"Leaves are falling all around . . .

on the housetops on the ground.

Leaves are falling all around,

on my head, my hands and toes."

This fall has made me decide that my favorite time of year is definitely autumn. When I drove up to Michigan in October I drove through the mountains of Virgina and saw the first glimpse of leaves changing. The sight was awe inspiring to say the least - no picture could do it justice. For the past several weeks here the weather has been perfect and the scenery picturesque!

There is something magical about each leave falling to the ground and a colorful array everywhere you look.

Thank you mother nature for a wonderful afternoon of leaf jumping!

Good Help

. . . is not hard to find around here.

I was playing with Tessa when the phone rang, so I ran downstairs to get it - upon my arrival

5 seconds later

I found Bently and Keira with everything under control.

Halloween

An adorable ladybug and a ferocious dinosaur!

Hillridge Farm and BFF's

Bently, Keira, Tessa and I took a little trip to Hillridge Farms to pick some pumpkins and enjoy the fall atmosphere. I told Keira and Bently that they could choose any pumpkin they wanted as long as they could carry it. Bently wanted nothing to do with having to carry something himself. (Poor kid was still a little sick - really couldn't blame him.)

Keira, on the other hand, was delighted to do somthing all by herself. She carried it to the picnic table where we had lunch and then lost interest.

We ended up not coming home with a single pumpkin.

Let me just say that it was all I could do to tote and keep track of 3 children plus their belongings.

Pumpkins were really just unnecessary baggage!

One of the highlights was the train ride ~ always a favorite!

My personal favorite was the corn pit.

Millions of kernels of corn housed in this little octagonal house. It was like a sandbox but with corn. You had to take your shoes off to go inside - once you stepped in . . .

you were swallowed up to your knees in corn. Keira was a bit sceptacle, seeing as how it was a bit difficult to walk in such circumstances.

So she thought it best to just bloom where planted.

Bently, thought it was wonderful! Until . . .

he tried to traverse the pit.

he decided on swimming as the best method of mobility!

And then contentment once again!

But the part of the outing that will melt my heart and make me

smile for the rest of eternity . . .

And as for little Tess . . .

she enjoyed the trip too in her angelic, sleepy sort of way!

Fall Brings Hungry, No, starving Ducks

I need to thank my father-in-law for this beautiful fall day.

While visiting he helped me take the kids to and from our many destinations. I so enjoyed the lovely conversations we shared. One conversation in particular was about giving children real-life experience with the things we teach them. He asked me if I had anywhere where I could take the kids to feed ducks.

One week later we were feeding ducks just like we have many times before.

But it is fall now and the ducks don't get fed as frequently as they wish . . .

they are STARVING!!

How's that for some real life experience?!