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!