I think we finally got our Indian summer here in this region. The past two days were gorgeous. Before returning home from my parents' house on Saturday, we stopped by my sister's house to pick up Autumn's chair that I accidentally left there on Thanksgiving. Afterward we went outside where Autumn had great fun going down the slide in the backyard. Over and over again she went down and down. Then, she sat on the swing. A big-kid swing, mind you, not a baby swing. I pushed her and she swung back and forth for so long, never wanting to stop.
The only time she almost fell off was when Keith told her to move her legs as if to pump herself higher. She moved her legs and fell backward. For once, though, I was fast enough to catch her. After that, she just held her legs still. It makes me want to buy a swingset for next summer...
She probably would have stayed there all day if we let her. And it was so nice out, it was tempting.
Yesterday we strapped her in the stroller and went for a looong walk. It was wonderful to be outside and not even need a coat. We don't usually get this kind of respite in November. When Autumn napped after our walk, Keith cleaned up the yard and I hung Christmas lights outside our house. I've not done this in any of the previous four Christmases since we've been in our house. But being the parent of a child who notices lights kind of makes you want to hang lights on your house, too. If any of you haven't hung lights yet and you have gutters, I highly recommend the gutter clips. I read about them in HerTimes and bought two packs. Turns out I only needed one, but oh well. They were easy and fast and most of the time I didn't even need a ladder -- just a broomstick with a screw end.
Last night, after I started the grill, I walked around to the front of the house and admired my handiwork. I must say I felt very Christmas-y, even though the weather felt more like a nice, spring day.