More fall fun

It's a good thing I've decided to focus on the positive aspects of fall (see yesterday's post if you need background on my new way of thinking) because Sydney is clearly finding the cool evening air to be absolutely invigorating.

I sent the kids outside after supper last night, and by the time I joined them, Sydney was practically jumping up and and down with excess excitement. "We. Can play outside in the fall. EVERY NIGHT!"

AJ has been asking for weeks to rake leaves in a pile so he could jump in them. And so I dug out the rakes and put the kids to work.

Which lasted about three minutes before Sydney ran and tattled that AJ had broken his rake. (The handle had snapped off the plastic rake part.) Now down to one rake - of course the one with the wood handle that gives blisters and splinters - I worked for about 10 minutes creating small piles of leaves around the yard. The kids would then carry them to the big pile in front of the house.

At last it was as ready as I was going to make it. Cannonball!

AJ's glasses went flying, and were quickly covered with leaves. We stopped the fun until he could find them, and then moved on to a new kind of fun.

Leaf fight!

They threw leaves at each other, at the dog and at themselves.

And then they turned their attention to me. Leaf attack!

And then we repeated the process. Mom rakes the scattered leaves back into a heaping pile. The kids jump into it, and then throw the leaves.

And then I put down the camera and returned fire. Yes, these autumn evenings are growing on me. Never mind those leaves are covered with frost this morning. (AJ looked outside incredulously. "It SNOWED?") I know in the coming weeks the pleasant evenings will come fewer and farther between, and the lawn will soon be covered by more leaf ammunition than we can handle. But in the meantime, I'm living in the moment, savoring the fun and thoroughly enjoying making what I hope are lasting memories for the kids.