Why I Love Fall

I love it when fall starts peeking its little head around the corner.  Summer hasn't quite given up yet - we're still wearing short sleeve shirts and Erin was outside with no shoes.  But it's no longer so hot in the back yard, so we can enjoy our little flower garden which is still lovely.  Shocking, considering I have done almost nothing to it all summer long, save pulling out the sweet potato vine that was threatening to overtake the universe.  Note to self - don't plant sweet potato vine next year.  Or anything, really, with the word "vine" in it.

The marigolds still look nice.  Sure, they need some dead heads plucked off.  Sure, I'm not gonna do that.  I hate the smell of marigold.  Good thing they look far better than they smell.

I do very much like whatever this very tall grass stuff is.

Still have a dahlia or two surviving the benign neglect.

Can't remember what these cute little flowers are, besides cute.

This time of year the pine cones get fuzzy

The weather was lovely today for the fist day of fall, and the boys were at Oktoberfest eating hot dogs and playing on the playground.  Yeah, I'm not sure why we paid 8 bucks for Dex to play on a playground.  The intent was for him to ride some of the rides there.  But no dice.  He said they were all too scary.  My guess if he could just be tossed on to a ride, he might start out crying but then realize he loved it.  But it would take a bit of this, and that might raise a few eyebrows:

So anyway, Erin and Buddy and I hung out in the back yard for a while.  I threw my favorite lens on my camera, plopped the baby down by the flowers, backed up to take a picture, aaaand... watched her crawl away.  So we improvised.

See her two little tiny teeth?  And the snot pouring out of her nose?

Buddy did a little playing, with sticks,

and horses,

and babies.

John was draining the pool today to get it ready to be put away for the winter.  Dex played in the drain hose for half an hour or so this morning.  And Erin thought it was fantastic that she could look over the edge of the pool and splash in the water.  She also took refuge on the pool tarp because grass = dislike.

I love her little tippie-toes here

Finally, guess who climbed the stairs today?

WHO, Mama?

Oh, that's right.  ME!  And when I cried and cried when you saved my life when I tried to go back down the stairs face first?  What I really was saying was "thanks."