The Accidental Perfect Day

 I have spent the last decade of my life trying to create perfect days!  When they happen, they typically consist of a good outing, great food, and wonderful company.  A perfect day doesn't necessarily mean that nothing bad happens or that no mistakes are made.  To me, a perfect day is one that is so blissful that you would relive it over and over again.  The kind you try to memorize so you can think about it on not-so-perfect days, as a kind of hope that better times will come again.
And being the planner that I am, I usually plan out our summers, our falls, our Christmas season...and I try to fill up each day with "planned" remarkable moments and experiences.  Sometimes those days fall a little flat-- like the day I wanted to try out every Asian restaurant in the shopping center near our house...
And sometimes, the planned activity is so disappointing or underwhelming that you need graham crackers and chocolate ovaltine just to get over it-- like the ventriloquist whose recommended book to the audience of children was called "How to be a Ventriloquist" and whose mouth moves as blatantly as mine does when I play act with Anna.
But sometimes, without planning or purpose, you get a perfect day.  Last Saturday was such a day.  It was an unplanned, fly by the seat of our pants kind of day.  The kind of day where Richard and I decided we have everything we could ever want or need!  And we needed it because we had been experiencing a particularly long, stressful stretch of time for our family.

We decided to go for a long walk through the Mercer Slough Nature trails in the morning.  Days are especially perfect when you get an unexpected gift.  Like beautiful weather when it was forecast to be rainy.

 We took our umbrella (much to Anna's delight), but didn't need it at all.   The sun is such a flirt!

 I love autumn!  The colors are spectacular and there is something exhilarating about the combination of slightly brisk temperatures and sunshine.

 This is why I am glad we are staying around for another few years.  In the three years we have been here, I have never ran out of things to do or see.   And there never seems to be enough time for all the possibilities. Seattle continues to take my breath away (but gives plenty of O2 in return!).

 This is happy Richard!  He loves his new job.  He loves his daughter and his son, and when I don't make him go on family photo shoots, he usually loves his wife as well ;)

 Anna likes to explore.  Here she is holding what she pronounced as "the biggest leaf ever!"

 We finished our long walk at a fruit stand where we bought a big bag of Honeycrisp apples to eat on the way home.  Later, while I made pizza, Richard and Anna carved pumpkins.  This was Richard's special request for the day.

So there you have it.  A perfect day.  May there be many more in the future!