Making Autumnal Memories

Yup. It's that crisp, wonderful, nutmeg-flavored time of year. I, like most midwesterners, try to make the most of the season, though it's not my personal favorite because it is only a harbinger of agonizingly chilly things to come...but let's not dwell on that. 

Remember that corn we grew in our garden this summer? Well it found a home this fall next to Timmy the scarecrow in front of our house.

We have had quite a few excursions this fall, all in the spirit of making the most of the season. And actually, this autumn in Chicago has been a glorious one, with strings of perfect, 65 degree days...these days have been begging to be filled with seasonal activities like pumpkin-patch-exploring, cider-sipping, apple-picking, and the like. 

We had a lovely time at the apple orchard with our friends and their children. This was special for me, because it was the first family group outing with other friends and their kids!

We had a perfect, crisp fall morning that quickly turned warm and had me wishing I had chosen shorts rather than jeans (the men in our group were smarter, apparently). 

 The boys had a blast (Will picking apples from trees, Link picking apples from the ground)

But they had more fun pulling each other in the wagon, and chasing those nasty yellow jackets.

Those apples were so tasty, most of them ended up in our stomach and none in pies. Ah well.

Last weekend we took advantage of another great fall weekend and rode 16 miles (with kids people, with kids!) on the Illinois Prairie Path. It was gorgeous, with the amber tree-lined paths highlighted gorgeously against the brisk blue autumn sky (made only a little less enjoyable by sounds of two unhappy boys squished on top of each other in a bike trailer for 3 hours during what should have been nap time).

After we conquered (well, we made it about half as far as SOME of us originally wanted to go) that trail, we headed to a lovely pumpkin farm nearby.

This trip was complete with corn maze, hay bales, LOTS of pumpkins, apple cider, donuts and rides!

A 3-yr old demonstrating his hulk-like strength

TWe sat, soaking in the golden light, the tangerine pumpkins, sipping the spiced apple cider, devouring unbelievably fresh and delicious donuts, just appreciating the moment.

Feeling thankful for food, family and fall fun...
and that first, heavenly bite of incredible cider donuts.

Hope your fall is treating you well!

Another summer departs: A photographic recap

Well, judging from all the back to school pictures and pumpkin-featuring recipes in my Facebook feed, most people have kissed summer goodbye weeks ago and have dived headlong into the fall season. 

I however, have not. I remain with one foot stubbornly fixed in the 'it's still summer' camp, with the beach bag still packed and ready to go at a moment's notice. I will admit I may have indulged in one or two pumpkin muffins this month, but other than that, I heartily continue to maintain that summer is not quite over. 

Sigh. 

Now it is September 23rd, the autumnal equinox, and I am forced to face the facts. All good things must come to an end, and this summer. has. ended. 

I'm finally allowing myself to sit down and post this summer recap. A warning: It's heavy and prolific on the photographs. So please, sit back and take a second (or many more) to scroll through the pictures which happily summarize our sunny, sweaty adventures.

Our summer has consisted of (in no particular order)...

Eating many home-made fish tacos. You might call this an obsession, the hunt for the perfect recipe. 

Mopping out flooded garage. Twice. Oh and then there was the time where our freezer was not shut properly (nobody's naming names) and we lost every speck of meat, veggies, and other sundries, and I got to clean out the freezer, drenched in the juices of rotting, long-defrosted meat. It was a blast. Anyways, I digress.

Summer mornings of running around in Elmo jam-jams (yup, Han, I said it) and indulging in fruit and yogurt parfaits (heavy on the fresh fruits...sigh...I love summer).

Cuddles, hugs and tackles on the lawn

Telling stories on the couch

Frolicking in summer rainstorms

Of course, in our family, no summer would be complete without a blueberry picking trip to Michigan

 I think this blueberry-loving little boy thought he was in heaven with all the easy access to these plump, ripe, juicy berries. 

He really couldn't keep his hands off of them.

 I'm pretty sure he ate at least 2/3 of the berries in my bucket.

 And he had a blast doing it. I can't say I blamed him.

Yay for sweaty, smelly, red-cheeked boys enjoying summery blueberry adventures.

We also took a spontaneous little road trip to Grand Rapids. Yup, you may remember this post wherein we spent some time there last summer. Yes, I do enjoy spending time there. And now there is the added bonus of one of my dearest college friends (among many others) who has relocated there and now she's only 3 short hours away! 

It was so fun to catch up with her (i.e. hours upon hours of talking, talking, drinking, eating, and more talking) and see our kids playing together as well.

We did fun things (which, admittedly, were slightly less fun with four kids under the age of four compared to when we did them in our college days) like go to quaint bakeries and coffee shops

and farmers markets

I foresee that there will be many more fun little trips to this fair city. 

Oh, I forgot to mention that we also made a little stop in Lansing to catch up with my dear college roommate. I didn't get a ton of shots there, but the stop did involve two extremely wound-up little boys running around like maniacs after being in the car for six hours. It also involved a ball-pit romp (I think he thought he'd died and gone to heaven)

 and my introduction to the newest little member of my roommate's sweet family

Enjoy it C, they don't stay tiny for long, as you know :)

As I am writing this post, I am realizing that it keeps getting more and more horrifically long, and yet I can't stop. I need to get this all out and done with! Sorry!
I'm also realizing that we did quite a bit in the past six weeks. No wonder I feel exhausted!

We had some nice family vacation time with the grandparents in Milwaukee. Here are some favorite photos of our time there.

Lastly, thanks to the generosity of my sister-in-law and brother, I ended the summer with the cake topper or the proverbial sundae cherry...a trip to So-cal to visit them and my darling little nephew.

Laguna Beach at the Montage, my favorite daytime beach trip

We had a great time, hitting up 4 beaches and viewing 3 sunsets in 3.5 days.
This meant for many beach photo ops, as I couldn't stop clicking sunset beach pics, or pics of my little son getting his first experience at the ocean (an experience his older brother has not yet experienced), or pics of the two cousins together, or my brother and his cute little family :)

We've been blessed to have a wonderful summer, and blessed to have wonderful friends and family. Hope you've had a great summer too!

I will leave you with my favorite picture from California, and a memory of a perfect night, as we chased toddlers through warm, salty ocean waves, and devoured delicous sandwiches while watching the golden sun sink beneath the palm tree studded horizon.