A Fun Fall Day

We woke up this morning with one kid in bed with us and another climbing over us asking "do we stay home today?" Yes, it is Saturday! Talk of weekend activities ensued. A bike ride was chosen because today was deemed to be likely the last best weather day for biking of the year.

We got out of bed, ate breakfast and got ready for our ride. We then found out that Mommy's bike was not in any shape to go beyond our driveway. Our plans were not dashed because daddy took the kids in the trailer and mommy walked a shorter, hillier path to the park and the family met up at Loose Park.

A few trees in the park were holding on to their fall colors allowing us to have a bit of color on this grey day. We are not winter people so seeing the trees lose their leaves is sad sign of what is to come for us. Ever since the time change we've been seeing signs of winter dreariness creep into our lives - snoozing for a long time in the morning, going to bed at 9:00pm (or at least falling asleep on the counch) and some general grumpiness that we leave in the dark and come home in the dark.

We started our visit at the park with some playground time. Lyla is bold beyond her age. She is determined to do everything that Steven does even though we might think it is beyond her capabilities. But everytime she tries something she proves to us that she can, in fact, do it.



Our visit even included the requisite animal chase. There were squirrels everywhere and chasing them to a nearby tree was quite fun.



And then there were the ducks and geese. We had some old bread in the freezer just waiting for the day when we made it to the park to feed the hungry waterfowl. It was not quite like Silver Lake when we were growing up in Rochester but we did get a good hiss from a few of the Canadian Geese. Steven definitely has no fear, he let them eat right out of his hands and didn't even flinch at their honks or hissing.

Lyla was carrying on quite the conversation with the ducks. She'd ask them if they wanted some bread and if they were ok. She is a very caring soul.

Since we saw about five professional photographers wandering the park with various families we decided to have our own photo shoot in the oak grove. The kids sat down for about three seconds, long enough for me to snap a few funny photos and then we had one parent family photos since I don't know how to use the timer. Steven had a death grip on Tommy up in the tree, while Lyla had absolutely no fear! It was such a contrast to his behavior with the geese, sometimes I don't really know him.

Note the "mushrooms" behind us ... I have to give credit to the parks department for being creative with the utility units. This is such a beautiful park and I especially appreciate that the little touches aren't missed.

We had such a full morning that we stopped at O'Dowds for an irish lunch and then dropped the children off to join a new family!