A fun, fall day!

The weather today was absolutely gorgeous! Peter and I decided to head to a park. We went to Hartwood Park.

I love this time of year. The relief from the heat is such a welcomed change and I love to see the beginnings of fall in the shades on the trees. I snapped this picture as we were driving to the park.

The sky was blue with very little clouds and there was a cool breeze in the air--perfect for fall! We saw some kids attempting to fly kites and Peter's immediate reaction was sadness that we didn't bring a kite ourselves. That would've been super fun. I haven't flown a kite in many years! Next time...

It was so nice to be outside and just relaxing. Ahhhh, fresh air!

Me and my hunny :)

We then toured around the outside of the mansion in the park. We initially planned to go inside, but they weren't open. Oh well!

The grounds were just beautiful. I loved the big trees all over the property.

The big stone mansion is beautiful too! And super easy to photograph :P

More lush greenery:

The windows in the mansion were great. I bet that inside was even more beautiful with the sun shining through the stained glass.

This portion of the mansion was so cute. I think it'd make a great separate "little" house, don't you?

Great windows!

This door reminded me of all of the wonderful doors that we saw when we were in Italy. I think that I have a new fascination with doors from that trip!

These doors were actually to the bathrooms. They also reminded me a bit of the doors in Italy.

Through the archway was an awesome courtyard area.

Down the steps from the courtyard was this wonderful tree-lined lawn area. It was so cool to walk around in.

I love this guy. :) On a side note...my hair looks dark and short here. It's neither haha.

A view of the mansion from the edge of the tree-lined area:

Another attempt at capturing the entire mansion in one picture:

:)

There was also a cool little garden area. It was at the end of the season, but still had many flowers in bloom.

The layers I have in the front make it look like I have a short cut. It's something I'm now debating on doing for the winter. Any thoughts?

Also, don't you love my newest accessory? (Thumb and wrist splint)

After the park, we drove to Robinson and had lunch at the Olive Garden. Yum! They have the never-ending pasta bowl promotion going on which I got. I asked to start with the second course smaller bowl size though because I knew it'd be too much! I had the new Portobello Alfredo sauce. It's delicious!

We then met up with Ash and Katie. Peter went off to do his own thing for a bit while us girls were shopping.

We ended our day at Starbucks where I had a Chai Tea Frappucino with Pumpkin. Yum! Ashley also brought me a piece of homemade Banana Chocolate Chip Bread that she made. Double yum! Perfect for a fall day!

Peter and I headed home after that and had a simple dinner of pasta and ended our night watching a movie.

This is the kind of day that brings me joy. As much as I hate to "live for the weekend", it's really refreshing for my soul to have a day like this.