The One with October 2015

October is tied with May and December as my favorite month of the year. Gosh dern I love Halloween and all things spooky! This October was one to remember. So many fun things! I LOOOOOVED turning last year's October photos into a mini album and I want to do the same this year. So, here are the photos that will eventually be making their way into said album:

The closest legit pumpkin patch is an hour away so when the commissary got their first batch of pumpkins, I was ecstatic and made the kids pose.

Grandma sent new Halloween jammies! The owner of that pumpkin patch an hour away brings a truck full of pumpkins to our neighborhood and sells them for a few euros each. Sold!

Not exactly Halloween related, but too cute to spook, Jane eating her "chips'n'dip-dip" from Taco Bell in the food court one afternoon in October while Fox was at school.

On Fox's 5th birthday I took sugar cookies into his class and we frosted then sprinkled them. It was a big hit.

Some seriously awesome masks for sale at a vendor in the PX.

On October 15th, the day after Fox's birthday, Zoe was born! My first Taylor niece! Yay! All ready to go trick-or-treating. Relax kids, we still have weeks to go!

I also made lots and lots of crafty things this month including a class for Big Picture Classes called Spooktacular Projects.

I whipped up a Halloween book to giveaway on instagram - congrats to Kelly Goree on winning! Halloween layouts out the wazoo!

Halloween cards - I mailed one of these to my Grandpa to say thank you for the Halloween cards he sent us and gave one to the next door neighbor along with some dinero as a thanks for taking care of fat cat Rachel while we were gone.

I looooooove the garlands my mom makes - perfect for every season and every occasion!

Nightly ritual: popcorn and a show. Featuring the quilt my friend Lindsey made for Fox last year.

My mom made our costumes for us when we were kids but I can't sew a lick. I wanted Jane's costume to have that "homemade" feel so I searched etsy and found the perfect "so-ugly-it's-cute" witch dress! Love the clashing patterns and colors. 

I've shared some of these before, but they're so good for October. The changing colored leaves are epic.

Pumpkin festival in Ludwigsburg.

I can't even!

Sculptures made of pumpkins!

All the varieties of pumpkins and where they came from.

I so totally love that gray pumpkin. So eerie!

We took a trip to Disneyland Paris and oogled over all the Halloween decorations.

Photos ops e'ry'wur!

We waited a whole hour to meet this guy! Worth every second. Afterall, he is the Pumpkin King!

Best. Ride. Ever. The Haunted Mansion (technically here it's the Haunted Manor, but, tomatoes, tomahtoes).

I bought a pair of cat-eye contacts at the PX and wore them to Fox's birthday party. Creepy right?!

We had a small party for Fox for his 5th birthday.

I think this was the third batch of Halloween cupcakes I made in October.

Halloween Polish pottery - I love bringing these out every October!

The candy corn banner I made with the kids last year goes in the kitchen window.

Sugar cookies ready to be frosted and sprinkled. I love how small kids have no idea how to properly sprinkle on sprinkles and end up dumping the entire container on their cookie. I made the trashbag drapes right before giving birth to Fox - they've held up well these past 5 years! And the headstones are from his 1st birthday party. I'll use those forever!

There were about 10 kids who showed up and played for his birthday.

Eating pizza and cookies.

Strike a silly pose!

Every time we say Rachel's name she replies with a "meow". Caught her "talking" to us.

I love my Rachel.

Apparently this blanket is really comfy!

We had a chili cook off at the church last night. Jane ate some chips.

 Love all these people and their clever costumes!

At last the big day arrived - today - HALLOWEEN!

 The houses in our neighborhood are so close together, it's perfect for trick-or-treating.

"Do we HAVE to go trick-or-treating?" (Actually, they didn't say that, they were so excited and kept asking if it was time to go allllllll daaaaaay loooooong.)

 Sillies.

 We bought probably $70 worth of candy. It was gone within an hour, I kid you not. That equals probably a thousand trick-or-treaters. German kids from all around come to this neighborhood to trick-or-treat and I don't blame them - free candy? I'm so there. Chris passed out the candy and didn't even bother closing the door, it would be ringing non-stop if he did. Instead he just stood outside and passed out candy. He's also a big fat meanie and told teenagers who weren't even dressed up to go away! Oh Chris.

Fox and Jane and their loot. I love how Fox started organizing his into piles - like mother like son!

Only 365 more days until next Halloween!

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The One with Stuttgart, Germany

Since Ludwigsburg was so close to Stuttgart, we decided to make it an overnight trip and check off the last two German car museums and see the amazing library.

In 2011 the city library was relocated to this brand new building. It is constructed out of pale grey fair-faced concrete that visually frames an array of 9 x 9 frosted glass bricks. The shell is designed as a double façade that includes the glass brick level and an inner mullion/transom façade as the thermal building shell. Cool, but wait til you see the inside...

Wow! How awesome is this place?

The gallery hall is a five-story space, square-shaped, and surrounded by a shell of books. The interior circulation is arranged in a spiral among the reading gallery areas, designed to be flowing promenades flooded with light from the glass roof. After enjoying the library we headed to our hotel (yes, an actual hotel! We've learned our lesson!) for the night. This hotel was outstanding. If you're ever in Stuttgart, we would highly recommend the Parkhotel Stuttgart. They had the kids' beds all made up with little treats and stuffed animals for them on the pillows and even had kids shampoo in the bathroom. 
In the morning we stopped by a local bakery to get some carb-filled treats. Mmmm. Breakfast.
Then we went to the Mercedez Benz Museum (recap post coming soon, along with the Porsche Museum), then it was time to see the city of Stuttgart itself! Rick Steves doesn't included Stuttgart in his Germany guidebook so we were flying blind. We found the TI and they had a map with a recommended walking tour around the city that we loosely followed.
In the heart of the city is Schlossplatz, a popular meeting and gathering point for residents. The Jubilee Column was erected in 1841 to mark the 25th anniversary of the reign of King Wilhelm I and is crowned by the goddess Concordia. Behind the column, the New Palace is visible. It is the former residence of Württemberg kings.

The main train station was built between 1914 and 1927 in what was called the "New Objectivity Style." The tower is topped by a Mercedes-Benz logo. Stuttgart is rightfully proud of their auto companies.

Looking down the pedestrian drag Königstraße | Pretty colors. The Stuttgart State Theatre is a lovely Neoclassical building built in sandstone between 1909 and 1912. It is the home of Stuttgart Ballet and Stuttgart Opera.

Just across the Oberer Schloß park from the theater is the Kunstgebäude art building. Finished in 1913, it is a gallery and headquarters of the Württemberg Art Association. A gold statue of a stag crowns the distinctive Art Nouveau building.

Art on some barriers walling off a construction site.

Our walk took us behind the New Palace so we got a nice view of it from this side.

Then we made our way to Karlsplatz. The square is named after Duke Karl Eugen and features an equestrian statue of King Wilhelm I. There was a flea market, or flohmarkt, going on.

Just off the square is the Old Palace which is now the home of the Württemberg State Museum.

Marktplatz is a lively square with a fountain dating from 1714.

Awesome street light. | The tower of Collegiate Church which was open for the climbing. Did I do it? Of course I did! Stuttgart.

I spy my little family!

Looking towards the Old Palace on the right.

The inside of the church was a cool mix of modern and old. Very clean and bright, yet not plain or boring.

Cool stained glass windows | The pipe organ After the church we moseyed through the city a little bit more then made our way back to our car to drive back to Grafenwöhr. 
Our family on Saturday October 10th 2015 in Stuttgart, Germany.

The next recap post will be about the Porsche and Mercedes Benz museums!

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