Have I mentioned how much I love autumn in Virginia? I cannot believe the colors on some of the trees here.
Even though the locals assure me that the weather conditions haven't produced the colors that these trees are capable of displaying, I'm still very impressed. This tree, in particular, takes my breath away because of the variation in hue from branch to branch.
These pictures don't do it justice - the tree literally GLOWS in real life. It's simply spectacular.
I took the kids to a local lake park in hopes of getting some great photos of them. Not so successful in the portrait category (Hazel was so crazy I couldn't really focus on what I was doing) but look at this tree! It looks like it's on fire.
This picture pretty much typifies what our portrait experience was like...Eliza was all smiles, Hazel was having nothing to do with sitting still when there were so many things to run around and explore, and Hyrum was all-too-concerned that Hazel was touching him. (sigh)
At least Eliza was happy to play model! I couldn't resist taking some time out from the house remodelling projects to make Eliza and Hazel matching little autumn outfits. I LOVE this fabric! It's from Heather Bailey's now out-of-production line Freshcut, and I've been itching to make something out of my stash of fabric for quite awhile.
What a cheeky little grin on her face, eh? Eliza liked the top I made for Hazel so much she wanted one just like it. I'll have to post a little tutorial on the adaptations I made for my Girl's Sundress Tutorial so it can fit a big girl like Eliza.
As usual, the majority of photos I was able to capture of Hazel was from her backside, after she had run past me and was headed for the water. I made little pants for her, but since I did it while she was sleeping and didn't measure, they're a little short. I need to add on another layer of fabric. The third "tier" of fabric on her tunic is actually a very simple elastic waistband skirt, so that she can wear the top as both a dress and a pants/shirt outfit.
Being the fashionista that she is, Hazel really wanted to wear both the pants and the skirt at the same time, so who am I to spoil her fun?
Here she is pleading with me to let her wear it. Or maybe she was just looking at the geese in the sky. At any rate, she looks pretty darn cute...which is a good thing because with all the destructive things she has done lately, she needs to be cute!
Many of our newly painted walls have "drawings" all over them, and one of her favorite pastimes is to throw out all the nicely folded laundry from dresser drawers and laundry hampers onto the floor in huge piles. Today she dumped about a half a bottle of mineral oil all over our kitchen floor. That stuff is hard to clean up, let me tell you!
"Gotta run, Mom...there's a playground up ahead!"
Hazel the BlurGirl is hard at work doing the playground circuit: up the stairs, across the bridge, down the slide...repeat 50 times!
She takes her workout seriously.
Here are a few more pics of the lovely lanes around the lake...so you can see that not all the trees are fiery orange-red. The fiery trees must be a different species, I'm guessing.
These trees, although not as dramatic, are still breathtaking as they grace the road with their soft canopy of light-filtering leaves.
Ya'll come back soon now, y'hear? :-) I'm planning some very fun Halloween food fare this week!
Oh my goodness!!!! Breathtakingly beautiful!
Posted by: Wendy | October 25, 2009 at 09:12 PM