"Transitioning to Fall" with Ageless Style

Ageless Style is a monthly style challenge and link up for women of all ages.   Each month we pick a different theme and style an outfit based on that theme.  This month's theme is "Back to School" and was picked by Bo!

We are halfway through August right now and even though we have a lot of hot days ahead of us, summer vacation is over for most kids and a lot of adults with seasonal jobs will be returning to work.   During this transitional time, I like to focus on transitioning my wardrobe from summer clothes to fall.  Even though the weather is still warm, I like to look "fall" by wearing fall colors.

This classic burgundy shift dress is so old I can't believe it hasn't fallen apart by now.  My daughter actually found it for me on a clearance rack at Charming Charlies...which has long since gone out of business but the dress lives on!  I have shown it so many times before on this blog.  Here are some of the many ways I've styled it that show how versatile this dress is!

With a Shacket and Tall Boots

With A Kimono

With a Cardigan and Scarf

With a Head Scarf and Lace Up Flats

With a Denim Vest and Lace Up Wedges

Is this dress versatile or what?  Solid color basic pieces like this dress are the perfect starting point to creating unique outfits.  The burgundy color, short sleeves, and short length of the dress make it a wonderful dress for fall because the color of the dress is a fall color, but the dress style is summer.  I can add layers that can keep me warm on the cooler mornings/evenings, but can also be taken off in the heat of the day.

On the day that I wore this outfit, we were on a late summer trip to Springfield Illinois.  It was a hot day, and we were doing a lot of sight seeing so I wanted to be comfortable, yet cute.

I wore a dark brown felt hat to protect myself from the sun, carried a saddle crossbody bag for security reasons and ease of carrying while sightseeing, and comfy loafer shoes.

So what about you?  How are you getting ready to go back to school/work or transitioning your summer clothes for fall?  I'd love to hear from you.

Now be sure to check out the other ladies "Back to School" outfits and be sure to link up with us as well.

Have A Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

Amy ~ Amy’s Creative Pursuits

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Bo ~ Bo's Bodacious Blog

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Jennifer ~ Overflowing with Thankfulness

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Joanne ~ My Slice of Life

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Jodie ~ Jodie’s Touch of Style

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Marsha~ Marsha in the Middle

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Mireille ~ Chez Mireille Fashion Travel Mom

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A Wrap-Up of Our Summer Staycation with the Kids

I just returned home from a wonderful four day weekend celebrating our 38th Wedding Anniversary.  We had the most amazing time in Door County, and I can't wait to tell you all about it...next week. 😀. Today, I'd like to wrap up our week with the kids and grandkids when they came to visit this summer.

Celebrating Birthdays

I chose an animal theme for their birthday party and it was a complete disaster.  I was trying to keep a generic theme since the three of them are different ages and sexes, but Alethea wanted a princess theme, and Atticus wanted a action figure theme, and Elisha didn't seem to have an opinion. I think Lazarus appreciated the decorations the most, and it wasn't even his birthday. 😁. Next year, I think we'll just skip the decorations entirely.

Atticus and Alethea are summer babies and Elisha is a fall baby and Lazarus is a spring baby.  So, for the time being we celebrate the three oldest grandkids birthdays mid-summer and Lazarus' in the spring when we go to their house.

They always enjoy opening presents...but what kid doesn't?

I think Alethea's favorite gift was this make up kit from her paternal grandfather.  It wasn't something I would have chosen for her, but she sure did love it!

We were so busy running around all week I didn't have time to make a proper birthday cake, so we just purchased some simple bakery from the grocery store.

Swimming at the City Pool

Eau Claire Wisconsin has an amazing city pool with very reasonable admission prices so we spent one day there.  The kids LOVED the water slide.  I couldn't even count how many times they went down it.

It is so nice to have a pool that is surrounded by grass and trees so you can have some reprieve from the sun.  I enjoyed laying down and looking up at the sky through the leaves.  I soaked it in.  Summer is short here in Wisconsin

The pool doesn't open for public swimming until 1:00 pm so we had lunch at home, but then I brought lots of snacks for them to enjoy too.  

Chilling Time

Remember back in April when I shared My Newly Redecorated Family Room?  Well, I said in that post that we needed a better seating arrangement for our growing family so I bought a new sectional and made some other changes to the room so there would be space for everyone.   The little ones (and the adults) really liked the changes I made;  they enjoyed my new sectional and the kids no longer fought over seating, because every seat is comfy as you can tell by the photo below.  The entire family fit on the sectional, so if my daughter doesn't have any more kids, and my son never marries, we should be good for a while. 😀

4th of July

4th of July was a scorcher this year, making it a little more difficult to enjoy, but we managed.  We took the kids to a nearby city for their 4th of July celebration, but we didn't stay long because of the heat.  They really enjoyed the inflatables; especially the water slide.

We struggled to find a spot in the shade for the parade, but we managed to squeeze on this corner. 

The kids love the parade because they give out so many goodies!

The boys always enjoy the big trucks and tractors, although the noise seemed to bother Elisha a bit.

Grandpa got us all malts from the VFW booth to cool us all down.  They were delicious!

We don't have marching bands, big balloons, and all the other bells and whistles the big city parades do, but Buffalo City is sure creative with their parade entries.  This big teddy bear on the gurney was the cutest!

We loved these blow-up farm animals too.

They gave so many things away at the parade, including this plush beanie baby.  Isn't that incredible?

What's a small town parade without a small town princess?

Love these Dalmatians!

The grandchildren loved the frozen popsicles they threw from the floats.

Atticus and Alethea eagerly waiting to see what's coming next.

Later that night we went to our local fireworks.  I bought the grandkids a bunch of phosphorescent toys to play with as they waited for the fireworks to begin.  I love these toys! So much safer than sparklers.

Even Baby Lazarus enjoyed the glow sticks.

We were super impressed with the fireworks this year.  They had ones that landed on the lake and then twinkled or exploded.  Those were everyone's favorites.

I've included lots of short videos for you to enjoy if you wish.

 Next week, I will start my Door County series.

Have A Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

Hiking The Pothole Trail In Interstate State Park

For the past couple of weeks I have been sharing photos and stories of our families staycation to Osceola Wisconsin.  In my first post, we played in Cascade Falls and then in my second post we took a scenic train ride.  Today, I'm going to show some fun we had the next day in a nearby park called Interstate State Park.

Interstate State Park are two separate state parks on the Wisconsin/Minnesota Border;  that is why it has such a strange name.  The St. Croix River separates the two parks.  On the Minnesota side is a short fun trail I thought the grandchildren would enjoy.  It is most known for its unique potholes, but it also has gorgeous views of the St. Croix river canyon.

The park was just a short drive from our hotel in Osceola.  The grandchildren had some fun waiting with grandpa by the car as their mom and dad were busy checking out.

The park entrance for the Minnesota side is located in Taylor's Falls.  They have the cutest riverwalk on the way to the park of which you will see more of at the end of this post.

Leave it to young Atticus to find a stick right away!

The views on this trail are beautiful.  

There were lots of steps to climb, so mom had to carry baby Lazarus in a sling.

The Pothole Trail is perfect for little kids for it's a short little hike but has so many twists and turns, ups and downs, and a Little Rock climbing that kids just love.

There are over eighty potholes on the Minnesota side of the state.  It is the largest concentration of glacial potholes in the world!  They all differ in size.  Some are only a few feet wide and deep and others can be as large as ten feet wide and sixty feet deep.

Pictured below is an example of a glacial pothole.  Potholes are formed when sand or gravel are caught in whirlpools and swirled with such force that they would drill a hole straight down into the rock.  Larger rocks caught in the hole would polish the rock smooth.  

In addition to the fascinating potholes on this trail, there are also lots of great rock formations.  The grandkids found this large rock wall so interesting and each kid had to have their own photo taken in front of it.

There was a narrow crack in the wall that the kiddos could crawl through one side and exit out the other.  They thought that was pretty cool.

There is a sight-seeing cruise you can take down the St. Croix river.  We have never done it, but it is on our bucket list!

We saw some canoeists floating down the river.

The park had a selfie station set up on one of the viewing decks.  I always appreciate it when parks do this because it's always so hard to get a photo of the entire family.

I didn't bring my walking sticks so some parts of the trail I left up to the more agile ones to explore while I waited on top.

Baby Lazarus had enough of the sling by now and wanted to get out and walk himself.

After hiking the Pothole Trail, we headed back do the riverwalk back to our vehicles.  The kids found these lounge chairs fun.

They had a couple of fun photo cutout boards in this spot.  The grandkids always love them!

The riverwalk goes under the busy bridge/highway.  The grandkids had fun climbing under the bridge.

We saw a cute little covered bridge and decided to see where it went.  To our surprise, it took us up into town and right back to our vehicle!  That was so funny.  It looks like it would be going on a hidden trail into the woods, but it just leads to a lot of stairs going back into town.

But there is a gorgeous view of the St. Croix river from the bridge area, so it was all worth it!

And that is all of our staycation to Osceola.  Next week I will wrap things up with some other things we did the week our kids were visiting and then I'll begin my Door County post.

Have a Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

See These Posts for More Things To Do in the Osceola Area:

Fun in Osceola Wisconsin

A Scenic Train Ride on the Osceola Railway

A Candlelight Walk in Interstate Park & Other Valentine's Weekend Highlights 

Exploring the Forest, Gorge, and Glacial Potholes of Interstate Park