It’s fallllllll! (Imagine me saying that in my best Oprah voice.) But that doesn’t mean it’s time to hide inside. It’s the most magical time of the year here in New England, where the days are still warm enough to be by the water but you have to close the windows at night or you can’t feel your nose in the morning. There’s chowder and donuts and cider and wine and oysters to enjoy outdoors. And it’s the perfect time of year to have a backyard campfire, right on our own patio.

You can check out my idea board at the end of this post for links to items (or similar items) from Wayfair. They’ve got just what you need.

Cozy, easy care cotton throws and fun pillows gave our old furniture new life.

Lantern string lights add ambiance and warmth while you’re waiting for the fire to warm up.

Plastic wine glasses = no chance of shattering them on the patio stones.

Same deal with the tray – looks like rattan, but it’s actually plastic for easier clean up and no chance of breaking it.

We’ve had this fire pit for years now and every time we use it we think “Why don’t we do this more often?!” Now that the cool nights are mostly bug-free, I see a lot more s’mores and wine in our future.

This metal wall art makes our outdoor space feel more like a room.

One of the best parts about a backyard campfire is the ability to leave my newborn sleeping in the house while we roast marshmallows. Newborns near the fire pit seem like a poor choice – it’s hard enough controlling a clumsy toddler near the fire pit – so it was nice to be able to relax a little. In previous years, the kids seemed to like the idea of s’mores only in theory, but this year they ate as many as we would allow.

Those blankets are my new favorite thing and I can’t wait to use them for lots of fall photo sessions. I’m sure the wine glasses will find a way to be useful as well. A big thanks to Wayfair for sponsoring this post and encouraging us to get out and enjoy our backyard campfire!

End of Summer Patio Campfire

SuzanneD

Keep Calm And Eat A Smore Textual Art Plaque

Click Wall Art

Spanish Wall Décor

World Source Partners

Outdoor Natural Slate Wood Burning Fire Pit

Pleasant Hearth

10-Light 7.5 ft. Lantern String Lights

DEI

Lone Star Electric Hurricane Lantern

Leigh Country

Leaf Sequenced Decorative Throw Pillow

Artistic Linen

Multi Diamond 100% Cotton Throw (Set of 2)

Amrapur Overseas Inc.

Dongan Stemmed Wine Tumbler (Set of 4)

Varick Gallery

Photoreal Rattan Serving Tray

TarHong

See Idea Board on

The best weekend of the year, when New England finally remembers what makes it the best – fall weather! food! small town fairs! – and gets its act together for the next 2 months.

Past years: 2015 part 1 /part 2  2014 2013 2012

Friday: Greek Food Festival

Evan hatched some Pokemon eggs on our way home.

I can’t pronounce the Greek name of those cookies, but I imagine they translate to “OMG SO MUCH POWDERED SUGAR”.

DO YOU SEE IT? FALL IS COMING.

Saturday: Ledyard Fair & Taste of Italy

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Her best life, for sure.

Giant meatballs!

Seafood ravioli in lobster cream sauce!

Garlic knots!

Sunday: Mystic Eats

Abbott’s lobster roll

Del’s frozen lemonade

Mystic Pizza

Carolina pulled pork slider with sweet pickles

Clam fritters with garlic aoili

Mystic Drawbridge ice cream

I’m pretty sure when your face looks like that after the weekend, it’s been a good time. Poor Finn was either attached to my body or sleeping the the stroller the whole time and is in none of this year’s photos. Just think, next year he’ll be able to eat most of this stuff and enjoy himself much as we do!

A whole week late but DONE. I can’t skip the week I had a baby – you would miss so many brand new baby photos! There will be a lot more babywearing selfies happening from this week forward.

Sunday:

Living that #lakelife

Goodbye lake! See you next summer!

I really need to have a baby soon, I have no clothes that fit

Monday:

Really very much so done with this

SO HAPPY TO BE IN THE HOSPITAL

Hospital crushed ice = perfection

Tuesday:

BRAND NEW!

Paparazzi attack already

Someone missed me while I wasn’t home

Wednesday:

I’m quickly remembering what the middle of the night looks like

Can’t stop won’t stop

Actual first day picture, taken by someone else

Thursday:

Squishy faaaaace

Naps

Gave the baby to the toddler so everyone could relax

Friday:

Early morning wake up call

PEACE OUT

So chubby

Saturday:

I forgot how much I hate carrying these things around

The toddler missed us all

And I missed the toddler too

Even though they let us go home, the whole next week was full of doctor’s appointments and a trip back to the hospital for Finn’s jaunice. It’s my least favorite and it seems to happen every time I have a baby. One more 2 week check up to get through and then hopefully we go to normal, infrequent appointments and I can spend all that time snuggling babies instead.

Fresh 48 sessions are my favorite kind of photo sessions, whether it’s my own baby or someone else’s. These are the rest of my pictures of Baby Finn from our time in the hospital. Well, our first time in the hospital. We had to go back to spend some time under the lights for his bilirubin levels, which wasn’t fun for anyone. But now we are home and can finally start settling in.

I would apologize for the number of photos in this post, but I’ve been writing this blog for 8 years now. I’m pretty sure I’ve already scared away everyone on the internet who DOESN’T want to see 60 photos of babies.

THIS IS SUPER LATE. IT’S FROM LAST WEEK. I AM DOING THINGS IN ORDER. THERE ARE NO OUTSIDE BABIES IN THIS POST ONLY INSIDE BABIES.

But I did have a baby. You can see him on Instagram.

I’m 2 weeks behind but I’m catching up. If the baby keeps sleeping during the afternoons I’ll have the birth story next, then Fresh 48 photos, then a back to school post, and another week in iPhone photos. Send coffee and wine, BOTH OF WHICH I CAN DRINK AGAIN PRAISE JESUS. (Hahahaha as if I ever gave up coffee.)

Sunday:

Hi Linc, can I take your picture?

CHEESE FACE!

Goodbye Olympics

Monday:

Gotta catch ’em all, even if Mommy is so pregnant she can barely walk

Wiggly tooth

YEAH THAT’S RIGHT BE JEALOUS

Tuesday:

#lakelife as much as possible

Playing model is Caroline’s FAVORITE

Harkness Park is pretty

Wednesday:

Real life

Lots of this happening this week

Daddy is the only fun parent right now

Thursday:

Can you believe I even carried my chair this far?

A friend made muffins “for the kids” but I ate three of them

BEHOLD, A MOMENT OF PEACE

Friday:

The last time my mom friends and I would only have 14 kids at the lake

Beautiful curls

Evan borrowed my phone to take 300 pictures of Daddy

So that was the week that ended on August 27th. A lot has happened since then. I’ll tell you about it soon.