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!

Fall is here

The week started as summer transitioned into fall on Monday afternoon.  I was happy to have the day off and to be able to spend some of it with Nicol and Fiona at the Critchlow Alligator Sanctuary.  

Earlier this year I transported a young alligator here for the shelter and the director gave me tickets so that we could visit when they opened for the season. We were never able to find a time that worked for all of us over the course of the summer.  I was glad we were finally able to find a day to visit before they close for the season.

The weather was beautiful and we had the place to ourselves for much of our visit.

It was so cool to see all of the alligators.  There were so many with a variety of sizes, and some of their stories were pretty interesting.   

Of course we had to buy some of the alligator chow so that we could feed them.  That was a favorite activity for all of us.

We also saw several tortoises.  We were lucky to be there at feeding time, and Fiona was fascinated watching them eat.

While they also have a couple of crocodiles onsite, due to the cooler night temperatures, the crocodiles had been put away for the season. 

It was such a fun experience.  I especially loved spending time with my girls.  After we were done, I took the scenic way home and welcomed fall with some views of some pretty early fall foliage

.

I finished my Monday by taking the girls for a trip to the dog park so they could run and play.  It was a nice quiet end to our day.

I was back to work Tuesday, but had plans to get the girls out for a lunchtime outing.  Tuesday was the final Farmer's market at the Capitol.   

With rain in the forecast,  I decided to take an early lunch so we could avoid the rain and enjoy a walk around the Capitol grounds.   We had a nice walk, picked up lunch, and got some Petey's donuts, and then quickly walked back to my car as the rain started.  I ate in the car and then headed home as thunderstorms moved in.  Then we had a quiet rainy afternoon as I finished my work day.

The weather cleared up late in the afternoon, so I took advantage of the beautiful weather and took the girls for a lovely walk at Frances Park before dinner.  

Wednesday was a great evening for our shelter dog walk.  We had a really fun group of dogs walk with us.  Just look at how cute Dilly is!  And when I got home from the shelter, I was able to get the girls out for a little walk around the neighborhood just after sunset.

Thursday arrived and the weather was once again beautiful.  As I finished my work day, I really wanted to take advantage of the nice evening, so I decided that we'd do something out of the ordinary and take a Thursday evening adventure.  I really needed to get out of the house.

Since I've been feeling pressure to get in as many miles on the North Country Trail as I can before the weather starts to turn, I made the decision to make the drive to Middleville for our evening walk.

I love this section of the trail, and we haven't been there in quite some time, so I loaded the girls into the car and headed west.

I wasn't sure how far we'd go, but we were able to have a really nice 3.3 mile hike and enjoy all of the beautiful scenery. 

We hiked at a pretty good pace so we were able to finish and get home for dinner just after sunset.  I was so glad that I had made the decision to get in a few miles that night.  I think we all really needed it.

While I hadn't planned on going anywhere on Friday, when I finished work for the day, I was feeling like taking a hike.  I've been really focused on making sure we reach the 75 mile mark by the end of the month, and due to some knee issues, I have struggled with any hike longer than 3.5 miles.  So we made the drive to Albion after work to see what we could do.  I was really happy to have a nice 3.2 mile hike for the evening,  and once again make it home in time for dinner at sunset. 

We had a big day planned for Saturday, and we were up early to get it started.  Our first stop was a clean up event with our local geocachers at one of our local car pool lots.  

Then we headed to Hawk Island Park where we participated in our third Parkinson's walk.  What a beautiful day for a nice 1.5 mile walk around the lake.

After finishing the walk, we headed to Old Town to visit Preuss Pets for Neighborhood Pet Store Day.  There were treats, prizes, a few fun activities,  and some deals throughout the store.  Of course the girls loved this visit!

After a quick stop for lunch, we headed out to make the drive to Marshall for Skeleton Fest.   Along the way, we made a quick stop in Charlotte to check out Woofstock, an event being held by a local rescue to help raise money for the Eaton County Humane Society. 

When we arrived in Marshall, we immediately headed to the riverwalk to get in some NCT miles.  With our Thursday and Friday walks,  we had gotten really close to our goal of 75 miles by September 30, but we still need three tenths of a mile to get there.  

It was hot and Peaches was pretty tired from all of the other fun we'd had earlier in the day, but we were able to get in a leisurely 2.3 miles to put us at 77 miles for the year!  I'm so proud of our progress over the last two months to get us back on track to finish strong this year.

We then headed to downtown Marshall to check out Skeleton Fest.  I knew we probably wouldn't go far since Peaches was pooped, but we did have a short walk, until we ran into some friends who live in Marshall.  Then we stopped and had a nice visit, the girls got lots of love from passing strangers, and our friend Maggie even bought them both ice cream.  

We enjoyed our time in Marshall quite a lot.  After a nice long visit, we finally headed back to the car to make the drive home.  After dinner and a quick potty break, both girls crashed for the night.  It had been a really fun day.  

With all of the excitement of our Saturday,  I was happy to have nothing on the calendar for Sunday.

We had a lazy morning before getting out for a quick 2.6 mile walk on the South Lansing Pathway before lunch.

It was another gorgeous day to be outside!

Both girls enjoyed our time on the trail.  Then we headed home for lunch.  I knew the girls would then be ready for an afternoon nap.  So they napped while I did some cleaning and other tasks around the house and watched the Lions game.  It was a very productive day at home and ended our weekend perfectly.

This last week has been an emotional struggle for me. We just passed the three month mark since losing my dad, as well as the birthday of someone special that we lost years ago.  It has caused some real struggles daily and I find it hard to focus both at work and my daily life at home. The only thing that really seems to help is spending time with the girls away from home, so I have emersed us in as many activities as I can when I'm not working.  I always seem to feel better after an adventure.  

I don't expect things to get easier for the next couple of weeks as today we mark the 13th anniversary of Jake's passing, Thursday marks 4 years since Maddie's passing, and next Sunday marks Imke's birthday.   And soon we will experience my dad's first birthday without him here.  

This time of year is always difficult, and I don't expect it to get any easier as we reach other milestones and holidays so we're going to try to keep ourselves busy and focus on all of the happy memories and good times.  I don't think fall will ever get better for me, but I'm trying.  

Now I'm off to bed.  I hope you all have a good week.  

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!