Crisp, cool air, an array of colors on the trees, pumpkins everywhere- fall is here! The thing I most like about autumn is the coziness- darker mornings, snuggling under blankets, warm coffee, oversized sweatshirts. As each season changes I think to myself, "This has to be my favorite season!" In Germany there is always something to celebrate. This time of year pumpkin festivals and wine festivals are happening.
Speaking of celebrating, Ben turned 28 this past week. He didn't want to celebrate it, and with his PT test quickly approaching, he didn't want a cake. Well, you can't not have cake on your birthday, so I made him a healthy dinner (which was delicious by the way - http://aaronandjillw.blogspot.de/2011/08/italian-chicken.html) followed by a small piece of chocolate cinnamon cake. We spent the evening at a local nature trail just right outside of our town. The trail goes through a wooded area and has stations along the way for the kids to do. I came across the flyer for it several weeks ago but have been unable to find the location. The other day I drove by the sign for it, so we had to check it out. It was a good find- we all had fun exploring and enjoying the beauty of nature.
With Columbus Day being this Monday, Ben has a four days off of work. We began the long weekend by taking the kids to a pumpkin farm. It was supposed to be a 45 minute drive, but we added another 15 minutes due to road construction in a couple of villages, which forced us to take an alternate route. When we got there we found a large farm nicely decorated with large pumpkins, fresh flowers, and a corn maze. You could pick your own pumpkin from the field or select one from the large assortment at the little store. We picked out the perfect pumpkins (Avree and Natalie are going to paint them) and then spent the rest of our time watching the children play- they gathered chestnuts, scattered leaves, and just ran around!
