news from chicago: Autumnal Fun

Autumnal - I will explain. I was talking to my brother on the phone yesterday and I was telling him about our weather - he's in LA where the weather is exactly the same all the time (as far as I'm concerned) and I like to remind him about the other seasons :) So I was talking to him about what was happening with us that day and I was saying that the weather was crisp but not cold, the sun was out and it warmed you just enough but the wind cooled you just enough and you could smell fires burning in homes and we were talking about the sound of the leaves rustling when the wind travels through and then he and I both said at the same time that it was - very autumnal. And the word stuck with me.

Today was the first day I put the new camera card in the camera and brought it around with me. We took the boys for a walk this morning after breakfast and then I had it with me again while James and Doug started putting up our Halloween outside décor. Last year we had none and we knew we wanted to at least decorate the yard and house. Before we moved in, the house was empty for a year while it was on the market and then last year, I missed the memo that you needed to buy Halloween decorations in late August/early September but this year - we knew. We were prepared. So we've been sitting on these decorations for almost 2 months now!

Today, we put them up. There's one decoration that's pretty scary. Doug and I talked about buying a few other scary ones but then decided against it because the kids are so young still. But we did get one. It's a faceless flying vapor thing that is holding a lantern. Doug's going to turn it on just for Halloween because we don't want the batteries to die and also there's no remote, you have to manually turn it on. And it'll be hanging from a tree - so the logistics of climbing up there every night to turn it on and off would just be ridiculous. But back to today. It was fun. Super fun actually. And I was most excited to be able to take some photos of everything again. The trees are just starting to turn brilliant colors. In our back yard, we have the huge oak that's dropping these perfectly formed brown and crisp oak leaves and acorns!! and the ones that border the back and side yard are mostly yellow leaves with a few orange and in the side yard along the north parkway, we have two maples who are dropping the most beautiful red and maroon leaves. There's one house around the corner from us with almost a coral color leaf and another with the most beautiful red - I'll have to get photos of that. And today when I was driving to the grocery store, the streets were just really idyllic looking - very Americana. I'll have to bring the camera with me in the car over the next few days.

James is learning about nature in school right now and he told me that the green color of the leaves are not the real color of the leaves. The real color, he told me, was actually the colors they are turning now. He told me the chlorophyll makes them green but since they are done eating and getting ready to hibernate, the real color comes out, then they fall and the tree is ready to sleep for the winter. James drops these facts so subtly and in a very teachery but not know-it-all kind of way. Just a very gentle like - hey, did you know this? I love listening to him talk. He usually talks mostly when we're on walks now. Cillian usually toddles along investigating various items and James and I hang together and chat.

But, today we all got to be together outside and it was wonderful.

Our orange leaves in the backyard

James is getting more challenging to get a good photo of these days. . .

Brothers walking

Brothers talking

Brothers

The wonderful men in my life

I mean ... it's stunning

My big guy checking to make sure I'm keeping up.

Cillian waves to his shadow.

All the time.

It's adorable.

Our tomatoes

Heirloom - Cherokee Purple

Delicious

This is James in most photos I take. It's this face or another just as adorable face.

One type of decoration - we thought these were going to be smaller but they actually worked out quite well for the back stoop and the tree just outside the window around the air conditioners.