So long as he goes to sleep...

we don't really care where.

Halloween

Our first Halloween in Switzerland... Our main even was a Halloween party with our church. There is an American ward here and we crashed their party. I have to say it was definitely Halloween worthy. There was a huge potluck dinner, games and entertainment, trick-or-treating and a catwalk for the kids to show off their costumes. It just so happenned that a friend of mine loaned me a Robin Hood costume for Jonas, so Jaxon and Jonas got to wear matching costumes this year. A bunch of people came up to me and asked if I had made them. Obviously they don't know me at all. And Jonas was the only kid who cried before heading out on the catwalk.

Carving pumpkins. These little pie pumpkinettes were the best I could find, but they were actually really fun to carve.

Jaxon designed the scary one all by himself; he needed a little help with the knife however.

Since Halloween was on Sunday this year we opted not to go trick-or-treating, especially in light of the fact that it is forbidden to vacuum on Sunday in Switzerland. However, we did get two groups that came to our apartment and, I have to say, they cleaned up. Looking in their bags I could see full-sized boxes of cookies sticking out, huge bars of chocolate. Obviously people were scrambling to find something to give them. One girl said that she got $50 one year. Some poor sucker ran out of change.We are definitely on that next year.

Fall

After having spent the past four years in places with no fall (Houston and Marseille), it has been exciting for us to experience this season anew. I just can't get over how stunning it is; the vibrant colors not only of the leaves on the trees, but also of the vineyards that line the hills along the lake. Maybe next year it won't seem so novel and I will not have to say "Wow, do you see those leaves?" or "Wow, isn't that beautiful?" every five seconds. My family would be relieved if I stopped. Here is a sample of what we have been doing this fall.

We spent one morning in Nyon, a 10 minute drive from our house.

The kids enjoyed riding their bikes along the lakeshore

Nyon in the background

There are an endless number of trails in the Jura mountains which are on our side of the lake. It is fun to be able to hop in the car and drive until we see a trailhead that suits our fancy.

I wish our camera could better capture how vivid the colors of the leaves are

Jonas appreciated petting the mossy rock

This is actually a happy face. The boys were really excited when we found this frog hopping around.

Jaxon discovered a haunted house, but of course, he wasn't scared. As he says in French, "Même pas peur."

Jonas participated in one of our favorite fall games, "catch the leaves as they fall from the trees." Daniel made it up and it has proven to be a family crowd pleaser. Jonas is the only one who has not yet been successful, but he sure tries hard! Maybe next year.

My boss at my internship invited us to a wine tasting festival. Although I was hesitant to go to an activity where I can't participate in the main event, we decided to go. Though we didn't participate in the wine tasting, we did get to enjoy a plate of wild boar roasted over a fire, apples from the orchard, cotton candy and great company. It was a lot of fun, and luckily Jaxon did not get arrested for picking grapes off the vines.

Jaxon found a nice spot to enjoy his apple. Oh, to be five again. No chair needed.

A huge pumpkinny thing

Enjoying barbe à papa (direct translation: dad's beard)