hay-bale hopping

this past week elenora and i went to appleton twice. the foliage is starting to turn, which ella knows means it is fall, and appleton is the best place to go to see the landscapes. i took my phil & teds stroller so that we could really cover some ground. thursday when we went, j.e. came with us. we walked and chatted and elenora sat in her stroller singing "gosh oh, gee oh, what you do to me oh. gosh oh, gee oh, when you use your eyes!" when we came to the hay-bales (which were covered in white plastic and stacked in rows, prompting j.e. to call them giant marshmallows), i pushed the stroller up close and j.e. and i hopped up on top and started running from bale to bale. i looked back at elenora and she was straining to get out of her stroller, with an enchanted look on her face. "want to get out of your stroller?" she prompted me to ask her. i said "ella, do you want to climb up here too?" "yeah!"

ah, she is my daughter!

so i picked her up and placed her on top of a hay-bale and you could see the magic in her eyes. i clambered up too, and i held her hands and swung her from bale to bale. it was lovely.

so lovely that she and i went back yesterday just the two of us and i took photos.

here she is on the hay-bales.

elenora's hair was all kinds of crazy-fluffy.

a couple stopped and asked to take our picture for us.

here are some of the lovely scenes at appleton farms. for some reason none of these scenes show the trees with the beautiful foliage. things are sort of half-turned around here, and i captured the still-green parts i guess. this place always reminds me of the english countryside.