Peak Color

The aspens up at the cabin were at peak color two weeks ago before we left on our trip.  A week before they were pretty much all green; it was crazy.  I'd wished we'd brought coordinating outfits and taken a Christmas card picture cause it was truly gorgeous.  Instead I just took tons of pictures of the kids in front of the golden leaves.  Enjoy!

Viva Las Vegas

The kids and I spent Tuesday evening and Wed. morning in Las Vegas.  We had a blast.

Testing out the pool at the Stratosphere.

Checking out the tigers at MGM

Aquarium at Rainforest Cafe

Jonah adding his own jungle sounds when the rainstorm began in Rainforest Cafe

Bellagio fountain show, best 5 minutes of the trip!

The next morning at the Bellagio atrium - beautiful fall displays.

Cool talking tree

"Mom that tree is looking at me." - Elora

September

Babysat Trey 

 The kids went backpacking with Dad, Papa, and Grammy while I worked & had class over Labor Day.

Brandon & Alan set up Al's 26 ft. teepee behind the cabin and we spent a night in it.

Farewell BBQ for my screenwriting class

Walking Jonah to his first day of preschool

They posed themselves for this one!

Trying costumes at The Disney Store.  She tried on every pair of princess shoes in the store!

Having fun in a Halloween shop in the mall

Elora begins preschool

The Halloween decorations go up

Jonah tries a climbing wall in our friend's garage

Brandon builds a wigwam

Date night

Brandon makes the kids a swing

Brandon bakes me a birthday cake (he's a keeper isn't he?)

The kids take advantage of everything there is to do at The Homestead's 125th Anniversary festival this past Saturday.  We had a blast!

Elora got a unicorn and Jonah a spider

Elora kisses a frog

The leaves start to change on the mountains

And that's not counting playdates, catching a frog, catching a snake, going on walks...

Don't You Just Love Fall?

September and October are my favorite months of the year.  September has warm days but the evenings are starting to cool off.  Change is in the air.  People start wanting to cook indoors and bake again.

October is cool and crisp and smells of dried leaves and pumpkins.  Winter squash, apples, and soups are in season:)  Not to mention quick breads and pumpkin desserts.  Halloween decorations are up (mine actually come out around Labor Day).  The leaves are changing.  Sweater season (I wish I could wear a pair of jeans, a sweater, and boots everyday of the year.  At least I can for all of Oct. and Nov. and again in spring.)  Ah, I love it all!

Fall is also my favorite time to travel, especially to places with gorgeous foliage.

Reminiscing:

Oct. 2003 - my first trip to NYC.  Gorgeous.

Oct. 2006 - Massachusetts.  Beyond gorgeous.

Sept. 2007 - 2nd trip to San Francisco.

Sept. 2008 - Oklahoma, southern UT, & AZ (two gorgeous fall weddings)

Oct. 2009 - Colorado.  Majestic.

Oct. 2010- Connecticut (& 3rd trip to NYC).  Brilliant.  And Oregon, which was also lovely.

Oct. 2011 - Anaheim, CA.  Unimpressive foliage but it's gonna be SO much fun!

Evening Project

I was reading a recent blog of my cousin-in-law and felt inspired to organize.  Brandon took the door off our pantry several months ago as it can't open if either the fridge or the dishwasher are open (poor kitchen design).  Having a large pantry is my favorite feature of this house, but it's still hard to keep tidy.

Before

After

The photos hardly do it justice.  I stood and admired the finished project for several minutes.  :)

More Classic Fun

Friday we went to Classic again.  This time we brought Bryson with us and we did The Jungle and the bounce houses.  My kids wanted to do just the slide bounce houses and Bryson just wanted to go in the big open one where he could run and jump.

Classic FUN Center