And then, just like that, it was October

Well, here we are.  We've reached another October and another Sunday.  I know a lot of people out there who love the month of October, and if I'm honest, it's probably my favorite month of Fall.  

I love the Halloween season, warm sunny October days that smell like Fall, and the trees showing off their red, orange, and yellow leaves.  I also think I like October because I always have a week of vacation, and many of my travels across the country, and so many memories, have happened during this month.  It's also special because because both Imke and my dad were born this month.  In fact, today is Imke's birthday.   She would be 22 years old today.  

The weather to end September and begin October has been unseasonably warm.  In fact, the temperatures have been in the upper 70s and low 80s.  For me, that has made the transition to fall a little easier since I've still been able to continue to wear shorts and my favorite Teva hiking sandals all week.

We started our week with a walk on campus since we hadn't been there in quite awhile.  I enjoy walks on campus this time of year because if you walk in the right area, you are serenaded by marching band practice.  

We had such a nice walk and saw some interesting plants along the way.  And we discovered a really cool WWI memorial that somehow I had never noticed before.  I'm always surprised when I find new things on campus.  It seems like I'd know about all of the old stuff after years of walking here.  

I had the day off on Tuesday so I could watch Brezlyn golf in her conference golf game which was held at Forest Akers Golf Course here in East Lansing.   I got to hang out with my mom and root Brezlyn on and, for the first time ever, I watched a full 18 holes of golf.  It was hot, but we had a really good time.  I know Brezlyn was glad we were there to support her, too.

After 5 hours of watching golf, I headed home to two girls ready for an adventure.   Since I had the day off, I decided to take advantage of the extra time to get the girls out for a hike on the NCT.  So we got into the car and headed off to Albion.

We had a really nice 3.5 mile hike, bringing our total miles hiked in September to 26.5 miles and our year to date miles to 80.5 miles.  We had a slow start on the trail this year, but we've really committed ourselves to getting out there over the last couple of months and have made great progress.   We shouldn't have any problems finishing the next 19.5 miles to reach our 100 for this year.  I'm really proud of our progress!

Wednesday, I promised the girls a lunchtime adventure.  Since we haven't visited Fenner Nature Center recently,  I thought that would be a great spot for our mid-day walk.

We visited both the short grass prairie trail, which is Peaches favorite, as well as the Tamarack Trail through the woods.

It was peaceful and beautiful.  Mid-day walks here during the week are always pretty quiet, which I really enjoy.

We had a really lovely walk and were all happy that we had this chance to get into nature for a bit.  

While there isn't much Fall color yet, I took advantage of this pretty spot to grab a picture before we got back into the car to head home and back to work.

Then, after work, I headed to the shelter for our Wednesday night dog walking club. 

We were able to get five dogs out for a walk around town.  Blue Ridge and Dilly, both 10 month old Husky mixes, we're my favorites!  They are really sweet girls. 

Thursday evening we made a quick stop at the South Lansing Farmer's Market before heading to Old Town for a walk and a visit to Preuss Pets. 

The girls were especially interested in the fish on this trip.

Then on Friday,  we went back to Old Town for our evening walk.  I hadn't planned to stop at Preuss,  but the girls insisted. 

Then we had a really nice walk around Old Town on a quiet Friday evening just before sunset.

I made the girls stop a few times along the way for some pictures.   They seemed pretty happy to be out on their walk.

I started Saturday with our shelter dog walk.  I rarely get to walk a dog myself, but I got lucky this week, and I got to walk Tiffy.  We only had three of us walking that morning and the walk went pretty quickly.  When we got back to the shelter, we all had a little extra time, so we decided we could get a couple more dogs out for a short walk.  It was a great start to my day.

When I got home, I got the girls out for a little walk around the neighborhood, ate lunch, and got a few things done around the house.  Then I got them all settled in for the evening at home before I headed out to spend the evening watching Fiona so that Nicol and Tyler could attend a wedding.

I got some one on one time with Picasso while Fiona was taking her nap.  He was pretty excited to see me.

After her nap, Fiona and I took Picasso out for a walk around their neighborhood. 

Then we headed to downtown Farmington to check out the Grand Raven Festival and all of the awesome Ravens.

There were so many cool themes and we really enjoyed checking them all out.

Then I sat down while Fiona played in the straw.  Who knew straw was so much fun!

Then we walked across the driveway to Dagwoods to grab dinner and ate it outside in the park.

After a little more play time and a quick stop at the pet store to pick out a treat for Picasso,  Peaches,  and Mina, we headed back to the house to get ready for bed.  

With pj's on and teeth brushed, we sat down to play a few rounds of Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel and Rainy Ranch.  Then we read one book I brought and three of her Halloween books, played one more game of Sneaky Squirrel because I loved to hear her giggle when she beat me, and one last book because grandma is a sucker.  Then it was into bed, three bedtime songs sung, and lights out for the evening.  I spent the rest of the night enjoying some quiet time with Picasso until Nicol and Tyler got home and I made the drive home to the girls.

 

It was such a fun time with Fiona.  I'm so glad we got this special time together.

I had planned to get up for an early adventure for our Sunday, but I didn't get home until after midnight and so the morning didn't start as early as I had hoped.  Ultimately, we were out of the house by 10:30, which I decided I was happy with.  

The plan was to start with a trip to Jackson and then head toward Chelsea to work on our Chelsea Trails Bark Ranger challenge since we hadn't been there in awhile.  After mapping out our day, I realized we could add a quick stop in Albion to get onto the NCT for a little to start our October right.  It didn't add many miles to the trip overall, and it would make me happy.  So off we went.  

We parked in downtown Albion and headed out along the river trail, planning to spend 30 minutes and get about 1.5 miles.  Since we were all fresh and well-rested, we made better time than I thought we might, so we were able to hike 2 miles in 35 minutes. 

We headed to Jackson next.  I didn't need much time there, so we were only in town for 30 minutes and the girls only left the car once, for a quick potty break.

Then it was off to Chelsea where I had mapped out our walk so we could do a loop and hit portions of three of the dog-friendly trails right in town. We started at Veteran's Memorial Park on the Timbertown Loop, and after a short walk, crossed the road to get on the North Neighborhood Loop.

This trail was mostly sidewalks through a neighborhood, but it was quiet and shady, which was nice since it was getting hot.

Then we reached the Oak Grove Cemetery Loop, which was also quiet and shady.

Finally, after a short walk through downtown, we connected back to the Timbertown Loop and were back at our car.  The girls got a nice big drink and then got into the air-conditioned comfort of the car for the drive home.  We finished the afternoon in Chelsea with a great 2.35 miles.  We'll need one more trip back to Chelsea by November 1 to finish the challenge and to pick up our Bark Ranger tags.  

The rest of the afternoon was spent doing some chores around the house.  The girls spent time outside before coming in for a nice long nap.  I made a cooked cabbage for dinner, and we'll have a very quiet night before we're back to the grind tomorrow.   Luckily we've got some adventures coming up later this week and a full month of Halloween spooky season fun ahead of us.  

It's crazy to think that we only have 12 more Sundays this year!  Hopefully it doesn't go too fast!