Weekending it

This past weekend we made a trip "upstate" to see the fall foliage. It seems, by default, we always go to Cold Springs/Boscobel because why change? Maybe, we'll just make it a tradition. Dan and I have a special history there, visiting many times throughout our relationship. See our other storied visits here.

The weather has really turned chilly here and it sort of feels like we jumped from late summer to early winter. It is brisk! Saturday's forecast was a little warmer which was nice since at least it was sunny. The fall colors are generally really stunning once you get out of the city but it was strange because we couldn't tell if we were early or late for the best colors. Some trees had already changed and dropped their leaves. Others were only a little colorful. And most didn't seem to have changed at all. Mandy read the rapidly fluctuating weather we had in September and early October meant things were a little more "dull" this year. But, the Hudson River Valley is pretty regardless.

We got there right when the lunchtime and nap windows collide so we crossed our fingers that we could get some cooperation from Kip for some family photos. He was just so happy to get out and walk around in the wide open space that most of my photos look like this:

But, Mandy, our ever gracious family photographer, managed to get a few good photos. I'll save those for our Christmas card and share some of the "outtakes" here.

After a short visit and some photos we grabbed a donut from the farmer's market to tide Kip over and then Dan drove us over to a neighboring town with a massive outlet mall to get lunch. The mall was great but incredibly overrun by foreign tourists. I'm still unsure how they all got there. Anyways, we didn't last long since it was way past Kip's nap time. Fortunately he fell asleep in the car for a peaceful ride home.

Dan and I went to a friend's little fall party that evening while Mandy put Kip to bed and then she headed home after we shared dinner together. We are so grateful for her company and help with Kip.

Sunday was a marathon for us. I was serving on brunch team so Dan wrangled Kip around the school for 5 hours. Grocery shopping after church and then the day was pretty much over.

We've been busy every weekend trying to do all the fun fall activities to help us fill our tanks before the long winter hibernation. Plus, it's fun to introduce a toddler to all the seasonal traditions. And, Kip is game for pretty much anything.