Pictures of the parade didn't turn out. I was trying to capture the boys with their hands over their ears as the band marched by, but my composition was seriously lacking. They enjoyed the pre-parade activities almost as much as the parade though. We were sitting right at the starting point where a squad car and fire truck were lined up waiting to move. The officer in the squad car was extremely kid friendly (his own kid was hanging out nearby) and let the boys not only sit in the passenger seat, but also press the button for the siren. Just quick taps, no drawn out "whee-oo, whee-oo."
Saturday morning was busy with errands and a library trip (Daniel insisted upon taking the bus) but in the afternoon we squeezed in a trip to the apple orchard. The boys didn't get up from naps until close to 3:30 and the orchard is only open until 5, so it was a bit of a whirlwind. Good thing it's only 15 minutes away!
The most important part of the trip of course is the wagon ride, especially when conditions are right for the tractor to pull it straight through a shallow creek that meanders through the orchard. A close second is the apple turnovers, which we somehow managed not to devour on the way home, saving them for dessert.
Earlier in the week I'd raked a big pile of leaves for some outdoor fun on a glorious fall afternoon. John added to the pile and then experimented with some settings on our camera, which we've had for more than two years, but haven't fully explored. He found one that helped capture a better action shot:
And one that did a sort of weird color-capture thing (which I'm sure has a photographic name, but I'm no expert, obviously):
The boys supplied their own goofy, no special camera setting required:
The floods of 1993 and 2008 exposed a large fossil bed next to a dam-created lake north of town and we've said all summer that it would be a good place to explore. Just as well we waited for a late fall afternoon though as the cool weather definitely added to the enjoyment. As it turned out the concept of a fossil was too abstract, even for Edward, but they had fun running on the rocks and dipping their hands in the rivulets. 
Daniel picked up every rock he could and shouted, "Here's another fossil!"
Then we hiked up a road under construction and from a higher vantage point could see playground equipment in another part of the park. So we headed over. It was a great set, likely fairly new, and with two super fast slides. A new park is always a good thing and this one was definitely a weekend highlight.
