Friday Favorites: Fabulous Fall

 We enjoyed a fabulous week of fall! The weather was perfect, the kids were happy (even when I took their annual photos!), we ate lots of yummy treats.. what could be better?

We had beautiful hiking weather this week! 

We led a hike through Pulaski state park on Friday.  Evan was the only one able to come with me and we had a good time.  One new family showed up and I recognized the girl as someone who went to the same high school as me.  We had a fun time catching up. 




Alec, Evan and I went hiking on Monday at Mashamoquet.





Evan and I went hiking at the state park on Wednesday. 





Then Evan and I finished up our week hiking at the Dam


Though we had to turn around after 30 minutes since the bridge was washed out.





Alec brought home some delicious treats on Friday; including this apple tart he made! 




Alec didn't have karate on Saturday so we spent most of our day baking.  He made apple pie cookies while I whipped up a batch of pumpkin scones (I shared this recipe earlier this week). 






We also baked up our annual apple pies (recipe here) on Monday after hiking.  We make 3; one for eating right away and one to freeze for Thanksgiving with another to freeze for Christmas. 

This year we tried adding some caramel to our pies!




I did run out to pick up groceries and participate in this free food box thing that one local town is offering... it was mobbed but each car gets two free boxes of produce.  We love our produce around here and I am not one to pass up free food!



Saturday evening we had tickets to head to the zoo and tour the lantern festival. It was so fun!  (I shared more photos and detail in this post)







I put two coats of clear on my Color Street wraps and they held up so beautifully for an entire week of work.  Then I swapped them out for a new pair on Thursday.  I love this deep navy for fall. 





My husband and I squeezed in a RZR ride after dinner on Wednesday and watched the sunset.  It's the first time we've ridden in it since adding a roof, windows, and fender flares.  A much cleaner ride!



It was warm enough to break my flip flops back out this week and I LOVED every minute of it!



Linking up with:







Comments

  1. I have been wearing the flip flops too- trying to extend the season as much as possible- I feel like we are so lucky in New England this year- our weather has been beautiful! I think we deserve it after the rainy summer we had right?

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    1. I think we definitely deserve some nice weather after all our rain!

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  2. Aw, I love seeing all the fall photos! That lantern festival looks so interesting and something I haven't seen before. Y'all enjoy your weekend!

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  3. These photos are absolutely beautiful! This time of year is so hard to know what shoes to wear, LOL! Have a great weekend girl!

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    Replies
    1. I tend to wear closed toed shoes in the morning for school drop off and flip flops by lunch when the suns out and it warms up.

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  4. Love your beige and white striped sweater! Fall hikes are my jam.

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    1. Thank you! That came in one of my Stitch Fix boxes and I wasn't sure about keeping it at first.

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  5. How nice to go on all of those hikes with your kids and see such beautiful scenery. I love the outfits and your nails look great. I like doing my own nails from time to time. I hope you have a nice day and weekend Joanne.

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    1. It has been wonderful getting out of the house for so much exercise.

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  6. Replies
    1. They have been fabulous! I just need it to get cold enough to get rid of the mosquitoes!

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  7. So many great highlights from your week! I love seeing the fall colors there! It hasn't got quite cold enough here for the trees to change colors, but it looks like within the next couple of weeks we should start seeing some changes.

    All those bakes look so good! And I had no idea there was an apple peeler & corer attachment for the KitchenAid! I need to get one of those!

    The lantern festival looks so cool! The Norfolk Botanical Garden was supposed to have a Chinese lantern exhibit but it got cancelled. I was really disappointed because it looked really neat.

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    1. Yes, it comes with a spiralizer too so I can make my own zoodles and things. It's fantastic... would make a great Christmas gift idea!

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  8. What an amazing week you had. I love seeing all the yummy things you make. Your home must smell so good. Have a great weekend!

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  9. Love seeing your pictures from your hike. How nice to run into someone from high school and catch up. Your Saturday baking looks amazing! What yummy wonderful treats. The lights at the zoo also look so nice. What a great fall week for you!

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  10. Your fall hiking pictures are stunning! And all the baking looks delicious!

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  11. Y'all always make the absolute best desserts. I've pinned more desserts from your blog than any other blog!! Now I just need to actually take the time to try and make some of them. I hope y'all have a wonderful weekend!

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    1. LOL! We do make a lot of desserts... that's the one downfall of having a baker in the house. He's always asking to make something.

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  12. The lantern festival looks amazing! I finally went hiking with my friend and her daughter last Sunday and while it was still a little hot, at least it was pretty much all shaded! My friend just opened a micro bakery and all of those treats make me think of her.
    www.chezmireillefashiontravelmom.com

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    1. I just had to Google micro bakery; that sounds like such a neat business. Wishing you friend lots of luck!

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  13. So much goodness this week. Blessings.
    www.rsrue.blogspot.com

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  14. Why am I always craving a sweet treat now? mmmm... apple tarttttttt

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  15. I've got a bunch of Color Street strip sets I need to use. They are so pretty. The desserts look amazing!

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    Replies
    1. I am down to 3 pairs! I'm pretty proud of myself for not buying any for a bit and making myself actually USE them.

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  16. It sounds like a fantastic week!
    How lovely to catch up with the friend from school on your hike. Gorgeous scenery.
    Alec is such a good baker. The cookies look amazing.

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  17. Beautiful photos from your hikes, especially the reflections. The baked goods look delish. Thank you for linking up with #weekendcoffeeshare.

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  18. The colors are finally starting here! The fall treats look so appetizing!

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    1. I love apple desserts in fall and hope to still make some apple crisp and caramel apples too.

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  19. I just love all the fall views. That's something we don't get as much here in Phoenix, but we could go up into the mountains.
    How fun that you all bake together. And free food? I'd be all about that too!!
    OXOX
    Jodie
    www.jtouchofstyle.com

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    1. My middle son is taking culinary classes in high school and just loves to bake.

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  20. Gorgeous photos. Is the one photo a mushroom? That apple tart looks amazing. That lantern festival looks cool. I think our days of flip flops here in the NW are over.

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  21. All those fall treats look delicious! The weather this week was gorgeous and perfect for hikes and flip flops (though I didn't do either of those things! LOL!). That lantern festival looks like fun! Hope you have a great weekend.

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    1. Glad you've been enjoying gorgeous weather too.

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  22. Hi Joanne,
    From homemade deserts to those amazing hikes, you guys really are living the dream.
    I really need an "envy" emoji.
    Blessings.

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  23. There's an apple peeler/corer/slicer attachment for Kitchenaid mixers?? Squee! Now I know what I want for Christmas.

    I love the forest pics--fall color and leaf-littered trails--wonderful.

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  24. Oh those desserts have me craving

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  25. What a lovely week. We did apple pie making this week too.
    Blessings, Dawn

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    1. It's just not fall without some homemade apple pies. YUM

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  26. The fall hiking pictures are so beautiful. And I'm going to check out that pumpkin scones recipe. We have a pumpkin from our CSA sitting in our front closet right now so I need something to make with it!

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  27. Loved seeing all that beautiful countryside - and the baking looked amazing - I'm a big fan of anything that is made with apples, so I'd have loved to have tried the apple and caramel pie combination.

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    1. I love pretty much anything made with apples too!

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