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.