New England Fall has arrived

Saturday we took a drive through western Connecticut and visited Lake Waramaug State Park and Kent Falls State Park.  The drive took us along narrow forested roads umbrellaed with changing leaves.  We were excited that Michael had finished his first set of finals so we could enjoy the day worry free.  The first series of photos were taken at Lake Waramaug.  You really should click on these photos so you can view them larger to get the full effect of the beautiful colors!

We had planned to ride our bikes around the Lake but shortly after arriving it began raining.  

We covered the camera and continued shooting.  The rain didn't last long, but helped to empty the park so we could take all the undisturbed photos we wanted!

This is the picture I was taking above, while Michael took my picture

On our way to Kent Falls, we stopped by this random place on the highway with tons of rustic sculpture art called Sculpturedale.  After wandering around for a bit the artist came outside and talked to us.  He was quite pleasant and showed us around, granting us permission to take as many pictures as we wanted.

Giraffes are my favorite

He took us into his shop and showed us his most recent project.  He begins each project by welding pieces of metal together.  Once the project is to this point, he sprays them with a vinegar solution and puts them outside.   All it takes is a few hours on a rainy day before the piece becomes rustic, completing the work of art.  This piece in particular weighs over 400 lbs.  He has to get a crane to move it outside once it is completed.  So fascinating!

This is the first of the Kent Falls Pictures

I've found that I can no longer just hand the camera over to a random individual when I want a picture with both of us in it.  I have to compose the picture myself and then use the timer feature, otherwise I'm always slightly disappointed in the outcome of the photo.  This time we had the tripod, so it wasn't too tricky.  However, there are lots of times when I am using sticks and others objects to prop up the camera just right on a rock or something.  I'm glad Michael puts up with my idiosyncrasies.  

We stopped at a cute little restaurant in a small town on our drive home.  The bread they served was amazing!  I had a delicious pear, blue cheese salad with a citrus vinaigrette and Michael had a delightful pumpkin soup for appetizers.  Our entrees were decent, but the appetizers were both fantastic.

We really enjoyed the day and came to the conclusion that we need a second camera so we can both be shooting at the same time!!

As for a quick update otherwise: Michael was relieved to finish his finals.  He feels pretty good about them, but hopefully we will find out this week how he did.  This upcoming block is supposed to be the most rigorous of the whole program.  A lot of this has to do with all the work he needs to put in to secure his summer internship.  The school likes you to have your internship secure by Christmas...so that adds a lot of pressure on top of the classes being taken.  Networking and company research, resume building, interviewing, etc. all add up quickly.  Keep him in your prayers.

As for me, I hit 30 weeks yesterday.  Something feels a little surreal about being in the "30's", it's starting to feel a little more real.  I have all my doctor's appointments scheduled up through the week I am due so I will keep everyone posted.  As a side note, my glucose screening came back just fine.  No gestational diabetes for us.

Love you all.