Fall leaves & campfires

We’re a frisky family.  Which basically means I’m married to a man who can’t hold still.  It’s not a bad thing, most of the time, because it means that even when I feel like curling up in a ball and wishing it all away, I get dragged out of the house with the family to do something healthy and productive.

I’ve told you more times than I can count how hard it is for me to leave Summer behind.  I miss the hot Summer air, the snow cones, the trips to the park and the library, the meandering walks and bike rides, the daily trips to the pool.  I miss it all when it’s over, especially the extra healthy amounts of Vitamin D coursing through my veins.

So when Fall rolls around I’m usually mourning the loss of my-other-lover-Summer, instead of appreciating the simple thrills of cooler weather.  Like taking  long and winding drives up into the canyons on cool Fall afternoons to revel in the beauty of leaves transforming into breathtaking colors.

Fall is sort of a wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am season in Utah.  The last two years Summer has come and stayed late, with a brief window lasting a few weeks for a token *Fall* before the snow shows up on Halloween, and HELLO! Winter.

Hardly enough time to enjoy the crispy autumn weather.

So today, after a news report forecasting imminent snow, Viktor threw together some campfire supplies and we all headed up into the deep mountain canyon as a family, to find some beautiful Fall foliage.

Our efforts were greatly rewarded.

After building a fire and roasting everything from marshmallows to Twizzlers, we explored the leaves around us.  We listened to the mating calls of elk, washed up in a meandering mountain stream, spotted deer,  and took photos of a beautiful Fall sunset washing vibrant colors all over the turning leaves.

We count ourselves lucky to live in such a gorgeous part of the world, one that marks the passage of time in glimmering, if short lived, pageantry in the mountain air.

And of course, in the end, I’m always grateful to be dragged out into the cold if it means spending more time with the three people I love most in the universe.

— I’m curious: What do you do to celebrate the beginning of a new season?  The tradition of driving up the canyon to see the Fall leaves is one I carry over from my childhood.  We also used to make fresh grape juice from my parents’ orchard the first weekend in October, a tradition my parents continue to this day. —

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Allison

Hello there! I'm Allison Czarnecki, founder + editor of Petit Elefant, a blog all about style on a budget for every part of your life: style / home / travel / family. I do a lot of how-to beauty + style tutorials, travel posts, easy recipes, home remodel projects, and cool DIY crafts you totally want to try. I'm super happily married (to a hot Polish immigrant) and am the mother of two kids, a daughter and son, all of whom are featured here on the regular. We live in the country but we're a little bit rock + roll. Welcome!