quiet night in after a long day of work.

Saturday morning, I headed to Mason for our first shelter dog walk of the year.  We only had four dogs to walk and our walking route was slow moving due to slush that had frozen solid.

But the sun was shining and all of the volunteers and dogs were happy to be outside.

It was a good Saturday because two of these dogs were adopted and one went into a foster home. 

After leaving the shelter, I went home, fed the dogs lunch, and then got them into the car for an adventure.  We made a stop at the South Lansing Farmer's Market Winter Artisan Market and then headed out for some fun.

We mainly drove around some back country roads doing some geocaching and then got out for a couple of short walks.  It was cold and windy, so I had no desire to freeze, but I knew we all needed the exercise. 

While we were out exploring,  I stopped for an early dinner at the Middleton Diner before heading home.  I had an audience while I ate a cookie and watched hockey, but everyone settled in for a quiet night after I finished my cookie.

Sunday morning we met up with Vanessa to make the drive to Fowler for a hike on the Fred Meijer Clinton-Ionia-Shiawassee Trail. 

It had snowed overnight and we had a lovely, snowy walk.  We picked up a few geocaches along the way.  

After we got back to the car, we drove around picking up a few more geocaches before heading back toward Lansing.   We had such a fun day and it felt so good to get out for a real adventure. 

Before we headed home, I took the dogs for a quick trip to Preuss Pets for a visit.  Then we drove home, I made dinner, fed the dogs dinner, and settled in for the evening.  It had been a great day.

I have a lot going on the next couple of weeks, both personally and at work, but I'm hoping we'll get a chance to add in some fun along the way as well.  I'm so excited that it's February and were inching our way toward Spring,  but we still have some Winter adventures planned too.