Have You Ever Wondered What Heaven Might Look Like?

I have to think it might look a little like this:

Or this:

All created by the Master Artist Himself.  Colors strategically placed; hills and valleys; sparkling blue water; peacefulness.  Pictures just can't capture what this looks like in person nor can words describe its beauty.  We had a great time visiting the Northwoods this weekend!  We arrived late Wednesday night.  We saw several deer and even a wolf alongside the road on our way into town.  So awesome!  On Thursday, we headed up to Bayfield to do some apple picking and to see Lake Superior.  We couldn't have picked a more beautiful day to go.  It was over 60 degrees and sunny with a few cumulus clouds here and there.  Apple Fest was starting the next day, so it was nice to beat the crowds.  We ate lunch at a restaurant near the lake and then headed up the hill to all the apple orchards.  There are several within a 10-15 mile radius.  I think we stopped at 3 or 4.  We picked up some Macintosh "2nds" at one orchard to make homemade applesauce with.  We also stopped at a quilting store that was in between a couple orchards.  I bought some material to make a table runner with.  We ended up actually picking apples at an orchard called "Sunset Valley".  We picked a bushel of Courtland's that we split with my parents.  I think an apple pie and a pan of apple crisp will be baking in our oven in the near future!

 The views and colors were spectacular.  The upper left picture will become my Fall barn picture.  I love it!

Picking apples and visiting the orchards.

 Family photo with a colorful background.

The next morning, Brian and my dad got up and went fishing.  While they were getting ready to go out, my mom and I were watching an eagle up in a pine tree in our backyard.  He then flew up to the front of the house in a different tree.  Not long after, another eagle came flying over looking for a place to land.  The first one crouched down attempting to hide from the other.  He finally found a place to land, but it was on a tree that couldn't support his weight, so the whole tree came down.  The eagle rode it down until he could get some momentum to fly up.  He then went over to the tree where the first eagle was and tried to land nearby him.  The first eagle did not like that and started flying and squawking at the other one.  He gave up and flew away while the second one took his place.  They are such huge birds and so beautiful!!  The guys both caught four 14-15" large mouth bass on one of the connecting lakes "Big Crawling Stone".  They couldn't bring them back in the live well, because they have to be at least 18" to do that.  We'll take their word, though, that they caught them. :-)  While they were out fishing, my mom, Hailey, and I drove into town to do a little shopping.  The afternoon brought in some rain, so Brian, Hailey and I headed back into town to go to a few more stores.  We were on a mission to find a small water globe that Hailey collects in all the places we vacation.  We forgot to look for one in Bayfield and didn't have any luck in Minocqua, but thankfully we'll be back to be able to look again.  After dinner, we took Hailey for a quick boat ride and then played a little Wii bowling.

It's so awesome to see them up close and personal in the wild!

 Fall colors on the lake.

Fishing and a boat ride.  Hailey loved waving to the guys when they were going out or coming in from fishing.

 

The ominous clouds from the cold front pushing through.

On Saturday morning, the temperature was a cold 40 degrees.  Brian and my dad attempted to fish again, but the wind picked up and more rain moved in, so they came back in.  While there were out fishing, I worked on a framed nature project and started on Hailey's Halloween costume...Wendy Darling from Peter Pan.  After lunch, we headed over to a place called "Holiday Acres" to let Hailey ride a pony.  She was so excited to do this!  Her pony's name was "Dora" and you lead her up and down a hilly trail through the woods.  It was so pretty!  When we got home, I started assembling a pine cone wreath with pine cones we had collected out back.  Shortly after that, we went down to the fire pit to try to roast a few marshmallows.  It had been raining off and on all day as a cold front moved through, so we were hoping we'd get a fire going before it started up again.  The smell of the bonfire reminded me of such fun childhood (and even college) hayride, ghost stories, and Fall party memories.  We were able to roast a few marshmallows before it started freezing rain!!

Pony ride through the woods.

 Bonfire and nature projects.  I need to get a wreath form to complete my pine cone wreath.

A panoramic view of the sunset on Saturday night.

We woke up this morning to frost on the ground and fog over the lake.  I think the temperature was around 35 degrees.  The water temperature is still around 50-55 degrees, though.  As the morning went on, it got warm enough to not need our coats.  Brian helped my dad get the boat out of the water, into the storage garage, and ready to be winterized.  We headed for home right after lunch.  We talked about going up this winter since we've never been up there in the winter.  So, we'll see!  Here's a photo my parents took of the three of us before we left.

I took a few photos of what the lake house looks like in case you were curious.

This is the second level or loft area.

This is the first level.  There is a bathroom just off the kitchen which you can see in the top left picture.

Front and back views.  The boat is docked off the second pier in the upper left picture.  There is a kids park shown in the lower left picture.