Leafy Fall

Fall in Maryland is my absolute favorite. I look forward to it every year. The world is a different place in the fall.

Most of these pictures were taken in the forest behind our house. Looking at these pictures now makes me a little sad because as I write this the forest is being cut down. Sometime in the near future twenty-four houses will fill the spot where this forest once stood.

Luckily we have plenty of trees in our yard to provide leafy fun.

Halloween Time

We'll start the Halloween season with the trip to the farm with Felix's class.

Felix's class went to Larriland Farm in Woodbine, which I think is just beautiful. I went there with the boys last year for apple picking.

We rode a hay ride out to the pumpkin patch.



Felix picked out his pumpkin, and I picked out mine.

Later, the boys try out the mustaches my mom sent in a Halloween package. They look so serious. (Felix shows off his haircut.)

From this point, I feel like Halloween was kind of a mixed bag over here this year.

The bad:
- Beckett wanted to be Luke Skywalker. We ordered him a costume and it was way too big. It was too late to order another one.

The good:
- Beckett decided he was okay being Finn from the new Star Wars movie even though it hadn't come out yet and no one knew who he was. 

The good:
- The kids had a great time at the trunk or treat.

The bad:
- The Primary presidency was in charge of the trunk or treat which meant that I had way more responsibility that night than I would have liked.

The good:
- My mom sent a spider mask in her Halloween package that went perfectly with the spider shirt I wear every Halloween.

The bad:
- This is the only picture I got of Beckett in his costume. You'll see why.

The good:

- We carved pumpkins for the first time.

The good:

- Nate bought the pumpkins and a pumpkin carving kit.

The bad:

- Nate did not help carve them which meant I was stuck mucking out the pumpkins.

The good:

- The boys and I had a good time doing it anyway.

The funny:

- Felix was very adamant that his pumpkin have no teeth.

Halloween Night:

The good:
- The weather was perfect. Maryland is 5 for 5 for perfect Halloween weather.

The bad:
- Beckett spent most of the night like this:


The bad:
- I wouldn't let Felix wear his Darth Vader costume to his preschool party or to the trunk or treat because I didn't want to deal with the mask and light saber.

The good:
- I let Felix wear his Darth Vader costume on Halloween. He loves Darth Vader.

The good:
- I have never seen Felix walk so much in my entire life. Apparently if we want Felix to go on a hike with us we just need to have candy stations every few feet.

The bad:
- We got way too much candy.

The good:
- Beckett perked up and decided to go trick or treating after all! We quickly put on his costume and caught up with Nate and Felix.

The bad:
- We didn't get a picture of him in his costume or with Felix because it was already so dark.

Despite all the ups and downs, I'd say that Halloween was a success.

Nicole Visits

Jill and Nicole had one night overlap, so we took advantage of it by eating cake and staying up really late. The next morning I took Jill to the airport and then took Nate to the airport (he was leaving on a business trip), and then felt like I had gone to the airport a whole lot in 24 hours.

On Sunday, Nicole and I decided to take advantage of the fact we weren't tied down by a school schedule. We headed to Washington. On our way we stopped at Great Falls. We admired the waterfalls, walked a bit, and then ate a picnic lunch.






Then we headed to Alexandria to see Nicole's sister-in-law and her family. It was fun for me to meet them, and the timing worked out pretty well. After our visit, we just had to take advantage of how close we were to Washington. So we drove over, parked, and pulled out the stroller and all the coats so that we could walk the monuments.


This was a big day for the kids, and I was really impressed with how well they did with all the different activities. They actually loved walking the monuments. We had come really prepared with extra coats and extra snacks and the double stroller, so the kids we pretty comfortable. (I just wish that I had also brought a blanket.) They would run for a while and then climb back into the stroller.

They also enjoyed all the stairs at the Lincoln Memorial and posing with the statues. Below Beckett and Felix climbed up on this pedestal so they could be statues with President Roosevelt and Fala.


 Evening is the best time to walk the monuments, and through excellent timing (I mean really good luck) we made it to the Lincoln for sunset. We then made our way up to the WWII Memorial and then back to the car.



On Monday we sent both the kids to school, and while Felix was at preschool, Nicole and I went on a hike in Patapsco.

Hey look, another waterfall! Here we are at Cascade Falls. We also hiked by several ruins. It was quite cool while Nicole was here, but we bundled up and enjoyed the brisk fall weather.




After Felix got home, we visited Fort McHenry. Nicole and Felix explored the lower levels, and Felix, in keeping with the statue posing tradition of the trip, posed with George Armistead.

On Tuesday, Nicole, Felix, and I went to Antietam. (Beckett was at school.) I was a little worried about the timing, but it worked out just fine. However, I don't know if I would have taken Nicole all the way out there if I had known that both the observation tower and Burnside Bridge were closed! Those are the best parts. We still enjoyed our visit. We visited the old cemetery and Nicole walked the Sunken Road.

I love my friends. I had just the best time with them. It would be best if we were all just next door neighbors, but I will settle for yearly reunions.

Jill Visits

In October a couple of my dearest friends came to visit. I love Runner Reunions. This is the second time that Jill has visited me in Maryland (first here) because she is just the best.

Jill arrived on a Wednesday. The next day we drove into Baltimore to meet her brother and his girlfriend at the Walters Art Museum. Felix was a really good sport with all the grownup activities that day (a museum and a long lunch). Luckily, it was a homeschool day at the museum, so he did get in a little playtime.

On Friday, the whole family went to Harpers Ferry. It's basically my favorite place on earth, and it's tradition for the Stephens to take a Harpers Ferry trip every fall. I really wanted Jill to experience the splendor that is Harpers Ferry.

We did all of my favorite things. We had ice cream and lunch at the crab cake place. We walked through the John Brown Museum and strolled along the river. We crossed over the train tracks and walked on the Appalachian Trail.

But I got to do one thing in Harpers Ferry that I had never done before. I finally got to hike up to the overlook.

After we crossed over the train tracks we took the trail down to the Maryland Heights Trail trailhead.

Along the way we found the perfect spot to throw rocks in the water. So Jill and I left the boys there and booked it up the trail.

On the hike:

And then we reached the top. Check out the great panoramic shot that Jill got. You can see the town, both rivers, and the surrounding hills. This is why I wanted to do this hike.


I'm pretty sure that Beckett will be ready to do this hike by our next visit to Harpers Ferry. I'm excited to do it again.

After lunch and ice cream with the whole crew, Jill and I split off on our own again to do some of the less kid-friendly things. We stopped in a couple of museums. Of course, I had to take Jill up the rock stairs to the church.



Meanwhile Beckett and Felix were back at the river with Nate.

This was our view as Jill and I caught up with them at Virginius Island.

 I think they had a pretty good day too.

On her last day in town, Jill and I went to Washington and museum hopped. Which is apparently what I like to do best in Washington. We started at the Native American Museum, which neither of us had ever been to. We saw a really interesting Inca Exhibition there. Then we went to the Hirshorn, which was not Jill's favorite. We hopped across the mall to go to the National Gallery and found out that it was closing in 30 minutes! Yikes! The other museums were open for another hour, so we were kind of blindsided by that. Time for a super speedy tour. I took Jill to see the Leonardo (the only one in the U.S.), the Cassatts and the Impressionists, the Rembrandts, and of course, the Vermeers. I think we did okay for only have 30 minutes. Afterwards we took a break on the mall, where I took this picture and then proceeded to break Jill's phone when I dropped it on the gravel. Sorry, Jill. I still feel embarrassed about that, but I am glad you had Apple Care.

We tried not to let the phone incident get us down. So we went to the Smithsonian American Art Museum and looked at some of the paintings from my dissertation. Then we drove home, picked up some dinner and cake ingredients so that we could celebrate Jill and Nicole's birthdays after I picked Nicole up from the airport that night.

Up Next: Nicole Visits