Fall is here

The week started as summer transitioned into fall on Monday afternoon.  I was happy to have the day off and to be able to spend some of it with Nicol and Fiona at the Critchlow Alligator Sanctuary.  

Earlier this year I transported a young alligator here for the shelter and the director gave me tickets so that we could visit when they opened for the season. We were never able to find a time that worked for all of us over the course of the summer.  I was glad we were finally able to find a day to visit before they close for the season.

The weather was beautiful and we had the place to ourselves for much of our visit.

It was so cool to see all of the alligators.  There were so many with a variety of sizes, and some of their stories were pretty interesting.   

Of course we had to buy some of the alligator chow so that we could feed them.  That was a favorite activity for all of us.

We also saw several tortoises.  We were lucky to be there at feeding time, and Fiona was fascinated watching them eat.

While they also have a couple of crocodiles onsite, due to the cooler night temperatures, the crocodiles had been put away for the season. 

It was such a fun experience.  I especially loved spending time with my girls.  After we were done, I took the scenic way home and welcomed fall with some views of some pretty early fall foliage

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I finished my Monday by taking the girls for a trip to the dog park so they could run and play.  It was a nice quiet end to our day.

I was back to work Tuesday, but had plans to get the girls out for a lunchtime outing.  Tuesday was the final Farmer's market at the Capitol.   

With rain in the forecast,  I decided to take an early lunch so we could avoid the rain and enjoy a walk around the Capitol grounds.   We had a nice walk, picked up lunch, and got some Petey's donuts, and then quickly walked back to my car as the rain started.  I ate in the car and then headed home as thunderstorms moved in.  Then we had a quiet rainy afternoon as I finished my work day.

The weather cleared up late in the afternoon, so I took advantage of the beautiful weather and took the girls for a lovely walk at Frances Park before dinner.  

Wednesday was a great evening for our shelter dog walk.  We had a really fun group of dogs walk with us.  Just look at how cute Dilly is!  And when I got home from the shelter, I was able to get the girls out for a little walk around the neighborhood just after sunset.

Thursday arrived and the weather was once again beautiful.  As I finished my work day, I really wanted to take advantage of the nice evening, so I decided that we'd do something out of the ordinary and take a Thursday evening adventure.  I really needed to get out of the house.

Since I've been feeling pressure to get in as many miles on the North Country Trail as I can before the weather starts to turn, I made the decision to make the drive to Middleville for our evening walk.

I love this section of the trail, and we haven't been there in quite some time, so I loaded the girls into the car and headed west.

I wasn't sure how far we'd go, but we were able to have a really nice 3.3 mile hike and enjoy all of the beautiful scenery. 

We hiked at a pretty good pace so we were able to finish and get home for dinner just after sunset.  I was so glad that I had made the decision to get in a few miles that night.  I think we all really needed it.

While I hadn't planned on going anywhere on Friday, when I finished work for the day, I was feeling like taking a hike.  I've been really focused on making sure we reach the 75 mile mark by the end of the month, and due to some knee issues, I have struggled with any hike longer than 3.5 miles.  So we made the drive to Albion after work to see what we could do.  I was really happy to have a nice 3.2 mile hike for the evening,  and once again make it home in time for dinner at sunset. 

We had a big day planned for Saturday, and we were up early to get it started.  Our first stop was a clean up event with our local geocachers at one of our local car pool lots.  

Then we headed to Hawk Island Park where we participated in our third Parkinson's walk.  What a beautiful day for a nice 1.5 mile walk around the lake.

After finishing the walk, we headed to Old Town to visit Preuss Pets for Neighborhood Pet Store Day.  There were treats, prizes, a few fun activities,  and some deals throughout the store.  Of course the girls loved this visit!

After a quick stop for lunch, we headed out to make the drive to Marshall for Skeleton Fest.   Along the way, we made a quick stop in Charlotte to check out Woofstock, an event being held by a local rescue to help raise money for the Eaton County Humane Society. 

When we arrived in Marshall, we immediately headed to the riverwalk to get in some NCT miles.  With our Thursday and Friday walks,  we had gotten really close to our goal of 75 miles by September 30, but we still need three tenths of a mile to get there.  

It was hot and Peaches was pretty tired from all of the other fun we'd had earlier in the day, but we were able to get in a leisurely 2.3 miles to put us at 77 miles for the year!  I'm so proud of our progress over the last two months to get us back on track to finish strong this year.

We then headed to downtown Marshall to check out Skeleton Fest.  I knew we probably wouldn't go far since Peaches was pooped, but we did have a short walk, until we ran into some friends who live in Marshall.  Then we stopped and had a nice visit, the girls got lots of love from passing strangers, and our friend Maggie even bought them both ice cream.  

We enjoyed our time in Marshall quite a lot.  After a nice long visit, we finally headed back to the car to make the drive home.  After dinner and a quick potty break, both girls crashed for the night.  It had been a really fun day.  

With all of the excitement of our Saturday,  I was happy to have nothing on the calendar for Sunday.

We had a lazy morning before getting out for a quick 2.6 mile walk on the South Lansing Pathway before lunch.

It was another gorgeous day to be outside!

Both girls enjoyed our time on the trail.  Then we headed home for lunch.  I knew the girls would then be ready for an afternoon nap.  So they napped while I did some cleaning and other tasks around the house and watched the Lions game.  It was a very productive day at home and ended our weekend perfectly.

This last week has been an emotional struggle for me. We just passed the three month mark since losing my dad, as well as the birthday of someone special that we lost years ago.  It has caused some real struggles daily and I find it hard to focus both at work and my daily life at home. The only thing that really seems to help is spending time with the girls away from home, so I have emersed us in as many activities as I can when I'm not working.  I always seem to feel better after an adventure.  

I don't expect things to get easier for the next couple of weeks as today we mark the 13th anniversary of Jake's passing, Thursday marks 4 years since Maddie's passing, and next Sunday marks Imke's birthday.   And soon we will experience my dad's first birthday without him here.  

This time of year is always difficult, and I don't expect it to get any easier as we reach other milestones and holidays so we're going to try to keep ourselves busy and focus on all of the happy memories and good times.  I don't think fall will ever get better for me, but I'm trying.  

Now I'm off to bed.  I hope you all have a good week.  

Hanging on to Summer

The summer weather came back with a vengeance this week. While I am not unhappy about it, it is hard to believe we're having temperatures in the mid-80s this late in the season.  I know all my fall-loving friends out there are ready for an end to the heat, but I'm excited that I'm still wearing shorts, t-shirts, and sandals every day.  I know it won't last forever, though.

Overall, we've had a quiet week even though my calendar has had some things to fill my time.  First was Monday night's Chesaning Girls Golf Senior Night.  Since this was the final home golf game of the season and Senior night, I knew I had to make the drive to Chesaning to watch Brezlyn play her final game at home. 

It was a warm evening, but there was plenty of shade, and I enjoyed walking the course and keeping track of her score.  She had a solid round of golf and finished with her best score on this course since she joined the team last season.  It was a great way to end her home season with her parents, both her grandmas, and me watching.

I grabbed some takeout on my way home, got the girls out for a walk around the neighborhood as soon as I arrived home, and then we all had dinner when we got back from our walk.  

On Tuesday, after an exhausting day at work, we ate an early dinner and then I took the girls to the Padgett Park dog park for some fun.  Since Emmalee is staying close by with her parents, she joined us at the park.  When Peaches let us know she was ready to leave, I made Mina stop playing ball and we all took a walk on the trails at the park before it got too dark.  It was a nice relaxing evening that we all enjoyed a lot.

Of course on Wednesday I was at the shelter for our Wednesday night dog walk.  We had six dogs to walk and we were able to get them all out for some time with our volunteers.  The current naming theme at the shelter is puppets.  Charley McCarthy and Pinocchio were two of my favorites of the night.  But honestly, I loved them all!

I got the girls out for a walk after I got home from the shelter and then we had dinner before settling in for a quiet night.

Thursday was another golf night, this time at Pewamo, for the final regular season game of the year.  It was hot, but there was a breeze, so it was tolerable in the shade.  

Brezlyn had a really good game with the exception of the eighth hole which had multiple water hazards.  But she still finished with a decent score and felt good about how she had done.  She'll be playing in the conference playoffs at MSU in about 10 days which will probably be her final game of her high-school golfing career.  But she really seems to enjoy it, so I bet she'll continue to play for years to come.

On my drive home, I picked up a couple of geocaches along the way, and then I got home in time to get the girls out for a really nice walk around the neighborhood.  I was glad that despite everything that took me away from them multiple days this week, I was still able to get them out for enough exercise to keep them happy.

Since they hadn't left the neighborhood most of the week, I decided to start our weekend with a trip to Marshall for a little walk along the Riverwalk portion of the North Country Trail there. 

We arrived with a little more than an hour before sunset and enjoyed a peaceful, quiet walk along the trail.  We did run into some families out for a walk in some areas, which slowed us down a little, but we still finished our 3.1 mile walk in just about an hour.

The squirrels were out in force all night gathering nuts and driving the girls crazy.  That just added to our fun.  While I hadn't originally planned on making this Friday night trip, ultimately, I was really happy I did.  It allowed us to make progress toward our 100 miles but didn't take up any of our Saturday or Sunday, freeing us up to do some other things the rest of the weekend.  We're now at 68.2 miles for the year and we have 9 more days to get the 6.8 miles we need to reach 75 miles by the end of the month.  I'm so proud of our progress the last couple of months!

While I had thought about taking the girls on a little adventure to a Great Lake on our final Saturday of the summer, I decided to stay closer to home intead.  I have a crazy schedule coming up over the next several weeks, so staying around Lansing and spending more time at home sounded like a great way to spend the day.

We started the day with a quiet morning at home before heading to Mason to visit their farmer's market and then check out Downhome Days.  We enjoyed our walk around town with several people stopping to say hello to the girls.  I stopped at one of the food trucks for lunch and enjoyed a cookie from the farmer's market.

On the way home we stopped in Holt for a short walk at Veterans Park and a stop to visit our treat lady at the Holt Farmer's Market.  Then we drove out to Preuss Pets and took a walk around Old Town where Bluesfest is happening this weekend.  Altogether, we walked over 3 1/2 miles before we got home.

After feeding the girls their lunch, we headed outside to do a little work in the garden.  I had some tomatoes and other veggies to pick.  I haven't spent much time in the garden this year because it has struggled a bit, but I am still very happy to be able to gather some goodies to enjoy now and into the winter.  

After finishing in the garden, I forced the girls to join me for our "last Saturday of the summer" photo session on the patio.  I love doing these silly pictures with them every year.  

Then we went inside to watch the Michigan football game.  By 4pm, Peaches had put herself to bed and Mina was crashed on the sofa for an afternoon nap.

After the game was over, we spent some time outside enjoying this beautiful late summer evening.   It had been a really nice day and this was the perfect way for it to end.

Some much needed rain is in the forecast for our Sunday.  I plan to make the most of the rainy day working on prepping some veggies for the freezer, making applesauce with the apples I got from my mom, prepping some of my herbs for drying, and taking care of some things that need to get done around the house.  I am looking forward to a very productive day.

If the weather allows, I do have plans to get the girls out for a small adventure a little later this morning so that they'll relax while I work, but mostly I'm just looking forward to a nice, quiet day at home.  It will be a quiet end to our summer.

Fall arrives tomorrow afternoon, but until then, I'm hanging on to summer!  I hope you all have a great day!

As Summer Wanes

It happened as I was driving to Albion after work on Friday to take the girls for a hike. I noticed the difference in the air and in the landscape.  The slight dulling of the green of the trees as they lose chlorophyll with the cooler evenings and as the darkness lengthens with each passing day.  The vibrant green of summer is quickly fading into fall.  The late summer flowers with their blooms dying, the slight yellowing of the landscape, and those dull green tree leaves slowly preparing for their autumn showcase before their long winter's rest.  It has it's own quiet beauty, and yet I am never ready for it's arrival.

I know that fall is quickly heading our way and the cooler temperatures we experienced last week made it feel like fall had already arrived.  But warmer temperatures returned this week to bring back summer for just a little longer.  I was happy the 70s returned this week, but I know that this beautiful weather won't last forever.  So we're going to enjoy it while we can!

It was so nice on Monday and I was happy to spend a peaceful evening at home.  I played ball with Mina, tried to get Peaches to play a little tug, spent some time in the garden, and even ate dinner on the patio.   

Then we sat outside and quietly watched the sun set at 8pm for the last time until next March.  It will take some time to adjust to the darkness as early as it is now.  It certainly makes the nights feel much longer.  

Tuesday, the girls spent much of the day outside in our beautiful weather.  Mina has a new favorite spot she likes to lounge and Peaches seems happy to wander around the yard.  With her anxiety issues, she rarely relaxes when she's out there though, so I make her come inside periodically for some short naps. But I know the colder months are coming, so I want them to spend as much time outside as they want.

After work and dinner on Tuesday, I took the girls to Island City Dog Park for a little fun.  It was empty, as usual, and we enjoyed having the space all to ourselves.  It was just what we needed.

We had another dog park visit on Wednesday, this time to Padgett Park in Dewitt over my lunch.  I had to get the girls out for a lunchtime adventure because I had our shelter dog walk after work and then had plans to get together with Vanessa, Katelyn, and Emmalee for dinner.  

Emmalee is in town from Chicago after finishing her residency at Nothwerten University Hospital earlier this summer.  It's crazy for me to think that its been 7 years since she moved there for medical school.  We haven't all gotten together in such a long time and it was so nice to spend time with them all.  We laughed and had such a great time sitting on the patio with some Mexican food and some drinks.  I was reminded of how important friendships are and I'm glad that we can stay connected despite all of our crazy lives.  

On Thursday I was happy to get the girls out for some fun after work  First, we visited the South Lansing Farmer's Market where I was able to pick up a delicious dinner.  We sat there while I ate, and afterwards, we made the drive to Old Town to visit the Old Town General Store to pick up a few items. 

Then we made the drive to Mason to meet up with a few fellow geocachers for a short event. We followed that up with a nice walk around Mason.  It was a really beautiful evening for a walk.  And on the way home, we stopped for some ice cream because we deserved a treat.

When Friday arrived, I decided to make the drive to Albion after work to get in a few miles on the NCT.  I knew I wouldn't have time for hiking the rest of the weekend, and I need to make some progress every week if we want to finish our 100 miles this year.

The weather was great and we really enjoyed the quiet time we had on the trail.  We finished our hike with 3.1 miles on the trail. I was very pleased with that.  I'm happy to report we now have hiked 63.6 miles this year and only need 11.4 miles more this month to get us back on track to reach our 100 miles by year-end.

Then we made the drive home for dinner.  Afterward, I had a few things to get done around the house, but shortly after dark I sat down for a relaxing evening while the girls napped.

On Saturday morning, Vanessa joined the girls and me as we made the drive to Chicago for the Illinois Shorthair Rescue reunion. 

Our drive went smoothly and we arrived early for the reunion, so we were able to get the girls out for a nice walk on the nearby trails.

As always, we had a wonderful time at the reunion with our fellow volunteers and all of the amazing brown and black spotty dogs.

There was food and treats, games and prizes, and of course the obligatory photo.  Before we reached the end of the day, Peaches was ready for a little break so she sat out in the car with Vanessa for a bit.  

After her rest, she joined us for the end of the fun.  Then we said goodbye to our friends and loaded up the car for some more adventures.  It was such a good day.

While it wasn't originally part of the plan for the day, we ended up in downtown Chicago to help a friend.

While there, we decided to stop in Wrigleyville and we ended up there after the Cubs game.   It was a cool atmosphere to experience, and I was happy we were able to get the girls out for a walk.

It was a nice little walk and we enjoyed some of the sights and sounds as well as a little geocaching. 

As we made the drive to our hotel after our time in Wrigleyville, we stopped nearby for dinner.  Then we took a short after-dinner walk with the girls.  It had been a full day of fun and we were all ready to get checked-in to our room for the night.

We all had a great nights sleep, and the girls even let us sleep in a bit before they woke me up for their morning potty break and breakfast. 

Our plan for the day was to slowly weave our way home while stopping along the way for some geocaching adventures. 

We found a nice little park which was home to the Ray Franzen Bird Sanctuary as well as a small dog park.  We enjoyed our walk along the boardwalk at the bird sanctuary and then let the girls burn a little energy with a run at the dog park before getting back into the car.

When we left the park, we were all ready for lunch, and Vanessa found a spot to get some Italian Beef sandwiches along our route.   

I had never had an Italian Beef sandwich before and I was excited to try it.  

After ordering our food, we got settled at a table outside on the deck so the girls could join us and eat their lunch too.  Of course they also each got a bite of Italian beef too.  

We all enjoyed this delicious stop!

After lunch, it was time to continue our journey.  We picked up a few geocaches nearby, then hit the road toward Indiana.

We had decided to make a stop at Indiana Dunes State Park so that we could stretch our legs and the girls could get a little beach time and a big drink out of Lake Michigan. 

It was an absolutely gorgeous day to be near the Lake, especially since we're nearing the end of summer and beach season.  I was very happy to stick my toes in the Lake, too

We enjoyed some geocaching in the area as well as some nice short hikes.  It was great to be able to stretch our legs and enjoy this nice state park.  It was the perfect stop to add to our fun for the day.

Following our visit in Indiana. we were on our way to Michigan where we had one more stop planned along the way.  Since we'd be driving right past Battle Creek and had enough time, we decided to make a stop at Historic Bridge Park to make a little more progress on the NCT.  It was another perfect spot to stop and stretch our legs, and we ended up getting 1.5 miles on the trail to keep us on track tonreach our goal this month.  It was the perfect way to end our adventure filled weekend. 

We made it home before sunset, the girls had dinner and a quick trip outside while I unpacked, then I got cleaned up and sat down for a quiet night at home.  What a wonderful weekend we had!

We now enter our final week of summer and, thankfully, we have some fun planned.  It will be our last hurrah before fall arrives.  I can't believe how fast this year is going!  I hope you all have a great week!