In Pursuit of a Hike

Finally, fall! I savored every day of summer, believe me, I did. This summer was one for the books for sure. But now that we've been teased with some days of fall weather, followed by days that feel like summer again, I am ready for full on fall. Fall temperatures, fall food, fall scents, and fall HIKING! And a couple of weekends ago, I got my fix. On the first weekend of fall, the weather settled nicely into the 70's with beautiful blue skies and a breeze. Absolutely perfect for a weekend outdoors. It has been years since we hiked to the Devil's Icebox at Rock Bridge State Park. We've hiked probably every other trail around the area, but we've steered clear of that one simply because there are always so. many. people.  And we just don't like hiking in really crowded places. For one thing, our boys are loud. Just naturally loud. So every conversation we had on the trail was in earshot of a dozen other people. Also, on narrow paths, you always have to...

Goodbye lazy days. We (and I, especially) will miss you. The boys don't go back to school for a few weeks, but I'm back in the office already and slowly transitioning back to full time work. I'm not complaining, believe me. I don't take take my summers for granted for one second. I know how fortunate I am to spend 3 months out of the year with the boys. I also know how fortunate I am to have a job that I love in a district where my kids attend school. It's all about balance, amIright? Every summer has its own unique personality. Some years, summer is all about the big vacation. Other years, it's about day trips and bucket lists. This summer has been all about full time lazy days and days at the pool. We've spent more time at the pool that any other year, and have also made two trips to a water park. This summer has been about lounging in the sun, catching up on Netflix, and checking out giant stacks of books at the library (mostly cookbooks, some memoirs for...