Our stunning September continues, with warmth and sunshine in abundance. We've been busy seeking balance between our over-committed weekdays and soaking up the glory of a lingering late summer...
Here's what that looks like:
A lot of really hot soccer games. The East Side Kickers continue to have a tough go of things in U14 but our boy continues to be resilient and enthusiastic for the game. He's emerging as a consistent and reliable player on the team and was on the field for nearly the entire game recently.
And on the way home from a game in the town of Green (turns out that's a little south of Akron, who knew?) a sultry-hot, picture perfect stop at StanHywet. Not one but two weddings in residence to ogle. We just toured the gardens and though my heart misses the inside of the house when we skip the tour, there was plenty of beauty to overwhelm us outdoors...
There is a certain richness to the color and scent of these late season blooms, fiercely bright as some of the land browns around them, ekeing out every bit of this slant-light September sun before it is gone....
And in the midst of the late summer heat, the promise of fall to come...
Meanwhile at home... we are spending an inordinate amount of time chopping a bounty of vegetables because, surprisingly enough, we seem to be adopting a bit of a plant-based lifestyle. Well, the grownups anyways, and mostly me, but Nat did play along with 14 days of 100% whole food, plant based, no oil/sugar/salt insanity. I've discovered that, despite exponentially increasing my time in the kitchen, this way of eating isn't really that bad, or that hard to stick to. I feel good about decreasing my effect on the environment while putting only beneficial foods into my body. And I've lost a bit of weight so that's a nice bonus.
We had a lovely visit from Becca who made a pit-stop in the Cle on her way to Greece with some friends. Living the dream, that girl. I am so happy for her!
Salt free, oil free, sugar free Vegan brunch! Actually quite delish. Crazy, right?
Also, on an unrelated note, I love this dog. This weekend she's back off showing because Cindy is really working for that Grand Championship. She had a Best of Breed recently and Cindy's friend who handled her could not say enough good things about her. We are inclined to agree.
Our annual trip to a football game came on the 27th this year-- middle school band night! We enjoyed watching our team trounce the competition and then watch our tall tromboner take the field for a little bit of Beyonce. They sounded pretty good! Harboring hope that the boy enjoyed his time buying snacks with his friends in the second half enough that he wants to do more... marching band in high school would be a blast!
Next beautiful spot: the Botanical gardens. We don't often go in September, it turns out... and that's our loss because it was magnificent.
We also spent some time here-- an estate sale in this lakefront mansion in Bratenahl. It was like a party there, with people handing out on the lawn taking in the view after they perused all 4 floors of the sale. We bought exactly one stapler so it was really the best estate sale ever.
And because we can't be stopped on a September Saturday, we closed the day at Ingenuity. We'd hoped to meet up with an out of town friend so planned to leave our kiddos home. Sadly our friend was not feeling well but we decided to stick to the plan, and had a great time wandering wherever we wanted in the crazy post-apocalyptic fairy-land warehouse that is this festival.
The Space Dog stairwell was our favorite...
Art is CRAZY!
Tesla coils!
Giant random hissing flames!
So many light up hula hoops, SO many.
Sunday: A wholesome day at the Farm! We went to enjoy "Horsepower Weekend" and do the Corn Maze and ended up being disappointed on both fronts. The corn maze was stunted and tiny due to an entire list of factors, including the late growing season, a lack of fertilizer, and the use of a shorter variety of corn. You would think that the farmpark folks could have tried to remedy at least one or two of those factors, but they didn't and so, the corn maze lacked a bit of its usual magic. And Horsepower weekend, set to run until 4:00, was pretty much packed up at 2:45 when we arrived due to the off and on drizzle. And yet! Somehow we still had a grand time, short corn and wet weather and all.
There was a slippery hay maze to race around.
And ducks to race too!
There were idyllic horse teams plowing.
And there was a whole entire field of really short corn.
We had cider slushies and popcorn and posed for fall pictures in the summer weather.
And the kids rediscovered playgrounds of all sizes.
Plus there was Dot, the two week old Jersey calf who could not stop licking our hands
On the way home we stopped to check out the little bridge and stream in a valley that we always drive by but never stop at. It turns out it is called "Pleasant Valley Park" and it was magical.
Monday-- a day off! Such gratitude for a morning of sleeping in and getting things done and still having time to spend the afternoon at the zoo.
Crazy hot and humid and we wore ourselves out walking allll over the place but the animals were great fun and the atmosphere was celebratory and it was a great way to ring out a beautiful September.
