CHATEAU MABILE

Well, I've wanted to post these for nearly two months so here we go! Fall was absolutely beautiful up here. (It was actually a sort of uneven Autumn according to the locals because the leaves changed at such different times...but we didn't care!) I always loved the way Fall sounded back home because of the wind roaring through the trees. Fall sounds more rustley than roary up here. I think thats because of the leaves. Because Greg worked SO MUCH I do not think he got to enjoy it very much, but the kids and I tried to take a nice walk at least every other day. I told Liam all about how and why the leaves were changing, but I don't know if any ever sunk in. We loved catching the leaves as they blew across the walking path. Ginny even got lucky and had a few land in her stroller (unbeknownst to me). Leaves are both crunchy and tasty apparently.

I have to say, I really couldn't capture it on camera like I wanted to. The colors just didn't show up right. Often times the sun sort of cancelled out the yellow leaves so the tree would still look overwhelmingly green. I eventually got frustrated and stopped taking pictures. The colors came in waves. Wave 1 peaked in early October. Wave 2 started just as we were leaving for Louisiana and peaked while we were gone. I was disappointed because we have this huge Maple tree outside the front entrance of our apartment building and I hated to miss seeing it change. Alas, all the Maples did their thing while we were gone. Wave 3 is going on now and it is just a few of the remaining trees. Everything is pretty much bare around here now. I was shocked when I looked out our window the morning after we got back and it looked so dead! I mean there is not a leaf left! Not to worry though, I've always thought Winter had its own beauty and that will only be enhanced by the snow. We also have a lovely huge evergreen just to the left of our balcony. Oh and speaking of that snow word. WHERE THE HECK IS IT?!!! We are all waiting for it and it just won't come! There is a small chance Saturday, but thats mostly for the northern suburbs. Boo. We want snow! Liam asks me everyday and I just tell him it's coming. Greg's co-workers had told him that the first storm (not shower, storm) is almost always before Thanksgiving. Well, wouldn't ya know this year is gonna be an exception. One Minnesotan facebook friend advised me not to anger the snow gods, but I told her I was ready to throw down whenever they are! Haha, no seriously though....where is our snow?!

Okay, I'm done blabbing. Enjoy the Autumn as we saw it :)

I can't believe this place was ever so green!

Did I mention that you have to take pictures and enjoy the colors quickly? The trees peaked in color and then were bare within 48 hours.

You can't see it, but there is a huge lake on either side of the road in all of these pictures. It is called Lake Minnetonka and it was a lovely drive!

That path was calling my name...but it was a private drive, lol.

Camera got the lake, but none of the color. It was pretty, I promise.

These were taken on our way to an apple orchard. I'll post those pictures next! (*Note: No apple picking actually happened because neither Greg nor myself was willing to sacrifice an arm or a leg to pick their apples!)