Fall Fun

We have been trying to make the most of both this beautiful fall weather and of Patrick's time at home before his next trip. These are photos from this past week (I have finally caught up!!!)

Isla and I collected leaves for a playgroup project, Brennan harvested the remaining carrots from our garden, and I had a little bath time fun with Isla's hair.



On Saturday we took a trip to Pumpkin Island, trying to fit in some seasonal fun. The pumpkins were not out yet, but the tractors were lots of fun and the hemp maze was intriguing. We assume that this is not actually pot they are growing here, although that's what it translated to online.



The kids enjoyed the zipline and climbing on the huge pirate ship made of hay bales.



Since we were in the area we hopped over to Düsseldorf to walk around the Altstadt and grab a bite to eat.



On Sunday we headed out again, this time to the Netherlands. We stopped to photograph this beautiful castle, which is actually a residence. I'm not sure how the occupants would feel about stray foreigners knocking on their door on a Sunday morning and asking for a tour of their home, but I was sorely tempted to try. Next we headed toward a local watermill but stumbled upon this great play park.



The kids had so much fun! Brennan loved these little go-carts and was a surprisingly good driver. Patrick crammed himself into a skycar to help Brennan pedal around the course, and Isla enjoyed the big bouncy bubble.



We did make it to the water mill, which was not running but was very pretty.



While there, we collected some chestnuts to add to our fall decor, then headed to a garden store to buy some mums and have lunch. What a great way to spend a beautiful fall day!

Herbst (Fall)

Here is what we've been up to recently:

Back to school! Brennan started his second year at Kindergarten and here he is on his first day back. He wore the "Cars" hoodie that Patrick brought him from Italy and was welcomed back by his friends and teachers. These are his Hausschuhe waiting for him above his coat hook. His symbol is bread and he also has a designated hand towel in the bathroom and a drawer for his artistic creations.



Isla and I headed to the commissary on Brennan's first day back, but we took the scenic route and stopped to admire Kasteel Doenrade and Schloss Terborgh. Isla snagged a chestnut in the parking lot, a sure sign that Fall is here.



Scenes from around the house.



We biked to Gangelt to check out their Middle Ages camp and ran into one of the teachers from Brennan's school. Brennan was a little disconcerted to see her in a new venue and dressed in traditional clothing. She let him test out her husband's sword and shield. Brennan and I bought two rounds of target practice and may or may not have gotten a bulls-eye, (Patrick claims it broke the line and therefore counts.)





Later that evening we drove to Kasteel Hoensbroek for their hot air balloon festival. We arrived just in time to watch the 3 parachutists land, scope out the owl exhibit, let Patrick admire the solar panel display, grab a bratwurst to share and settle in to watch the balloons inflate.



There were about 14 or so balloons and it was a lot of fun to watch the teams set them up, attach them to baskets, inflate them, hop in and then float off. Apparently our house was upwind because we had great views of them along the horizon on our drive home.



The next day we headed into Heinsberg to check out Buure Maat. I had seen it advertised in the paper and still don't know what it means. I knew there would be animals and farm equipment and in that we were not disappointed. I believe that it was some sort of industrial agriculture exhibition or farm machinery show. Heinsberg was filled with tractors, combines, threshers, and other things that I cannot name, as well as some livestock. One stall contained two large pigs with a table next to them holding prosciutto samples. Brennan loved sitting in the open tractors and had a great time.





My sweeties.



An afternoon picnic lunch after shopping at the commissary and Brennan posing in front of our neighbors tractor during the potato harvest.



More ice cream. I've begun to abstain; it just gets to be too much and it's not even near the top of my list of favorite treats. Brennan, on the other hand, loves it but is still able to share with a generous heart, and Isla can spot a cone a mile away and loudly demands licks of Brennan's.

Buzzy Weekend

A couple of weeks ago we attended the baptism of our little neighbor, Katharina, and the church wedding of our friends Nadine and Torsten. They have been married for close to a decade already I think, but while they had completed the official and required town hall ceremony and paperwork, they hadn't had a church wedding yet. So, we were very honored to be among the 20 or so close friends and family who gathered in the evangelical church in Heinsberg to witness their vows and the baptism of their second born. Katharina wore a dress we had given her, which was pretty exciting. After the services we went back to their house for a lovely outdoor picnic/reception. Our American brownies were a hit. =)



I find a good many of our local activities in the free paper that we receive twice a week. The paper is in German and sometimes I don't have a full understanding of what an event entails, but we usually go out on a limb anyway. A series of small notices recently had indicated that the local beekeeping guild was inviting people to an area between 2 towns, and that there would be information and observation of some kind. They didn't provide an address so we kept our expectations low and headed out on the appropriate Sunday. After driving around between the two towns mentioned we finally found this teeny sign with a bee and arrow pointing off into the woods. We parked our car on the side of the road and took the plunge. We ended up taking a really nice nature walk, saw some interesting hives and informational signs, and got to observe a bee colony through glass.







We stopped at a cafe on the way home to share a piece of cake and get some ice cream for our little hikers. All in all it was a really fun afternoon.

Zoo: Kerkrade, NL

Here are some photos from a morning spent with the kids at a local zoo.



Here are my monkeys watching the monkeys. This mother gorilla came right up to the window with her days old baby and we had a great view. The primates were definitely our favorites.





It was actually a pretty warm day and I bought the kids some juice pops to get us back to the car. Isla ended up soaked and sticky and had to ride home in just a diaper. All three of us had a great time.

Aunt Dara & Schloss Tuschenbroich

Aunt Dara came to visit!! We had a wonderful visit a couple of weeks ago and Aunt Dara was just in time to enjoy some early Fall weather in Germany. Here we are eating at our favorite pizza joint and taking a stroll around Heinsberg's Burgberg the next day.



We walked around Heinsberg proper and had a great meal at a new Italian restaurant.



Here are the kids enjoying time with Aunt Dara around the house.



She was also lots of fun to play with in our backyard and at our local playground. We all really enjoyed her visit and it was so great to see her and catch up!



Brennan still had almost a week of his Summer school break left, which opened up our weekdays a little bit. Here we are on a drive to Tuschenbroich, a local castle. The three of us had a great time wandering around, watching the fishermen and mini golfers, checking out the old mill, sharing an ice cream and playing on the playground.





Then we hopped across the street to cut some flowers. It got a little tricky juggling Isla, the camera, the flowers and the knife, but Brennan helped a little with the flowers (he would have preferred the knife) and we had fun. His favorite were the sunflowers and we cut one each for the kids rooms.

Video Catch Up

Here are a few videos from the past month or so.

Isla on her first birthday. "Up" is one of her favorite words.



Brennan trying out his new costume.



Isla becoming more confident on her feet while in Crete.



Brennan and Isla sharing ice cream in Chania.



Sliding with Aunt Dara.

Crete: Part II

After spending a couple of quiet days recovering, we took a trip to one of the mountain villages. The native goats that we saw along the way were pretty entertaining and we did some shopping for woven goods in the village. The elderly women who sell the textiles are very aggressive with their sales pitches. If you hesitate at all or try to discuss anything with your spouse they just keep pulling out more items to show you. It seemed to me that each shop had almost identical weavings and embroidered pieces for sale, but each woman was quick to tell us that she had made this or that herself, and that it was a lot of work. So, we bought more than we needed and high-tailed it out of there!



We stopped for lunch at another mountain village on the way home and sat by this beautiful church surrounded by palms and a duck pond. We made it home in time for another Hudock balcony sunset photo.



Our next day trip took us to the south side of the island. We visited the archaeological site of Phaestos, which also dates from the Minoan period. The day was just as hot as our day spent at Knossos, but there were no crowds, which was wonderful. Brennan really enjoyed both sites and had a lot of fun running around and jumping off of rocks and walls.





We ate at the surprisingly reasonably priced cafe on site, which overlooked the valley and olive groves.



We drove to a beautiful rocky beach to spend the rest of the afternoon. This ended up being much better than the sandy beaches because the pebbles didn't stick to us and the larger smooth stones were a lot of fun to play with.



In the spirit of branching out we tried a new beach the next day, one we had spotted from an overpass near our town. Isla fell asleep upon arrival and had a nice snuggle with Patrick. It was nice and secluded, although these pebbles were tough to walk on. We relaxed, enjoyed, and had lunch at the taverna.



Brennan acquired a taste for iced tea at lunch, and then put some space between us so that he could look cool in front of a couple of little girls sitting nearby.



We tried out another restaurant in town for dinner and were pleasantly surprised to find that they had a nice little playground for the kids. We usually dined alone, as we ate between 5 and 6 and everyone else on the island didn't start to think about dinner until at least 8pm. Here are another balcony photo and Brennan creating works of art.



We took a day trip into the city of Chania, the former capital of Crete. The first stop after parking the car was a playground that we just happened to pass by.



Our second stop was for ice cream. It was purely for medicinal purposes; it was so hot that both Brennan and I felt a little ill. We perked right up after the ice cream! The harbor at Chania was beautiful and the old Venetian buildings and alleyways a lot of fun to explore, although it was a very touristy area.



A miracle in Crete: both kids passed out in the car! Amazing. We had planned to travel on to a highly rated beach about an hour west of Chania, but our GPS just couldn't get us there. It took us through someone's huge olive grove on roads not meant for anything less rugged than a tractor. We made it out, (and saw this man herding sheep along the way), and decided to cut our losses and head towards home.



This ended up being a good decision because Isla was coming down with Brennan's bug (perhaps all that ice cream sharing?) and had a fever by the time we stopped for dinner. We ate at a roadside taverna and went out on a limb with our order of lamb chops. They were ok, but very fatty and I wouldn't get them again. In case you are wondering what the kids ate at all these tavernas, we ordered them Greek dishes almost every time and they ate wonderfully. Bread and tzatziki, dolmades, moussaka, Greek salads, pastitio, little meatballs etc. Most places supplied a free dessert at the end of dinner, usually melon (amazing melon) and in this instance figs fresh off the tree.



Another day, another beach. This one was practically deserted and the umbrellas and chairs were gratis if you patronized the taverna, which we did. The kids never tired of playing in the sand and we were having fun right up to the end of our trip.



Here are some photos of our accommodations and the restaurant. We had the whole top floor. This was one of the best trips that we have had as a family and was so incredibly relaxing. One of my friends joked that I will be stressed again by next week, but I think Crete is going to last me a long time! Yiassou!