Our 4th family hike to the Blackrock Summit in the Shenandoah National Park fell on the first day of fall.

It was SO awesome that everyone was home from school on this day. And because of that, we decided to go on a short and easy hike with the kiddos.

Although, this time, the kiddos didn't really want to go.

Because now they have lots of neighbor friends. And because of that, they would much rather stay home and play with them then go out and do anything...with hikes now included.

Booooooo! I knew our time would come. Ha!

But, this one was short and sweet and, yet again, absolutely beautiful!

And, the coolest part of all...the more we got into the hike, the more fall blooms we saw. It was amazing!

Here we goooooo!

Luca didn't want to be the leader. So he had D and C get in front of him.

Both kiddos get a little scared when they're in front. Which, I get. The trees are pretty big and we really can't see ahead of us much, so I know it can be a bit scary, especially for kids. :)

Ahhhhh...much better! :)

And, the best view ever!! :)

Seriously!! I can't get enough of this view!!

Which, if you read all my savoring life photography posts, I'm sure you know. Ha!

Looking all grown up!!

Slow down, CeeCee! Slow down!! ;)

But, she still has her pink bear. So...not that grown up just yet. ;)

The boys went ahead of us, and the girls started finding LOTS of neat, nature stuff.

Heart rocks!! You never fail us! We're SO grateful for you!! :):)

And, gorgeous fall leaves...starting to show up everywhere around us! SO cool!!

Heart rock!!!

And another!!

And little bits of flower blossoms, too!

SO pretty!!

I always LOVE taking pics of flowers!! So fun and SO beautiful. They always make me smile! :)

The view of the mountains on our trail. Again...absolutely beautiful!!

I just LOVE capturing the transition from summer to fall.

Absolutely stunning, nature! Absolutely stunning!!

After taking time to snap the fall leaf goodness, I looked over to my left and saw these mushrooms.

Oh my gosh!! SO pretty!!

I didn't even see them either!!

Good thing those fall leaves stopped me in my tracks. If they hadn't, I would have walked right by these beauties. Just WOW!

Just WOW!

Another heart rock!! CeeCee found this one! :)

And another!!

And then, we stopped for a bit to view this beauty!!

Pink bear wanted in the picture, too! :)

Heart rock, yet again!!

Wooohooo!!

Then, Luca came running back to find us. :)

And I got to SAVOR a fall sibling moment. Yaaay!! :)

Then CeeCee went with D and Luca stayed with me!

I'm SO glad he still lets me take his picture!!

Especially in this environment and this backdrop.

Oh gosh!! The best!!

Until he was ready to keep going!! :)

But then we stopped again to SAVOR this beauty!!

And I took as many pictures of him with this beauty for as long as he would let me.

So fun!!

And then after we started walking again, we were, yet again, stopped in our tracks to SAVOR another fall beauty.

It's been SO long since I've seen vibrant fall colors.

I love ya, NOLA, but, fall in Virginia is awesome!! :)

He liked this leaf, too! Ha!

And I liked his little feet surrounded by all the falls leaves. :)

Oh, the beauty!!

I mean, seriously!!

Makes me smile BIG!!

And then, we made it to the summit view!!

OH MY GOSH!! What a view!!!

Luca LOVED all the little rocks and throwing them down the slope. C...she wasn't as impressed because she still wanted to be home so she could play with her neighbor friends.

Oh, those little boy hands!! :)

And those little boy smiles while he's on top of the world!! :)

And, yeah, like I said...those views!! OMG!!!

Absolutely INCREDIBLE!!!

I could sit up there all day...just like how I feel when I'm at the beach watching the ocean.

Ahhhhhhh...SO peaceful!!

Then we moved on and when we turned back, I saw this view.

WOW!!

And then, this view! Ha! :)

And this view to my right!

And more of this view!!

Then he found something to play with. Ha! :)

Which, I thought was pretty cool, too!

And, C, she was hungry and still ready to go home. Ha!

But the views tho!! OMG!! The best!!

We looped around to head back to the car and wouldn't you know, this side had an awesome view, too! Ha! :)

And then I saw the most magical view of all.

Oh, gosh!! I tell him all the time..."You get THE BEST pictures with our kiddos!" ;)

More fall leaves for the win!!

And fall acorns, too!!

As we got closer and closer to the car, I saw something orange, that I thought were flowers, but the closer I got to them, they weren't flowers at all.

They were mushrooms!!

OMG!!!

I've never seen anything like it!!

Nature...you absolutely AMAZE me and you absolutely nourish my soul like no other!!

I AM SO VERY GRATEFUL!!!

Until next time...

See something that makes you stop and smile. Grab your camera!! It'll slow you down, pull you into the present moment even more and have you SAVORing your JOY feeling even more!! And most of all, it will allow you to SEE things that you may have passed by (like the mushrooms I almost didn't see!). The camera...it's powerful...especially when it comes to JOY! :)

That's WHY I take pictures!! The camera is one of my favorite creative tools that easily pulls me out of my to-do list head and helps me SAVOR (the feeling of) everything that makes me stop, smile and lights me UP with LOVE (something that's hard for me to do when my mind is running five miles ahead or behind the present moment)