1. If you're looking at buying a home, or just enjoy looking at homes, the Parade of Homes kicks off today!
The Home Builder's Association of Western Michigan will be showcasing 13 homes for the next few days.
There will be 12 brand-new homes and one remodeled through Saturday.
The parade of homes will happen next weekend as well. They'll feature a variety of home designs and sizes.
Get tickets for $8 in advance or $10 during the event. Find a full map on the Parade of Homes website.
2. A record-setting number of pets are finding homes during a recent Empty the Shelters event.
The Bissell Pet Foundation sponsored adoptions for more than 21,000 cats and dogs across the country, including more than 1,600 here in Michigan.
Many shelters are facing overcrowding due to slowed adoption rates, but the event freed up enough space to allow more than 6,500 additional pets to be taken in.
This was the foundation's longest summer Empty the Shelters event, lasting 21 days, two weeks longer than normal.
3. Sugar Mel's Sweet Show Basketball Camp is back this summer and running through today at East Kentwood High School.
On Wednesday, they had a special guest, East Grand Rapids native Jim Boylen, who has spend many years coaching in the NBA including a year and a half as the head coach of the Chicago Bulls.
Boylen is now with USA Basketball coaching the World Cup qualifying team with mostly G-League players like former Piston Langston Galloway. The team is 5-1 and the next plays at the end of August in Las Vegas.
4. Pumpkin spice marks the end of summer, and now another company is getting back in on the fun weeks ahead of the fall season. After a five-year hiatus, Oreo's Pumpkin Spice Sandwich Cookies are returning.
The limited-edition cookie hits shelves August 15.
5. It's National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day! Fun fact: chocolate chip cookies were an accident!
A baker planned to mix baker's chocolate into the dough, a chocolate cookie. However, she didn't have any, so she used semi-sweet chocolate chips instead, thinking it would melt out evenly into the dough.
