I had a doctor’s appointment first thing Monday morning, so the kids spent the prior night with my parents. On the way to pick them up, I stopped by the outlet mall to buy some shoes. And the trees in the parking lot were marvelous.
They inspired me. I decided that a Fall Foliage Field Trip was absolutely in order. After all, it was a school day, but it was far too magnificent outside to do bookwork.
So I picked the kids up and we took a driving tour of the St. Clair County mountain [hill] ridges – all just 25 minutes outside of Birmingham.
Our windows were down so that we could hear the crunching of leaves under the tires and the migrating birds overhead.
I attempted to pit my children against each other with statements such as, “Who can find the brightest colored tree?”
And, “Who can spot the next pretty sight?”
We passed pastures,
Barns,
Ponds,
More pastures,
Houses with sunset views that made me treacherously envious,
Paths leading to seemingly nowhere but with beauty everywhere,
Neighborhoods that city life can only dream of emulating,
Houses that looked far too modern and architectural to be hidden in the middle of the woods,
Stunning ridge views,
And endless metamorphosing trees.
I didn’t make our educational adventure into any sort of formal learning experience – we didn’t identify a single tree or discuss why leaves change colors. It was simply an appreciation day for God’s creation.
As a bonus for Noah, we even got to go through a tunnel – one of the narrowest tunnels in Alabama – and perhaps the only tunnel that still has its own phone booth.
And if you’re wondering what the children thought of this sublime school-substitution gift from their loving mother,
they were bored, underwhelmed, and begging to go home.
Just like I was when my homeschooling parents used to pull this same kind of crap.
But perhaps it subliminally snuck into their little brains, as apparently did my many childhood rides down country roads, and just maybe one day they’ll subject their kids to the same sort of glorious torture.
Ha! This is great. Such gorgeous views.(: I wonder if Noah will take his kids to see sunsets or if it’ll be a car show or a lego museum.
Thanks! If he does do sunsets, I’m sure he’ll do the others as well. After all, my Dad took us to plenty of car shows.
That blue is ridiculous.
I think there might be a song about Alabama, where the skies are so blue…
I sure enjoyed the road trip. Gorgeous.
Your readers appreciate the trip, even if the kids didn’t. Views like that are why fall is my favorite season.
Thanks! And I agree. There’s nothing prettier than the changes of Fall.
Beautiful! We may have to take a “Sunday drive” this weekend!
I do hope you guys actually got out of the car and had a romp around the leaves too! The smell and feel and detailed look at things are all part of the experience, I think.
Stunning photos, by the way. Your colours are more advanced than ours in England as we’ve had a warm October. I do love the changing seasons in England – much prettier than New Zealand which is more evergreen and similar year-round.
Oh yes – they’d been playing in the same gorgeous outside all morning at my Mom’s house – she has a lot of fantastic land.
The colors seemed to be a bit late here, too. I’m glad they finally arrived!
Beautiful pictures! We are heading up to the outlet mall tomorrow for some shopping. I can’t wait to see those beautiful colors, we don’t get enough of them down in Montgomery.
I hope y’all found some great stuff! I love my outlet mall.
Gorgeous pictures.
Those pictures are absolutely amazing. Thanks so much for sharing.
Thank you! I’m glad you enjoyed them – that’s a high compliment! :-)