halloween

This is me desperately trying to catch up on my life as I continually fall further behind. One of these nights I'm going to get more than four hours sleep at a time and be ready to tackle anything. Until then, you can find me laying on my couch, staring at this sweet boy while we slowing drown in dirty laundry and toy trains that need their batteries replaced. 

Halloween was a bit of a new experience for us. When Eliot cautiously asked if we could all get our own pumpkins this year, we might have blown her mind by saying yes. Unfortunately for Violet pumpkins don't hold up so well when you play volleyball with them. Eliot was kind enough to share hers after Violet's got composted for being moldy and full of holes. 

Pumpkin carving is every bit as messy as I remember it.  And I missed the fresh watermelon shakes we used to have after carving watermelons. Just call me the Halloween grinch.

 We joined in a neighborhood trick-or-treating put on by local ex-pats. There were about 25 houses to visit spread out over about 5 kilometers. We made our kids work hard for their candy. They came home with about 20 small pieces each and Eliot happily announced, "This was the best Halloween ever!" before throwing her candy in their air. If they knew what they were missing in America...(type 2 diabetes)

 Fall may be may favorite season here so far.

Violet is especially sweet with Oscar and asks to hold him all the time. 

We had our first family fondue dinner and it was possibly the only dinner with no complaints we've had in years. We may need to eat it every week. Next time you see us, plan on us all being fifteen pounds heavier--we'll call it the fondue fifteen. Also, I swear Winston wears a shirt most days.