Into the Woods

Fall has FINALLY arrived in the Midwest, hooray!  It's about time - I swear it has been close to 90 degrees every day since May, and we had forgotten what rain looked like.  The cool temperatures are such a relief!

So now the Frenchies and I can at last get back to one of our favorite things - walking or hiking a few miles every day.  Recently we took advantage of a beautiful Autumn morning by hiking in nearby Buckeye Woods.

We headed into the woods, leaves crunching underfoot and the smell of fall strong in the crisp morning air.

 Brutus made sure we wouldn't loose our way, and was sure to "mark" the trail frequently.

What did you think I was going to do - leave a trail of bread crumbs?

As we walked along, I happened to look down at just the right time and we found a little treasure in the leaves.

We don't see anything here but leaves, why is mom so excited

Look, it's a buckeye!  No wonder they call this "Buckeye Woods"! 

The buckeye happens to be the state tree of Ohio, but more importantly is also the namesake of our favorite college football team, Ohio State (notice Carmen's leash is OSU)!

I'd be more excited if we could eat it...

We hiked (or in Carmen's case, ran & sniffed, & ran & sniffed) along the trail for a few miles, some of which is lined with picturesque pine trees 

Sometimes nature can make you feel so small...

Of course we stopped a few times for water/rest breaks.

As I was trying to get a good picture, a leaf fell right in front of them - it was funny because they both watched it go down.  Not sure if the photo is as funny as the actual moment, but I had to include it.

There goes another one!  These trees sure do shed a lot!

And you know I can't resist a good photo opportunity!

There's a fungus among us!!

OK, enough with the camera already.  Can we just get back to the walk, please?

Being in great physical shape (especially for Frenchies), Brutus & Carmen both were still going strong after about four miles.  Too bad there were other things I had to accomplish that day, and so it was time to head back to the car.  It was the first of what we hope will be MANY fall hikes - it's so wonderful to enjoy the scenery, plus it's great exercise for all of us (and part of Brutus' agility conditioning too, but don't tell him that!)

As we got cleaned up to get back in the car, I couldn't help but notice that this trash can seemed to have been put there specifically for my boy - it even has his name on it (look close to the top).

Seriously, mom?  The things I put up with....

Oh, and one last thing.  In case you missed it, make sure you go back and enter Carmen's giveaway - all you have to do is comment on our "Clean + Green" post.  Only two more days to enter, until midnight EST Thursday! 

Less than 25 entries so far, so you have a good chance to win some great stain-removal products!  Not that any of you out there are messy, we're just sayin'...