Summer's Last Hurrah

Outside it is cool, rainy and dreary. Inside the thermostat is set at 71 degrees, but it feels a bit chilly since my body has not grown accustomed to the cooler temperatures. Yesterday, on our walk we noticed crunchy leaves along the sidewalk and when we drove to church we spotted many trees of varying colors. Yes, fall is definitely here and I do like it...except that it means that summer is over with all its wonderful activities and sunshine and it means that winter is soon coming (which, in my opinion, has no redeeming qualities except Christmas and snow, and the snow doesn't happen often in these parts!). The older I get, the more appreciative of the changing seasons I get, but the child in me still yearns for lazy, summer days.

Two weeks ago was the official first weekend of fall. But for me, it was the last weekend of summer. It was hot, sunny and filled with fun activities. It was my good-bye to summer days for another year.

Our first big outing was going to the Puyallup Fair (as a family!!) with Kevin's parents. Abby got to ride the carousel with Grandma, both kids never wanted to leave the John Deere booth, I got to go on my first camel ride (which was ironic to me since I've been to the Middle East and didn't ride one there!), and the kids got to fish with their Daddy at the catch-and-release pond (which is even more ironic that it was their first fishing experience when their Daddy is a professional fisherman!). It was a very nice day and we were so glad that Kevin was home and could give up his day to go with us.

(The kids now ask for camel rides from their Daddy instead of horsey rides :)

Abby caught one, but I was feeding Jake and didn't get it on camera. :(

Our second big outing was a 75-minute steam train ride down in Chehalis with my mom and my niece Hannah. It was so much fun! We started in the outdoor car, but Ben was so afraid of the train's whistle that he wouldn't uncover his ears the whole time even though the whistle only occasionally blew. (Jake wasn't too alarmed as long as I held him close and gave him a smile.)

So we moved inside for the last half of the trip and all the kids, especially Benny, had a much better time.

In fact, they loved it so much that they didn't want to get off, so we waited until everyone else had made their exit before I finally coaxed them into leaving. And, of course, I took the opportunity to snap a few pictures while we waited. :)

The following day, we donned our coats and headed to church in the cool rain. Fall had arrived, but we'd ended our summer with a bang!