Rain and such

We had a decent amount of rain here last week, which made me start focusing on the inside of the house and the arrival of fall.  We have a large maple in the back yard and the whole thing is still very green, but somehow it has started dropping 1-2 of these a day:

I am a little excited that the biggest tree in our yard is going to turn such a beautiful red!  

I've also completely switched modes in the kitchen--I've moved away from caprese salads, grilled goodies, and light pastas and moved into comfort food mode.  I made my first batch of chili for the season and we are looking forward to some stuffed cabbage (try this recipe--it's crazy good) this week! 

Oh, wait--this was going to be a post about the rain!  Oops--ok, so usually when it rains here, the storms pass through quickly and are followed by clear blue skies.  This has this really cool steaming effect and leads to some low-clouds and beautiful views.  I snapped a picture on my way home after dropping Andrew off at school last week:

Can't really complain about the drop-off/pick-up craziness when you get to look at that during your commute, eh?

Alright--and again, for those that just want to see the kids--here ya go.  While B was out rock climbing (ROCK CLIMBING!!!) for the first time this weekend, the kids and I headed out to the nearby farm and they spent quite a while tossing rocks into this creek:

And hanging out on this tractor:

And yes, I encouraged Andrew to wear his overalls when we decided to go to a farm.