Part of the problem with a Blog is that when I feel like sitting down and journaling, sitting in front off a computer screen does not appeal to me.  We've also been entirely too busy these last handful of weeks so I'm happy to say that things are slowing down.  To catch you up lightning-speed, we had one last hoorah of summer with warm weather and fields of flowers before it really started to feel like fall.  Then we have slowly migrated to new walking locations and a varied morning routine.

 Morning painting trumped the morning walk this day.  Sorry, Gib. 

 Apples!!  Our neighbor has a tree with a ton of apples that he doesn't want to have to deal with, so this is out haul from ten minutes of picking.  We've made more than one apple crisp!

 One of my favorite dumpster-dive finds of all time is our chiminea!  Cal and I walked to the hardware store with our neighbors to get butcher block wax to cure it.  In the process, we played "lawnmower guy" for about an hour. Gibson loved this detour because it meant a longer walk and treats from all the Lowe's employees. Cal and Jude could have stayed all day!

After curing the chiminea, we had some friends over for a soup and marshmallow party.  The marshmallows don't actually get roasted by the flames, but it certainly feels like a mini camping experience.  

We switched up one of our evening walks to join Auntie Amy and Nana for a picnic dinner and hayride on the farm.  The kids loved the ride and got to drive the tractor at the end before putting the chickens to bed.  We are so lucky Amy and Wyatt are farmers!

 

The following picture is intentionally cropped because by this point in the ride Cal had liberated himself from his diaper.  Freedom reigns in the pumpkin patch!

 

We are so lucky to have such lovely neighbors.  Jude is always cheerfully greeting us from his garage as we head out for our evening walk.  This particular night, he and his sister joined us.  Joey was fading fast until the kids invited her into the 2 person (oops) stroller.  I'm not really sure what Willa was trying to do to her, but whatever it was it worked.  Joey loved the ride!

We've been having a beautiful Colorado fall.  As the mornings have gotten chillier, it's taken us a little while to get into the new groove of putting on so many clothes!  The first morning we had frost, Willa took it for snow and rushed excitedly to put her boots on.  There wasn't much to stomp in, but she made the most of it.  Cal, on the other hand, was not happy about all the clothes!  Where o where have the days of running naked through the pumpkin patch gone?!