Boo!

First, pumpkin carving.




Then pumpkin seed roasting. A little cinnamon never hurt.

Then off to Frankenstein Berg in Darmstadt. This castle ruins is host to an annual Halloween scare-fest. But on Sundays it's family day and the monsters, while still super scary, are a little more "friendly" in the daylight.




No Entry.




Unfortunately, the batteries went dead after just a few photos. But still a very fun, fun, day.

Life in the Past Lane

Not that we're living in the Past, no, we are certainly smack dab in the PRESENT.

It's that we just keep seeing each other in PASSING. Not exactly when this began, but I was most definitely warned about it. When the three kids were little, my neighbor with older ones, wagging her finger, warned me that life would be MUCH busier when the kids got older and started school.

Could not believe it. Would not believe it. I always had someone on my hip, diaper changes and potty training, nursing and reading, picking up, playing with, dressing and tying shoes. My life could not have possibly gotten busier. Especially when the kids were old enough for school. I knew that she had to be mistaken.

And lo, here we are. Three kids in school and busier than ever. Soccer, scouts and homework has us full. Ric coaches soccer and I'm helping out the Cub Scout Pack. Add in a 4-hour/day German class for mom and a 2 night/week class for Dad and it's a recipe for worn out, tired, hungry people at the end of the day.

I PASS Ric at Kelley as I drop off one of the kids for soccer. Or he PASSES me after dinner getting ready for his 8pm German class. We usually PASS again sometime at night, but one of us (usually me) is already asleep.

We look at each other, shaking heads, wondering how we got here, so middle aged, so busy and tired and wondering where the time goes? We squeeze in 15 minutes on the couch with a glass of wine before the oven buzzer goes off. But then there's usually someone else also there wanting to play chess, a quick game of Mancala, or polling us on our favorite food/game/color/sport for his endless charting. Dinner has been relegated to 7pm so we're all home and current events to 15 minute podcasts of the daily news watched on a 2x2 screen while whipping up dinner.

This German class, though wonderful and pushing me far along in my Deutschlernen, is giving me a taste of life in a family with 2 working parents. Despite the fact that I'm up every morning at 5:30, the dog hardly gets walked, I can barely fit in exercise; and when I do there's no time for anything else before the kids get home- no dinner plan, a house full of dog fur, and toothpaste all over the sinks. Yuk.

Our landlords/neighbors here just sent their youngest off to college this summer, while our youngest started school. They talk about us on rainy Saturday mornings when we have to stand under umbrellas at soccer games while they're still hovering over coffee. At a fest in town they watch us herd the kids around the busy street full of people and pick out Sussigkeiten (sweets) while they sip wine on the side people-watching and music-listening (and no sugared-up toddlers to go home with).

But there's a light at the end of the tunnel. In about 4 more weeks we'll be done with soccer and Ric's German class. I'm taking a break from German until December, and there's no more sports until the Spring.

Oh yea, and only 13 more years.
Pass it on.