Farewell February

After being sick for a week and having very little activity during that time,  I was determined to get out to make the most of every day this week.  So despite the cold temperatures and wind, we headed out the door on Monday after a long and exhausting day of work.

The girls had been so good while I was sick that I wanted to give them a real adventure close to home.   I knew the perfect spot.

They were very excited as we pulled into the parking lot at Fenner Nature Center.  And I was excited when I saw only one other car in the parking lot.  There's nothing better than having the whole place basically to ourselves. 

While I was feeling better, I still had a lingering cough and I didn't want to over do it, so we broke up our walk with a small break.  By the time we left we had walked just about 2 miles.  It was starting to get dark, and I felt really good about what he had done.

On the drive home, we saw this house with the Olympic Rings on their garage door, which I thought was pretty cool.  When we got home, we took a quick walk around the block for another four-tenths of a mile.  Then we headed inside for dinner.  I was pretty happy with just shy of 2.4 miles for the night, and the girls crashed after dinner.  It was a quiet evening, and we all had the best night's sleep we'd gotten in a week.

My Tuesday started off with quite the thrill when I let Mina and Peaches out for their morning potty break.  As soon as I opened the door, Mina ran out and was immediately chasing the poor, unsuspecting rabbit that had made the bad decision to enter my back yard.  While Peaches isn't nearly as fast as Mina she was also in hot pursuit.  

Try as I might, I couldn't distract Mina from the chase, and for the first time in her life, she caught the rabbit.  It died quickly and without a sound, and the girls did not want to walk away.  So I headed outside in my pajamas and flip flops just before sunrise to drag them into the house and dispose of the poor little rabbit. 

There have been many chases like this in my backyard over the years with all of my girls, and rarely do the end this way.  Normally the rabbit is able to escape under my fence and live to see another day.  This is only the second time in 22 years a rabbit has died.  Imke caused the last one and that scene was much worse than this one.  

After dealing with the rabbit, I headed inside to feed the girls and myself breakfast and to get ready for my day.  The girls were happy to eat and then headed right back to bed to nap the day away.

The rest of my day was busy, and the girls were quiet while I worked.  After work, we headed out for a walk around the neighborhood.   It was cold again, especially with the wind, but we had a really nice walk.  Peaches especially loved all of her stops to sniff along the way.  We finsihed at just shy of 3 miles, which I was really pleased about.  And after dinner, we had another quiet evening. 

Wednesday was an extra busy day, and after work, I had to head out to the shelter for our shelter dog walk.  

We haven't walked much this year with the frigid weather we had in early on combined with work conflicts for me and then my cold.  I was looking for to getting back to a more normal schedule again.

We only had three dogs available at the shelter and only two could go on our walk, so I harnessed Subwoofwer, the 10 month old puppy, and Ada, a 7 year old Boxer mix, and prepared for our walk.

One of our volunteers was happy to stay behind to hang out with 11 year old Bug a Boo, who had no interest in going outside.  I don't blame her because it was cold!  She definitely enjoyed her snuggles, though.

After the walk, we got everyone settled back into their kennels for the night, and I headed home to get my girls out for a quick mile walk in the dark.  

Thursday I wasn't feeling very inspired to get outside, but I knew the girls were ready for some fun after being really good all day.  I debated about what to do, and I finally made the decision to head to Old Town.

When we arrived, we headed out along the Lansing River Trail.  I thought that the ice on this fallen tree looked pretty interesting. 

We walked around the Brenke Fish Ladder and down the trail a bit and then detoured off the river trail and to head back into Old Town.  About mid-way through our walk, we made a short detour into Preuss Pets  because the amount of mental stimulation the girls get here is better than any exercise I can give them.  

After our short visit, we continued our walk and eventually reached the car again and headed home.  

After a very long week of work, I was so happy that Friday had finally arrived!  I was so busy that I just took a quick mid-day break and ate my lunch while working.  So when 4pm arrived, I decided to wrap up my work for the day to get the girls out for some fun.

It was 58 degrees with some peaks of sunshine, and I wanted to take full advantage of it.  So I decided we'd head out to Kimball Pines in Battle Creek to get in some North Country Trail miles.

This is the second Friday evening hike we've done this month, and with sunsets getting later, I think it may become a more normal part of our routine.  I love that we can get out and enjoy Friday evening,  make progress toward our NCT goal, and get home in time for dinner.  Plus it frees up the rest of my weekend.  I especially like that I can have two full days over the weekend at home to do projects or to relax, with no other obligations.   And if we want to have an adventure, we can do that too.

The girls had a great time on our walk between Kimball Pines and the Ott Biological Preserve, and so did I.  There were some muddy spots, but it was nice to get into the woods and we enjoyed the paved portion of the trail too.  It was the perfect combination of landscapes and scenery.  The spring-like temperatures were great, too.  

We finsihed the evening with 3.4 miles on the trail, giving us 9.65 miles in February, and 18.15 miles total toward our 100 this year.  I'm really happy with our progress so far. 

On the way home, I decided to grab some takeout for dinner and then we headed home so we could all eat and enjoy a peaceful evening.   It was a great start to our weekend. 

Saturday started slowly as we enjoyed a lazy morning, but by late morning I was busy cleaning.  Dishes, laundry, dusting, organizing followed by preparing Kongs for the freezer and finishing some other odds and ends.  After eating a late lunch, I got cleaned up so we could get out to run some errands.  

I filled up the car, got a car wash, and made a couple other stops before heading to Soldan's to pick up a couple of things for the girls.  When we got there and parked, I knew Peaches needed to take a walk so she could potty before going inside, so we headed out for a walk around the neighborhood behind the store.  It is always quiet there and it's a nice change of scenery from our walks in our own neighborhood.  The girls always enjoy a little change of pace.  We had a nice walk, finished our shopping at Soldan's, made a couple more stops, and then headed home for the night.

We were able to get in another short walk around the neighborhood when we got home as the snow began to fall.  Then the girls ate dinner, went outside for a potty break, and settled in for the evening while I made dinner, ate, and cleaned up.  It had been a pretty perfect day. 

It snowed  throughout the evening and overnight, and we woke on Sunday to a pretty white blanket over everything.  But I don't think it will stay very long.  By Monday temperatures will be near 40 and then stay in the 40s with rain most of the week.  It is slowly starting to feel like winter is wrapping up and spring is on it's way.

It is a beautiful, sunny morning with temperatures currently in the mid-teens.  It is only going to get into the 20s today, but all of that sunshine sure does make me happy.

Our Sunday will be spent doing a little more cleaning, putting up some decorations for St. Patrick's day, and taking some time to relax and refresh before the week starts again.  And I will quietly celebrate the arrival of March, my favorite month of the year.