Sunday Drive

As a young child, I recall Sunday afternoon drives on back country roads or through the Black Hills. Between fighting with my brother in the back seat, I would watch the random deer graze or the antelope sprint across the prairie. The magic of discovering paper by peeling the bark off a birch tree is still a vivid memory, but stopping for an ice cream cone at a drive-in on the way home was the best~I still love a chocolate/vanilla twist cone!

And I still love a Sunday drive, and now my kids banter in the back.

Several weeks ago as fall bestowed the first kiss of color to the landscape, we drove over to the Shawnee National Forest in Illinois where we stopped to visit the Garden of the Gods.

Tough kids!

Goofy teenagers!

Dashing ahead and scrambling up the rocks to wait~youthful fun!

Behaving for a brief moment!

Pondering life.

A beautiful hike

The boys couldn't resist the temptation to climb the highest outcropping where the crowds did not go!

And the tradition of Sunday afternoon fun continues.