Jumping for Joy

Didn't I tell you that fall in Minnesota is beautiful???  And this is just on my parents' street.  I'm not sure if it's because I haven't lived at home since 1998 and the trees have matured in that time, or if I just never noticed before, but wow.  I was totally struck by the beauty of those leaves.  *sigh*

And then the not-so-beautiful part of fall --- having to rake all of those leaves after they fall!  While our kids are still too small to really be much help in such chores as raking, at least they try, and they have a good time doing so!

{And don't be fooled...the big kid got in on the action, too.}

I have to give a big shout-out to our nephew, Avery.  If it weren't for him, and his enthusiasm for being outdoors and helping do "grown-up" things, I don't think Drew would've fallen for the "lets-go-rake-leaves-it'll-be-fun" proposal Brad had given him.  Avery was all "YEAH!" so Drew was all "YEAH!"  Sometimes peer pressure isn't all bad.

Good-bye, beautiful autumn.  Until next time...