February's Finish

It's hard to believe it, but we've made it through February and have reached March!  I think we ended February strong with some fun and a little reprieve from all of the craziness of work, and I'm ready for the longer days and warmer weather that March will bring.  

I'm so glad that I finally had the chance to renew our pass for Soldan Dog Park because this was a great week to spend exploring the park.   Early in the week we really enjoyed the snowy woods and sunshine.  It was so nice to be out enjoying the fresh air and the girls always love the snow.

Wednesday I took a late lunch and drove to Nicol's so I could watch Fiona for a couple of hours while Nicol and Tyler attended a meeting at the school where Fiona will attend preschool in the Fall.   I don't know how its possible she's already old enough for this!  While I was there, Fiona enjoyed joining me for my final Teams meeting of the day for work and then we read books and played.  I also got to spend some quality time playing with Picasso.  

Thursday I was able to get the girls out for a good walk on my lunch before rain moved into the area.  While some snow and ice remained on some sidewalks in the area, I was happy that most of the area sidewalk were finally clean and safe for walking.  The girls were very happy with their walk and so was I. 

It was nice to have gotten out for some excercise in the middle of the day so that after work I could run a few errands without worrying about also having to get the girls out on a walk.  It made for a quiet evening too.

Friday was a busy day at work and I didn't even get a chance for a lunch break until after 2pm.  I was surprised to walk outside to temperatures around 50 degrees, and I decided to take the girls for a trip to Preuss Pets and then a quick walk in Old Town.  We even had a chance to pick up a couple geocaches before we headed home.

After work, I took the girls for a very muddy trip to Soldan Dog Park.  It's crazy how much the park has changed in just a week with some above freezing temperatures.   We didn't stay long, but the girls enjoyed the opportunity to stretch their legs before dinner.  It was a quiet Friday night at home,  something we all seemed happy to enjoy.

After the 50s of Friday, boy was I disappointed to wake up on Saturday to temperatures in the teens with a windchill near 0.  But that didn't stop our Saturday morning dog walkers at the shelter.  Boy was it cold, but the sun was shining and it wasn't bad if the wind stopped.  And the cold weather didn't seem to phase the dogs one bit.

We had a really great group of dogs for our walk.  Harper is a Presa Canario who is just 9 months old.  She's got such a cute floppy puppy personality.  I love her.  She's definitely my favorite pup at the shelter right now.

Ignis the beagle is new to the shelter.  He was very happy to be out taking in all of the smells of the world.  He spent all of the walk with his nose to the ground.  He's just a happy little guy.

Anoushka is a 7 year old Husky and she is as sweet as can be.  She walks nicely on a leash and loves to get petted.  She also enjoyed lots of sniffing on our walk.  

On my way home from the shelter, I stopped at the Holt Farmer's Market and Aldi to pick up a few items.  Then I headed home, put the groceries away, and loaded the dogs into the car for a trip to the dog park.

I didn't think we'd stay long because it was cold and windy, plus the trail was really icy.  But once we got moving and the wind calmed down, it wasn't too bad.  Midway through our visit some other fun dogs showed up and Peaches and Mina were having so much fun playing.   

One of the dogs, we learned, was a GSP/Pitbull mix, and he and Mina were zooming around the park.  She's one fast girl and there aren't many dogs that can keep up with her, but he stayed right on her heals and she loved it.  When they slowed down a bit, Peaches was so happy to join in with the fun.  It was so fun to watch!  We had such a good time that we stayed for nearly 90 minutes before we finally headed back to the car to head home.

Once we were home, we had lunch, and then had a really quiet afternoon.  By 3pm, I decided we weren't going anywhere the rest of the day, so I got into my pj's and snuggled up on the couch with Mina.  We're going to really enjoy this down time today and rest up for a little Sunday adventure. 

We're in the transition period between winter and spring, so the weather is a little crazy right now.  For the upcoming week, temperatures will range from a high of 32 tomorrow to temperatures reaching the low 50s later in the week.  We could have sun, snow, and rain, and there is a good chance we'll experience mud as the snow continues to melt.  But the long range forecast looks positive and that is pretty exciting.   I love March!