Sunday morning the weather report promised cooler weather. Cooler weather means 85 with a breeze, rather than 90 with winds of 0 knots. And 70's at night. Fall, baby.

As my oldest and I drove to Ikea for the day I wondered aloud if I might find a fire bowl there.  Of course, by saying it out loud I'd firmly planted the fire pit seed and it became a must have.  I didn't find one at Ikea, and amazingly, managed to leave that store spending a whopping $2 for 2 fish shaped ice cube trays (couldn't resist).

That evening the boys and I ran out and found a fire bowl. And a bag of wood.

The next night, our first fire complete with roasted marshmallows.

The following night, another fire complete with roasted marshmallows, chocolate, and graham crackers.

And we did it again tonight.

I have to say, this is the best thing ever, this week. We all sit and wait for the fire to reach marshmallow readiness, we talk, we've done "high, low, love"* outside every night this week, with most picking "the fire" as high or love. We've even sung a few songs. No computer, no tv. Just sitting in the quiet, watching the fire, and being together.

We're looking forward to cooler weather and an end to the mosquitos, and many more evenings in front of the fire.

Perfect.

*"high, low, love" = everyone in the family shares their high of the day, low of the day, and something they love or fell in love with that day