October 1st

October 1st. Sterling and I usually like to go on a few reminiscent dates in October (because that is when we were dating like crazy before we got engaged in November). We have gone to a corn maze every single year of dating and being married. We love them. Mostly I like the hot chocolate afterwards. Sterling likes to laugh at me when I scream at every little teenager with a mask on. It some good times. I have also enjoyed taking Ruthie to pumpkin patches, hayrides, and pig races (why did they do those at the pumpkin patch? no idea). But our biggest love in the fall is hiking. There is nothing quite like the mountains when the leaves are breathtaking colors and the air has an edge of winter to it and its chilly enough to need a jacket on the way up but you end up packing it on the way down. Which is why this year it seems so odd that it is already October. Why?

Because of this:

Yup. That's the cutest kids you ever saw. And where are they? Oh yeah. At the zoo. And what are they wearing? Shorts and sandals. Are they cold? No, quite to the contrary we were SOOO hot that we only looked at one animal--the tiger--before deciding it was a splash pad day. The van said it was 96 degrees. 96 degrees. How am I supposed to feel like it is October with weather like that?!?!

I take it all back, we saw more than one animal. We saw these freaky monkeys. They seem to fill up with air and then yell these crazy loud/obnoxious trills back and forth to each other. Will wouldn't let go of my leg, Ruth held her hands over her ears and looked very upset, and two of our little friends started to cry. It was kind of hilarious actually.

Relief from the heat:

The prettiest baby you ever saw. Also, that outfit was one of my favorites of Ruth's.

The last week of September/first week of October has brought two days at the pool and one at the splash pad. Oh Miami, with your cockroaches and your endless ants and your random hopping frogs in my living room(!), you are quite the adjustment. Not that I'm complaining about the pool days. I am LOVING those. Truly, I am. It's just a bit bittersweet. I miss my drives through Sardine to see the leaves on the way to my parents house. I guess, though, that there's no better way to miss the fall than by soaking up the sun poolside! Here's to Miami!