October

Well it's been three weeks since our last update and the foliage has pretty much come and gone. We did take a lot of small hikes to try and see some more of it and I did a lot more exploring over in Pawtuckaway where there was some good color and interesting stuff to see. Brooke has been busy with school and freezing her but off at soccer every Saturday morning at 8 am, even in 31 degree temps. Emily is talking up a storm now. She talks so fast and so much when she gets going it's tough to get it all but you can actually carry on a little conversation with her if you pick up on the right words. Jen and I celebrated our 6th anniversary with a nice night out at the Oar House and are just keeping busy with the kids and work.

"Frankenstorm" has moved trick or treat from Tuesday to Sunday this week, and we had plans to go to Vermont anyhow but gave Brooke the choice of which she'd rather do and she immediately and emphatically said "Vermont!" so tomorrow we're off to Vermont for a quick visit. we're excited to go but what kid doesn't want to go trick or treating?! Apparently one that really misses her cousins and on top of that can't eat 95% of the candy anyhow! We might get to do some up there anyhow so that's good, because I'd really hate to see them miss it completely even though it was her choice. I guess maybe the day is lacking some of the excitement when you freeze for 3 hours in the dark going door to door and end up with a couple dum-dums and a roll of smarties as your reward. That kind of makes me sad for her but she still loves the costumes so all is not lost. Maybe by next year she'll outgrow the allergy.

Nothing terribly exciting to post about but I do have a bunch of pictures from the last three weeks to put up. There's four different albums. One from a hike up Blue Job Mountain, a hike to Fort Rock I took the girls on when Jen was working and a walk around the Raynes Farm in Exeter. Another has pictures from another hike I took the girls on up in the mountains when Jen was working a few weeks ago through the Big Pines Natural Area and up Great Hill plus pictures from a quick trip up Stratham Hill we all did that was Emily's first hike all by herself and some from other random stuff over the last few weeks. The third album is a collection of pictures from three different hikes in Pawtuckaway I did over the last few weeks trying to get some foliage shots and the 4th and final one is just a bunch of random stuff from the last few weeks like pumpkins, playing in leaves and the Halloween parade. There's a few other pictures mixed in here and there also of random stuff but that's what we've been up to in a nutshell. To see the pictures click on the links below. That's about it for now. Check back again soon.

Album 1 - Stratham & Great Hills
Album 2 - Blue Job, Fort Rock, Raynes Farm
Album 3 - Pumpkins, Leaves, Soccer & More
Album 4 - Pawtuckaway State Park Hikes & Photos

Foliage Hunting

Just a quick update on my foliage chase for the year. I've had a couple days where I could take pictures and both days of course it has rained and been crummy. I have Sunday off this weekend and I probably don't have to tell you what the weather is supposed to be like.

We did take a drive around the White Mountains this past Sunday where the foliage appears to be peaking. The hike we had planned was cut short by the girls splashing in puddles until they were too soaked to go for an hours walk in the drizzle. We got to eat at Bill and Bob's one more time before they close for the year but were restricted by the weather to being touristy leaf peepers mostly from the car. I tried to make the best of it and get what pictures I could. If you'd like to see them you can find the White Mountains photos here. if you'd like to see it for yourself you should go soon. It was the best color I've seen in 5 or 6 years at least.

Today I wet to scout out the leaves and trails at Pawtuckaway State Park. I didn't do much hiking, just over 2 miles in all, and the color is nowhere near peak (probably another week to 10 days I'd guess for that) but there was a few isolated spots of color around a pond there so I did what I could with that. I also checked out the Boulders Natural Area which is a bunch of house sized boulders the glaciers left behind when they melted away. They were pretty awesome to finally see after reading about them for years. There's a few pictures of those too but I didn't explore them too much because it started raining again and I plan on going back when the leaves are better. To see the pictures from today you can click right here.

That's about it for now. We're all finally getting over our colds and hopefully will be out and about again soon. Brooke is doing great with school, Emily needs to get apple picking for the first time and hiking with the fall colors is always nice since it turns the usually almost viewless trails around here into beautiful walks in the woods. All we need now if for the rain to go away!!