We’ve reached the time of the year where fall and winter seem to be overlapping. We are anxiously awaiting our first snowfall and are preparing to get our ice skating rink up and running. In the meantime, I’d love to share some highlights from this year’s fall – it’s been a truly wonderful season for our family.
The fall color this year was spectacular. The colors were so vivid and they seemed to last for weeks and weeks.
Our fall was dominated by Ben’s soccer schedule and Hannah’s broken leg.
We were able to throw some hiking into the mix, too, despite Hannah’s leg – just a few days before she got her cast off she ended up doing a bit of a trail run. In her cast. Yes, you read that right.
This was the first season that Ben played on a traveling soccer team. He absolutely loved it, and it turns out, when he’s focused and into it, he’s a really good soccer player!
By some parenting miracle Alex and I managed to use the secret parent code to plan a mountain bike ride juuuuust in case the stars aligned and neither one of our kids got sick on Indigenous Peoples Day, which they had school and Alex had off. Amazingly, no one was sick and we got our ride in – and we had the best time.
I’m a beginner and Alex is very much not. This trail was significantly more challenging than any ride I’ve ever done, mostly with the uphill {over 1,000 feet of climbing}. It was so, so fun, and the fall colors were magnificent.
The two of us also managed to get out for an absolutely incredible run to a not-so-hidden-anymore gem called Carne Mountain to relish in the beauty of the larch trees at their peak!
We had the best time and the views were out-of-this world – it truly feels other-worldly. Larch trees feel like something out of a Dr Seuss book – their spindles and unusual burnt-orange color. It was breathtaking being surrounded by thousands of larch trees.
My dad came for a visit in late-September and we had a wonderful time. We created our own Oktoberfest, watched Ben play soccer, took a chairlift ride up the mountain at Stevens Pass and enjoyed the natural wonders around us. My dad helped us buy and plant 19 new deciduous, native trees on our property, too. We are so excited to watch them grow!
Mid-October Alex’s parents came for a visit, as well. I was able to take them out on a big hike to Lake Valhalla, Stan helped Alex with a bunch of get-ready-for-winter projects, of course they played with the kids and Donna and Stan celebrated their 43rd wedding anniversary.
We’ve gotten into such a wonderful cyclical seasonal rhythm in our mountain life, now that we’re feeling pretty settled here. I love so much about autumn, and one beautiful and natural element to me is putting everything to bed. Clearing out the garden, blowing out the irrigation lines, burning the last of the wood and pine needles and just getting ready to hunker down for our favorite time of the year. Winter – we’re ready for you!!
