Fall Fun

Last Wednesday our little town of Highwood had a pumpkin festival. It consisted of a farmer's market, live music, hay rides, trick or treating at the businesses, and lighting over 1,000 Jack-O-Lanterns all at once. We had a great time! Here's a photo of the Jack-O-Lanterns before they were lit.


Many people have reminded me lately of the photos I took of Lauren in the leaves last year. That made me realize I should take one this year too, so before we went to the pumpkin festival last Wed I raked a quick pile of leaves and put Lauren in it. Check out the video below to see how much she likes examining each leaf.



Last Monday was one of my days off so Lauren and I took a field trip to the Morton Arboretum. What a beautiful place! It was such a perfect day we could have spent many more hours there. Lauren loved playing hide and seek with me on one of the bridges in the children's garden.

Quick Lauren update: All of a sudden Lauren is very interested in everything around her. She waves and says hi and bye to everything. She was waving and saying, "bye bye," to our house this morning as we left for school. She is pulling herself up on everything and even stands on her own for a few seconds here and there. Not only does Lauren love hugging and kissing Mommy and Daddy, but she hugs and kisses all of her dolls too. Ever since she wore her shiny gold shoes for Aunt Stephie and Uncle Jon's wedding, they are the only shoes she likes to wear. Mariah said she is very protective of them at daycare too and won't let the other kids play with them. Lauren knows where her toes and shoes are now too. She loves to give high fives and blow kisses too. I think she knows how to say, "bubble," now too. There were rain drops on the car window yesterday and she kept saying, "bubble, bubble."

Football Saturdays

Watching college football has always been an important part of fall for the Hanson family. Geoff and Lauren both sported their gear yesterday while watching Michigan and Central Michigan both win.


We taught Lauren how to signal touchdown and she loves to get involved in the excitement of the games.


Lauren was so excited to wear her Michigan bib Daddy bought for her on his business trip a few weeks ago.

Fall in Michigan

The Hanson family spent last week enjoying the fall colors in Northern Michigan. After a quick, but enjoyable trip to Kentucky for Laura's wedding, we traveled to my parent's cabin to prepare for Steph's wedding last weekend. More to come about that later, but for now enjoy these photos of the fall colors.



Here is a photo from our trip last year. This is now one of my favorite photos of Lauren and me.


Last week we took a drive and after about 45 minutes found the same scenic overlook. I can't only help but notice the change in Lauren over the past year, but the difference in the colors as well. I guess we were about a week earlier this year.