Fall and kids—my two favorite things. As a fall baby, I think I naturally gravitate towards the season. I was a big fan of orange and yellow (and still am), I used to love and still like the idea of collecting acorns for no reason other than to feel like a squirrel, and I chose this time of year for my wedding date. That and because the venue we liked had an opening.  But there’s also the rainbow of leaves that paints the blue skies and carpets the ground, the warm sun and the crisp morning air, the apples and pumpkins and all the cliches that make an easier transition from summer to cooler weather.

As tradition, we started to take annual photographs at our wedding site (Woodend) for its rainbow of foliage. As small people appeared in our lives, the pictures shifted from being of us to just being of them—because once you become parents, you pretty much disappear into an anonymous existence. Here are a few assortments that I took this year, at Woodend and then at my in-laws’ in Chicago.