The awakening world

After a rather quiet winter in our little world which transitioned into a peaceful beginning to spring, last week felt a little crazy.  I really have enjoyed the more peaceful pace of life to start this year.  It was a very noticeable and welcome difference from the last two springs.  But I have now entered work travel season, and this week was especially busy.

On Monday afternoon, I made the drive to Grand Rapids to meet with the Sales and Catering manager for Meijer Gardens.  We'll be using the meeting space there for an upcoming training and I needed to see the space since we have never used the venue.  Since the weather was mild, the girls rode along with me.

Since I hadn't had a chance for a lunch break prior to my meeting, we stopped at nearby Seidman Park on the way home for a walk on the North Country Trail.  It was sunny when we started our walk, then we experienced snow, wind, and rain as we walked along the trail.   Luckily the snow didn't last long and the rain started near the end of our walk.  Despite the crazy weather, we had a really nice 3.5 mile walk.  Then we had a quiet drive home and a relaxing evening. 

Tuesday was busy as I prepared for Wednesday and Thursday work travel.  The girls were good during my work day and joined me as I ran errands.  Otherwise, it was a pretty uneventful day.

I left home early Wednesday to make the drive to drop the girls off at Canine College for their overnight stay.  Then I headed to Livonia for a work meeting. After the meeting in Livonia, I then made the drive to Bay City for an advisor training meeting on Thursday. 

Once I checked in to the hotel, I decided to change and get out for a walk around town.  Downtown Bay City is very walkable, and I enjoyed a nice 3 mile walk around tow, although it is always weird taking a walk withoutthe girls.  I grabbed some takeout for dinner, and then had to make a quick trip to Saginaw to pick up a couple of items for our meeting.

I was back and settled into my room before sunset and had a relaxing evening enjoying my view of the Saginaw River. 

 

Thursday was a busy day with our meeting.  Everything went well, and I was in the car by 5pm to make the drive back to Canine College to get the girls.  I made it in the nick of time to pick them up at 6:30, and then we had a quiet drive home.  It was a very quiet evening with two very sleepy girls.

Finally Friday arrived, and I was so ready for it! The girls were very quiet throughout my work day as they recovered from their two days of doggy daycare.  My day went quickly and I was able to end my day a little early due to all of the extra travel earlier in the week.

We took advantage of the early end to the day and the temperatures in the 50s to get in some more North Country Trail miles.

We drove to Horseshoe Bend Park in Battle Creek for our Friday night hike, and I was not disappointed with this choice. It has probably been three years since we hiked this section of the trail, and we all really enjoyed it.

The best part of this hike was seeing all of the beauty as the spring awakening is beginning in the woods.  

We saw flowers ready to bloom, green grass, and leaves starting to unfurl, and lots of birds and squirrels moving around in preparation for the coming of their young.  It was all of the the things I love about spring.

We had a lovely 4.5 mile hike on the trail.  It was the perfect start to our weekend.

Before leaving, we took a short walk around downtown Battle Creek to check out a few of the sites.

Then we made the drive home, had dinner,and settled in for a quiet night.

Saturday morning, I got the girls out for a quick geocaching event and short walk before feeding them an early lunch.  Then I was off to spend the afternoon with Nicol, Tyler, and Fiona.

I was so excited for the day because we would be heading to downtown Detroit to see Riverdance at the Fox Theatre.

Nicol and I have seen Riverdance a number of times over the years and it is a favorite tradition for us.  I was so excited to have Fiona join us for her first time.  She was excited too.

The show was great and Fiona sat on my lap for most of it so she could see better.  It was si special sharing that time with her.  

Afterward, we had dinner downtown before heading back to Nicol's house where I was able to spend a little time playing with Picasso, reading to Fiona, and playing with her for a bit before I had to head home.

The girls were very happy to greet me when I got home.  Tjankgully, after dinner, they were happy to snuggle up for a quiet evening.  We fell asleep early and had a great night's rest.  Just what I needed after my long, busy week.

We had a slow and quiet start to our Sunday.  It is exactly how I had wanted the day to start. 

The girls spent some time outside enjoying the day before lunch.  Then, after lunch, we headed out to run a couple of errands.

While we were out, I decided to make the drive to campus for a walk around the Horticulture Gardens.   It was a beautiful 75 degrees with plenty of sun.

The girls enjoyed the walk, but we kept it shorter than normal since Peaches doesn't handle the heat like she did when she was younger. 

After a beautiful 1.5 miles of wandering around the gardens, we headed back to the car to make the drive home.

The girls spent the rest of the afternoon either wandering around the back yard or napping.  It was the perfect way to spend our Sunday afternoon.   

After the busyness of this week,  I'm happy to have no travel for my week ahead.  With the warmer weather,  it's about time for all of the flowering trees to show us their beauty and I'm hoping to have several nice walks with the girls to enjoy the beauty.   The weather for the week shows lots of storms in the forecast, but I hope we'll get chances to get outside still.  As the world around us blooms, I don't want to miss any of it! The beauty of Spring is upon us!