With the weather outside quickly making a turn towards winter and the snow beginning to stick to the ground, I decided to make the most of this past weekend before the snow gets knee-deep for my weekend shenanigans.

If you are familiar with the Eau Claire area, then you might know about Putnam Park. 

For those who are unfamiliar with the area, Putnam Park is a park connected to the UW-Eau Claire campus. Ownership of the park was transferred from the city of Eau Claire to the university in 1957.

Of the 230-acres of Putnam Park, about half is designated as a Wisconsin State Natural Area in order to preserve much of the natural plants and wildlife existing within the land.

While the majority of the park is forested, a small — yet beautiful — space exists on the UW-Eau Claire campus to explore for free.

This past Saturday, my friends and I took a walk to this section of Putnam Park to get some fresh air, a break from homework and spend some time together.

We spent a lot of time enjoying the views of the Chippewa River from our lookout point at Putnam Rock — a large rock in Putnam Park where Little Niagara Creek empties into the Chippewa River.

While at Putnam Rock, my friends and I decided to take advantage of the beautiful scenery and do a small photoshoot. 

Although our photoshoot did not last long due to the cold weather, we were still able to get some great photos — including some funny ones.

We then retreated back to my apartment where we decided to begin our annual “Twilight” movie marathon while painting some mini pumpkins for fall decorations.

Every year since my friends and I met and we realized how much we all enjoyed the “Twilight” movies, we have a movie marathon where we watch all of them together. 

The “Twilight” movies are the kinds of movies that my friends and I love to hate. There are many parts of the films we find to be poorly done, uncomfortable or awkward, but we love the story even more because of it.

However, this year we also decided to add some extra flair to our movie marathon by painting some small pumpkins together. 

One of my friends decided to paint their pumpkin white and then add black tree branches all around it to create a spooky effect.

Another one of my friends wanted to keep it simple and they left the pumpkin orange and only added some white flowers over the whole thing. 

I tried to paint my pumpkin to look like a donut — tan bottom, pink frosting on top and colorful sprinkles — but it did not end up working out too well after I dropped my pumpkin on the floor and broke it.

Despite my small pumpkin disaster, the shenanigans of my weekend ended up providing my friends and me with a great bonding experience. 

Smith can be reached at [email protected].