Fall

This is my favorite time of year for a lot of reasons.  I love the weather.  Cool and sunny or cloudy windy, whichever.  Some days the mix of clouds and sun seems to bump up the contrast of everything.  Colors are more vivid, and the change from green to rusty reds and oranges is so nice.  Sometimes the variation is surprising.























I've been trying to get out as often as possible to enjoy it all.  Today Claire and I went on an Acorn Hunt. We found a bunch of acorns, and we found a bunch of burrs.  So I did what I had to.  I chased her down and threw burrs all over her shirt.  I think she kept asking me to pull them off, but she was laughing so hard, I couldn't be sure.  In any case, it was a huge success.  We also went to Token Creek a few times.  One time I remembered Milena's shoes, the other time I didn't.  She enjoyed the 'with shoes' trip much more than the 'socks only' trip.  In this picture, I can almost hear her saying 'Mama.  Mama.  Mama.'

It looks like this entire next week is going to be awesome Wisconsin fall weather.  Hopefully I can take as much of it in as possible.  Maine was always fantastic in fall, and I kind of miss being out there for this time of year, climbing Bradbury Mountain or maybe making a trip to Camden.  But on the other hand, I still make the same apple crisp and Wisconsin can definitely hold its own.  I just have to find a few more hikes.  Maybe something that has some elevation.  Devil's Lake, perhaps?

Otherwise, Mike made another successful cabin trip, this time to the real cabin (I've spent the past half hour reading the archives) instead of some electrically wired and plumbed impostor.  Last year's post makes me kind of regret we didn't have some kind of dinner for everyone again.  We bought a new (to us) vehicle a few weeks ago, a Honda Pilot.  It sounds like it handled five guys and their gear plus a trip to the Do It center for lumber and tools without a problem, and thats awesome, because thats the kind of thing we bought it for.

My birthday often marks the official beginning of fall,  and thats another reason why I love the season.  I turned 30 last week which makes me the same age as Mike, and according to Claire thats 'pretty old'.  Can't say I didn't see it coming.  And since Mike got me a new iPhone 4 for the occasion, here is a video of my day.  I count myself very lucky that its not actually anything out of the ordinary...

Picture Recap

I've been trying to get back to my New Years resolution to take a picture a day.  The goal was pushed to the back burner over the summer.  During the winter, when I was actually taking a picture each day, I thought it would be much easier to accomplish the goal in the summer.  Not so much.  Some days its difficult to pick only one to add to the official Picture of the Day list, some days the camera never comes out.







So Claire had another birthday, and I forgot to ask her a list of questions like I have on her past birthdays.  I'll have to do it tomorrow.  It was actually a low key birthday.  A little pizza, a little cake, some presents and a bike ride to top it off.  This weekend is her party, and she chose to play laser tag with a few friends.  I'm actually looking forward to it.  I haven't played laser tag since high school, and while I was never very good at it, but I'm pretty sure I can take a few 7 year olds.

First Day, Second Grade

Another year off and running.