When toddlers dress themselves...

Fall Leaves Fall

By Emily Jane Brontë

Fall, leaves, fall; die, flowers, away;
Lengthen night and shorten day;
Every leaf speaks bliss to me
Fluttering from the autumn tree.

I shall smile when wreaths of snow
Blossom where the rose should grow;
I shall sing when night’s decay
Ushers in a drearier day.

The joys of fall

Pumpkin patches, hay rides, hot drinks, stews, cider mills, and doughnuts, just to name a few. Fall is my favorite time of year and my list of favorite things during this season could rival even Julie Andrews. Even this morning's bright white frost, which made me move my morning run indoors to the treadmill, brought a smile to my face. That's what a crisp fall day is all about. So we spent this crisp fall day (which, at nearly 60 degrees, wasn't all that crisp later in the afternoon) taking in the many joys of this rich season. The first three, and more, we covered this morning at Wing Farms (the same place where we picked up all of our free rocks this summer!) with a farm animal visit, a hay ride to the pumpkin patch, and hot cider with fresh doughnut to warm up. Calvin, who is going to be a fall lover like his mom, enjoyed every bit of it, even the rough kisses he received from Champ, who, incidentally, was the cow who taught him to moo this time last year - the only real word he was saying at the time (I double checked my dates on that one - could it really have been only a year ago??? Yes). Both Champ and Calvin are much bigger now, and possibly equally more vocal! We came home from that excursion toting two bundles of corn stalks, a bale of hay, and two pumpkins, all of which now grace our festive front porch.

And after a refreshing afternoon nap (for Calvin, that is, since Jon and I spent that time weeding gardens and spreading 2 cubic yards of mulch) we climbed back in the car and headed to Spicer's Orchard in Fenton to meet with old friends, John and Ashley, and their two boys. Spicer's didn't have a Champ, but they did have a "train ride" (think hay ride, only the wagon looks like a train), a big (and messy) sandbox, and really, really good pies. Since fall is also about warm homes and warm hearts, we ended the evening with great company, great dinner, and one of the aforementioned great pies.  Our friends' oldest son, Noah, is only seven months older than Calvin and the two of them played together wonderfully, even well past their bedtimes, allowing us adults to share some stories, some laughs, and some wine before calling it a night.  Yes, fall is one of my favorite things.

Rainy fall days

We like to spend them oustide.  Calvin is the proud owner of a great second run rain coat and pair of (luckily) matching boots which he begs to put on every time the ground even appears to be wet, so when we actually saw rain falling this morning we headed out to catch some rain drops and puddles before music class. Unfortunately the fall weather in Michigan is as fickle as a contestant on elimidate and by the time we stepped off the porch the rain had stopped and we were forced to make do with meager puddles and damp grass.  Oh the utter disappointments of childhood–if only we could embrace them as adults we would never lament a rainy day in all our lives.

For heaven's sake

As you can probably tell by the stagnant conditions on the blog, I've been away for a short trip.   My loving husband sent me on a four day retreat to  Northern Michigan where I spent my time window shopping,  hiking ski hills, taking in the brilliant fall colors, and scrapbooking at a weekend convention.  It was a much enjoyed break, but I have always suffered from an overactive homesickness gene, an affliction that was not improved upon with the advent of motherhood, and was, therefore, itching to get home as the final day drew to a close.  I relished that first pint sized hug when I finally  arrived home, sat down to spend some play time, and though I was gone for only four days I could swear that Calvin's language developed tenfold while I was away.  Maybe it's a trick of the memory, having been working with pictures and notes taken nearly a year ago, but when I first arrived and sat down to play he was talking a mile a minute, in full sentences, and without much space for breathing.  It was while I was trying to drink in this wonderful moment that I apparently erred in my toy placement, to which Calvin responded "No, not there, the dude goes down here.  Oh for heaven's sake."  Yep, definitely tenfold.  And I really was only gone four days.