The arrival of September

September arrived this week without a lot of fanfare.  Generally, the coming of this month brings with it some strong feelings in my world.  It also almost always brings some sort of challenge my way.  But thankfully changing the calendar this year was seamless and uneventful.  

Maybe that was because we had just gotten back from our amazing week in the UP; maybe because August went so quickly that it was hard to fathom that it was already over.  No matter the reason, I'm glad that so far September has been quiet. 

The weather this week has been a little crazy.  Monday was cooler with some rain early in the day.  After work, I had to make the drive to St. John's to complete a home visit for the rescue, and the girls were able to come along.  After the home visit, we stopped in downtown St. John's for a walk around town and along the Fred Meijer CIS Trail.  It was a lovely walk, and we were all happy we had gotten out.

Tuesday was hot with temperatures in the 90s and the heat index over 100 degrees.  Ugh!  With the heat, we weren't able to get out for a walk, but we did take an after dinner drive, and Peaches happily hung her head out the window.  We stopped for ice cream before making the drive home.  It was a perfect night.

It was another hot day on Wednesday.  Without the ability to get out for a nice walk,  I made the decision to take the girls to Preuss Pets.  It is the perfect spot to entertain them on a hot day and they had the best time. We walked around the block so the girls could potty before and after walking around the store too.  Then we headed home for dinner.

Thursday wasn't as hot, but it was a rainy day.  We even had some big storms move through the area mid-afternoon.   I wasn't sure if the Farmer's Market would actually move forward for the evening after the storms, but we drove over to check it out.  We were happy to see that several of the vendors were there.  

We bought a few veggies from one vendor before taking a walk through Feeder's Pet store and around the neighborhood.   Then we stopped for a few baked goodies at the Farmer's Market before getting into the car to head home.

The weekend started with dinner with friends on Friday night.  It was a late night, but it was a nice way to start my long weekend.

Saturday the girls and I made a visit to my mom.  The traveling Vietnam Memorial was in Chesaning for the weekend and mom wanted to visit it. 

While we were there, we learned that they were also offering helicopter rides in a Vietnam War era Huey helicopter and mom really wanted to go, and when she asked me if I wanted to go too, of course I said yes.

I've been in a helicopter one other time in my life during the Bicentennial celebration in 1976.  That helicopter was much smaller, and my dad took me and my brother that time.  As a kid, I never thought about how that affected him, but many years later as an adult, I had the realization of just what courage it took for him to do that with us.  

After his time as a medic in Vietnam, helicopters always triggered memories and bad feelings for him, and for him to have taken us in that helicopter then must have been so hard.  While I don't remember much about the ride, I appreciate that experience so much.

My mom didn't get to go in that helicopter in 1976, so getting a chance to go with her 50 years later in a helicopter that was in Vietnam when my dad was there was pretty special.  The views were amazing and I'm really grateful for this experience.  I will not forget this day.

After the excitement of the helicopter ride, we were able to get the girls out for a walk around Showboat Park which we all really enjoyed.

Then we stopped at one of the tents with some interesting military items displayed. Of course I made the girls get their picture with this M2.  

Finally we headed back to mom's house where the girls were able to explore.  Mina always has to check out this wood pile.  After some time wandering around the yard and visiting with mom, it was finally time for us to head home after a long busy day.

After an extremely busy start to my weekend, i was absolutely exhausted by the time Sunday arrived.  While I originally had plans to get a bunch of things done around the house today, I just didn't have the energy.  Sometimes you just need to listen to your body, so we had a relaxing day at home.

The weather was too nice not to get outside, though so before dinner, I took the girls out to Padgett Park dog park for some fun.

We haven't been here in quite awhile and Mina was so happy for the opportunity to play ball and run to her heart's content.  And Peaches wandered around sniffing every inch of the park.

We were even lucky enough to have the whole park to ourselves for a while which I thoroughly enjoyed.  Plus the girls made a new friend, Rosie, a young Golden Retriever.   Peaches even tried to play with her for a bit which was pretty cute.

After well over an hour at the park, we finally headed home for dinner.  All of us were very happy we had gotten out for a little fun and were ready to settle in for our peaceful evening at home.

I'm thankful to have one more day this weekend so I can get some things done before my work week starts again and maybe we'll even get out for a little fun.  Summer is waning and soon Fall will arrive.  We're going to make the most of every minute of Summer that remains.

Here's to hoping the rest of September goes as well for us as the beginning has gone!