a saturday hike at the falls.

Another Saturday out of town before the arrival of fall, and we made it just in the nick of time. Now I know fall doesn't technically start until later this week but for us it started Sunday. It hit hard with wind and cold rain. And this morning at the bus stop was no better with a bitter 39 degree temp. But before all that we had a bright and sunny Saturday complete with good friends, 4 little kiddos, and picnic lunch.

As I do my best to finish school I am quickly discovering just how important my Saturdays are. I need them. I need them to breathe, re-group, clear my head, focus the chi, etc, etc. And they just seem to go over better when we get the hell out of the house. Why? Well, I find that if I stay in the house I tend to clean, and I don't want to. I love a clean house. Not in an O.C.D. kind of way, but in a hey let's pick up a little each day kind of a way. However, I find that when I'm in the midst of school the tiniest imperfection in my house causes chaos within me, to the point where I kind of wanna scream. So we leave, because then it's out of sight and out of mind. It's like a magical cure.

We hooked up with our Sharrow friends and hit the road to Gooseberry Falls. We hiked our way from the falls to the shore and as Max says "it's peaceful." What's even more peaceful is that there are very little complaints along the way. For the first time on a hike we hear Lila say "boy, my legs and feet are not even sore." Ah yes, we've trained you well in your 4 years.

I love this hike, there is so much to see and capture (for those of you who love to dabble in photography, or even for those who don't). I'm usually trailing far behind everyone else, taking pics left and right. By now they all know to keep walking, I'll catch up.

We picnicked down by the shore, the starving kids forgot about lunch once they saw water, but this made the lunch experience much quieter. While us adults engaged in more interesting adult conversations they were busy throwing rocks, dragging drift wood, and walking right into the water with their brand new, non-waterproof shoes on. Really?!

We soon continued on, sneaking raspberries,

and walking ahead of the group, holding hands along the way.

We hiked back to falls where we sat and took a rest, and tossed a few more rocks. Which ended soon as the rock tossing got a little out of hand. Tossing rocks to skip is not the same as chucking them across the falls where other people are standing. And I always love when you reprimand one kid for doing it and then another kid steps on up to the plate. I always wonder what they're thinking, like, I know you got in trouble but what hell, I may as well step in and give it a whirl. What I find even more interesting is that it's never the younger two pushing the buttons.

We ended our day at the Sharrow's new home and some dutch oven Coq au vin, topped off with a S'mores pie. The perfect end to a pretty perfect day.

I'm always sad that our northern MN summers are so short lived but at the same time I welcome fall with open arms. I absolutely love the change of colors that surround our city and our own backyard.

Fall greets us with colored trees,
crunchy leaves,
early sunsets,
warm knit scarves,
and pumpkin spice lattes.

And maybe even a warm baked pumpkin treat, just because.