The leaves in our neighborhood just started to turn colors this last week and so we thought we would head up to our traditional spot at Mueller State Park to see the fall colors. It was kind of a hectic morning but we finally made it to the park around lunchtime. We took our normal route along the Outlook Ridge trail to the Raven Ridge Overlook where we laid out our blanket and had a nice lunch on the rocks overlooking the valley. There were some trees that had already turned colors but most of them were still light green. Even though the colors weren't as dramatic as when we were at this spot last year it was still a beautiful day to be together as a family. Madeline walked the entire trail to the overlook. She was so fast that some of us had to walk quickly to keep up with her. Peter found her the perfect walking stick that she faithfully carried the entire way. The rest of the crew played frisbee along the trail. For lunch we had hoagie sandwiches, grapes, cheese, cookies and Capri suns. Since Madeline was walking this year it was so fun to watch her explore after lunch. She loved to walk up and down the rock formations and through the little grassy sections. The teepee the girls had built last year with the fallen tree branches was surprisingly still standing. We weren't sure if some of it had fallen during the winter but it seemed to be right where we had left it. Madeline had fun sitting inside of the teepee and Abby spent most of her time playing in it. The boys walked down the mountain a bit to where they normally explore and Peter had loads of fun hitting dead branches with an enormously large stick. Andrew spent his time sitting on a big rock overlooking the views. It was a little hotter than normal and so we didn't do the Grouse Mountain Overlook this year. Still, it was fun to spend a few hours out of our day being together.
