Leaves

It's hard to believe that we've been here in Malden for TWO years now. We love where we live most of the time (like when the punk teenagers aren't smashing our pumpkins and when our neighbors above ground pool is clean instead of filled with rotting old leaves). One of the main reasons I love where we live is the great cemetery just a few minutes down the road. It is so peaceful and old feeling in there. It is especially lovely in the fall.....starting at the beginning of October trees start bursting with color. There is one tree in particular that we visit year after year. This year we walked over on a bright crisp Autumn day (surprisingly we haven't had many of those, as it's been unusually hot and muggy) and had a picnic on the yellow bed of leaves under our favorite maple tree with our dear friend Heidi and her boy Saul. It was really lovely when Hazel wasn't screaming at me because I forgot to call her by the right princess name again. Man it's hard to remember who she is from moment to moment.

Here's a picture of Hazel under the same tree two years ago (just after moving into our house). She was a little less demanding back then, but not nearly so creative. Most of what she wants to do out in nature (when she's not obsessed with picking up trash) is pretend that she is various princesses and that different trees are her castle. It was on this day in the Cemetery that she met her new imaginary friend "Lola." Lola is pretty handy to have around because she is ALWAYS willing to play pretend with Hazel.

This is Charlie's friend Saul. They mostly liked crunching through the leaves and playing with sticks and looking in the big tin trash can.

Notice Hazel's "princess" smile in this picture. This is the expression she makes when she's trying to be extra beautiful and soft and polite. She makes this same expression as she comes in to give me and jeff her dramatic kisses. What will she be like as a teenager?

Saul and Heidi. Heidi used to live on our street right before we moved in, so she shares my love for our cemetery.