Into the woods . . .

On Saturday morning I woke up determined to get my family out of the house and into the woods! It's FALL! And while the trees in town are still green, I'd been noticing some red up on the mountain. It seems like every year lately the leaves turn up there and I mean to go see them, but then the wind starts to blow and before I know it it's too late. This year I'm determined to get up there numerous times so that we get all the leaf-looking and being-out-in-the-not-too-hotness that we can get.

So we went! AND I brought the fancy shmancy camera that we use for the business so I could take some cute kid pics. (I also tried to make the kids look extra cute as we were getting ready, but that turned out to be too stressful and I gave up.)

We went to our very most favorite place in the world, the spot where my family held their reunion for more than 15 years. The great thing is that Jason got to go there quite a few times before we changed spots a few years ago, and he loves it as much as I do.

It was so funny trying to get the kids to let me take their pictures. Jess was excited about it and had fun posing, but the rest of them were pretty annoyed because they didn't want to stop playing. But the cool thing is that they all did it. They didn't whine or pout, they just patiently posed and smiled and put up with their silly mom. They're such great kids.

Missy insisted on taking me on a long trek into the woods to find the perfect spot for her pictures, and once we got there this is what she did:

This is the only one of her that I really like, and it's cropped from one of her with Jason and Mandie.

Mandie had a lot of fun up there! She's getting so grown-up.

Here's Jessica with her "J"Being "The Queen of Nature"





Melissa was very excited to find this "log" and we helped her make a bridge out of it.

Last but not least: the best pic of the day