fall y'all

madison finally started to turn fall, and we were here to see it.

the last weekend in october is always a long weekend, with kids out of school on friday, and my work shcedule aligning to be off on monday. we almost always take advantage of this by shoehorning something too big into something too small, and it is always a whirlwind adventure trip and it is always worth it.

but unvaccinated kids + a totally wiped out vacation planner (me) whose job is literally sucking the soul and lifeblood out of her (again, me) = no trip. we stayed home. i slept. we hiked and ate and carved pumpkins and ran in a trail run and just....ahhh. relaxed.

we also did a lot of work, took out the boat, and cleaned up the summer lake stuff (bye bye, water skis), because i can't actually fully relax.

picnic point is looking GOOD right now

and the kids were down to attempt a re-enactment of a favorite baby photo....

speaking of baby photos from picnic point from ages ago...

the autumnal mantle warmed our hearts while the fire warmed our home all weekend.

and eleanore won first place in her age group at the trail run!

they also serve delicious soup at the trail run. 

finally, the neighborhood carving party happened, and the pumpkin collection has been updated.

 

school pictures

 they're here, and they're spectacular.

sixth grade

fourth grade 

leaf peepers

 "leaf peeping" is a term and it OF COURSE is reminiscent of "peeping toms" which is gross and so i can't really get behind this term for driving somewhere to see the autumnal glory of changing deciduous trees but, well, whatever. we did it, the first weekend of october. we leaf peeped. we headed up to a cabin and spent a weekend running, hiking, paddling, cheering for sports, sitting by the fire, building a fort in the woods, and soaking up the orange glow. the UP has it made, and i often find myself wishing i lived there...

but for now, i'll just keep driving back for the beaches, the snow, the hills, the hiking, the wide openness, the cabins, and the paddling of the UP. 

 

ashes

louise wanted to return some of jim's ashes to the earth, and according to his wishes, she lead her intrepid family crew out onto the beloved grand have pier in the late september sun and put the ashes in the water. it was really a beautiful day, a somber activity, and a lovely time together as a family. 

also maybe it's illegal? i don't know, and i don't think anyone cares.

there were some great lakes surfers there. i love that. 

 

where is fall?

 it's the middle of october, but yet our leaves are stubbornly green. the grass is growing and needs to be mowed, and the sun is out. the days have been beautiful (or rainy) but fall has been holding her breath in madison. just in the last few days are some maples really going for the change, and the sumac is starting to turn red. i worry a big wind will come and rob us of our pretty leaves, but for now i'm still hoping for a gorgeous autumn leaf change. it's gonna happen, right? it's the best!

while we've been awaiting the arrival of fall, we've been back to the grindstone pretty hard. work is heavy duty these days, and lots of extra challenges have been floating my way professionally, without much time to come up for air. the kids are working hard on school, and ramona is discovering the the difference in school work and rigor between elementary and middle school is real. she's been jumping into every afterschool club that comes her way, and is really enjoying being a 6th grader. james is doing fall rollerskiing with the nordic club, and he's the youngest on the team by far, and that means they pull him along to longer and harder workouts that he's accustomed to. needless to say, he's sleeping really well these days. (i mean, he's always been a good sleeper, so i guess that status quo). david is doing it all: after school care, play date management, dinner prep, and working his job from home and sometimes from the office. it's a lot. i spend a few minutes every day wondering when this tenuous balance will become unbalanced. maybe it won't. maybe it will. 

our early fall has looked a lot like this: 

planting a newly gifted magnolia tree and borrowing a very heavy duty auger to get the job done

pretending it is still summer

celebrating our 16th anniversary at the old reception site (now a covid testing location, which is a bummer on many levels)

and using the oven to make magical things.

someone special has finally come off the piano lessons waiting list and has joined the kids in their weekly lessons

wet suit (and, in ryan's case here, not in a wet suit) waterskiing

pumpking carving too early knowing they'll all be mold by halloween

apples and caramel and grandparents and goats all things agricultural tourism

taking sunset walks with this wonderful 9 year old, who has so much to tell me every day,

and squeezing in those sunset paddles

back to school

 6th grade

4th grade

all the big feelings, but also very easy and no big deal, mom. 

rad 'rado

i really loved being a coloradan, however briefly and long ago that was. those mountains never stop being all drama and magic. before summer ended, we doubled up our masks, and flew to denver for a long weekend in the cool dry mountain air. we stopped off at the adorable home of our buddies the damons and their adorable town of louisville, and then kept on going until we were way out there. 

we took the always dreamy highway 6 instead of I70 and were richly rewarded with long canyon and plenty of tunnels....but weirdly no bighorn sheep, despite my insistent "here, sheepy sheepy" calling from the window. 

we rented a rustic cabin at the arapaho valley ranch on the western side of rocky mountain state park, right on the colorado river, at the shore of lake granby. it was so so good. 

we had some time to wander around this camping/cabin/ranchy/teepee/commune (?)/riverside/mountain high wonderland. 

there are all these amazing super old cowboy buildings. i mean, check this spot out. this is the "dance hall." 

we spent some time with the beanbag yard games..

and found the patio of the main lodge to be very suitable. 

inside the main lodge is the home of "colorado's smallest bar" which is basically a two seat closet sized full bar run by the owners of the ranch. 

in the morning, the sun came up, and the full colors and view of the ranch came into view. this little teepee camping village was just outside our cabin door. dreamy.

we headed off on a chilly morning hike, 2 miles up, 2 miles down, to strawberry lake. it was a beautiful hike, just a mile down the road from the ranch, and lead to a high meadow. some of the ranch people told us this meadow was the first location for the rainbow gathering. 

we kept this girl very hydrated: her last summer trip to the mountains resulted in heat stroke. 

little fish nibbles in strawberry lake!

after our hike, the damons drove up from boulder, brought us some sandwiches, and brought lots of joy and laughter for everyone. we paddled around the pond at the ranch,

and then set up for a little beach afternoon on the shores of lake granby. it was cold, but we all swam a little bit. 

then it was dinner and sunset around the corner in grand lake. perfect day. 

evening scene. this kid is a shark. 

the next morning, molly and i had a early hike, all by ourselves around monarch lake. it was gorgeous, quiet

and then the hike got exciting when we came face to face with this young bull moose on the trail, so molly grabbed a stick and her bear spray, and then we nervously made a lot of noise, and finally scrambled up the moutanside slope to let this big beautiful boy go by. 

and then we had our coffee, told everyone our moose story, and helped the damons pack up for a sunday morning drive back to their home. we said our goodbyes, and drove through the valley to the ski resort at winter park for some more mountain fun. chairlifts to alpine slides, 

gondola rides to mountain top views,

and all the ropes course and climbing we could do in that thin 9000 foot colorado air. 

and the next day was go-home day. we wandered down to the river at the ranch where we saw many osprey, 

and then we turned and headed east into the park to go home. 

last year's fire season devastation was apparent everywhere..

and up at the top of the road we found a mama moose and her baby. well, ramona spotted them while hiking. it was pretty cool. 

david did a masterful job driving up around the high alpine scenery, even though he was absolutely terrified. white knuckles and all. poor guy. 

one last picnic of all our leftovers, then airport and home by 9pm.