Indian Summer

Last week I posted about the end of summer and beginning of Fall. Well, summer sure showed me that she isn’t quite over yet and on Sunday and Monday we were given one final gift of cloudless skies and temperatures in the 70s. 

I definitely took advantage of the weather on both days and spent a big chunk of time just enjoying the great outdoors. 

Jonathan and I realized that this past weekend was probably our last opportunity before baby to get comfortably far away from Aberdeen for a hike. I chose a 4.5 mile circular forest hike near Ballater which took in the geological formation of Burn O Vat. I’ve been hearing the praises of Burn O Vat ever since moving to Aberdeen, but Jon and I had never gotten around to visiting. 

Basically, it’s a bowl like structure with steep cliff faces on all sides. 

You enter through a little rocky passageway which was very Chronicles of Narnia/Bridge to Teribithia- esque. #ireadtoomanyyoungadultnovels  #speakingofhashtags: 

Anyway...sorry about my tangent-running brain these days. It is out of control....

Burn O Vat was right at the beginning of our hike, so it’s really easily accessible from the parking lot and visitor center (which contains free restrooms- Holla!). We didn’t realize before we set out that there are several different hikes starting from the parking lot, one of which encircles Loch Kinord. 

I love me some lochs on sunny days, so I was bummed that I had picked a forest route instead. However, our uphill hike included some pretty fantastic views of the lake and our trek through the woods included many wildlife sightings including deer and quite a number of toads. 

This was exciting to us because up til this point in Scotland, we had yet to see any frogs or toads. This summer has been freakishly warm by Scottish standards so it’s nice to see a bit of amphibian and reptilian wildlife roaming around. Other than that, it was your typical stroll through a peaceful, fairy-tale woodland setting. Nothing too out of the ordinary. 

On Monday, Nary and I decided to take advantage of the brilliant weather and headed to Johnston Gardens and Hazlehead park for my maternity photo shoot. We had originally planned to head to the beach for photos, but ever since the leaves around here started turning orange, I had my heart set on a fall foliage backdrop. 

Photo by Nary

I was a tad warm in my ‘fall’ outfits but with a crisp breeze, I was still comfortable. Plus, true models never complain about being dressed in weather-inappropriate gear. As fate would have it, Monday was also a bank holiday for Aberdonians so Hazlehead park was full of park-goers enjoying this potentially last day of summer.

photo by Nary

By Tuesday, the rain and fog rolled in and stayed around through Wednesday afternoon. Yesterday morning was back to being brilliantly sunny, but with a chilly bite in the air. In fact, the morning temps got down to 36 degrees! I pulled out my ear muffs for Bailey’s walkand stopped to take a few pictures of the ever increasing fall colors along our usual trail. 

This time of year, orange always takes the lead as my favorite color. Hence our stylistic stroller choice. 

Ready to hit the trails in the BOB with baby boy!

A lot has happened this week, including my *baby shower* last night. I will tell you all about it in the days to come, but suffice to say that every detail was Pinterest worthy and I quite possibly have the best friends in the universe. 

Photos by Jillian

Can't wait to share the details, so stay tuned!