Fall Back! (aka Autumn Love)

Autumn love :)

The blog is back for a report on the most wonderful autumn season ever had! I can't believe how gorgeous it is here - sunny most of the time, but getting sooo cold and often windy. I love it! Plus my body is telling me things like: eat pumpkin pie, rake leaves and jump in them, carve pumpkins, and enjoy the last bits of warmth before winter comes. So I decided to take in all the autumn I can without going totally non-vegan (oh yeah, I'm trying that! Even with all the Louhelen desserts and such, I'm trying.) and with the spare time we've got. :)

Besides gaining a few matching cuts on fingers in the kitchen, us youth have been bonding in all the fall activities too! So here are some fun events...(Oh, and I decided that pictures say a lot more than I can, so take a look!)

To start the season off, my AMAZING mother sent me some awesome fall decorations to make me feel more at home. I used them to make a cute window display!

On October 17th, Shirin and I made a delicious and mostly healthful breakfast:

(Vegan choco-chip pancakes and banana/nut/maple sauce...)

I brought Harriet for her first walk in the woods, and we enjoyed the beauty ever so much:

 And we found a lake just outside Louhelen property!

Then we visited the pumpkin patch/apple orchard nearby! So perfect :)

 "That one is MINE!"

 The orchard had a gift shop...and sad sad recipe books.

 I, of course, baked my little pumpkin and its seeds as soon as we returned to Louhelen!

So lately I have been especially patriotic of my state. I was reminded of lovely Oregon at the grocery store...

 Even the vegan coconut-milk ice cream was made in Oregon!

 And this is just delicious, therefore deserving of "Totally Oregonian":

 And this is amazingly cool and totally natural! From California...south of Oregon!

Then, just before Halloween, I went crazy at the Salvation Army for holiday and 90s-style sweaters! Shirin's favorite:

 We all wore our sweaters for Halloween at Anna's house.

Left to right: Andy, me, Lisa, Jenna, Keon. Bottom left to right: Harriet and Shirin!

Then Lisa and I went for an adventurous walk the other day, and discovered something new:

 And we almost walked through these cattails. So pretty in the sunshine!

So, I have thoroughly enjoyed this October/November fall. But, since the cold is coming, I can feel wintertime activities being a part of my daily life soon! The other day, I saw a SNOWFLAKE! Rather, a few tiny tiny ones, that could possibly amount to an entire snowflake. Therefore, I did my annual snowdance outside...Shirin got mad though because she hasn't put antifreeze in her car yet and she fears my dancing will summon unfortunate freezing within her car. I don't know if my dance is what caused it, but apparently there was a blizzard in Chicago the other day, which is nearby...

One sad thing: Harriet is leaving in two weeks. Who wants to say goodbye to Harriet??? Not me! But I know her and I will always be happy happy friends. I look up to her with all my heart! But she's going to school in Missouri, which is good, and not very far away...

And today I went for a refreshing walk. The Twin Oaks are bare, but I wouldn't call them sad-looking. They're mighty and strong and they make me happy. :)

I shall write soon! I'm sure Thanksgiving time and Christmas season coming will bring lots of photos :)