September.

Every family has that one month out of the year that is always, and I do mean always, jam packed full of fun and all things great. For us, this month is September.
Both of the boys have birthdays in September, school starts, and we vacation.
This year for Eli's birthday he requested Chef Boyardee ravioli, which we nixed and turned into Sloppy Joe, and to open his presents by a bonfire. It was a hectic day with school and a AWANA meeting, but we managed to make it special for him. Gabriel invited a few of his friends to a local indoor playground for slides, rock walls, trampolines and bounce house. We had cake at home and his requested dinner was spaghetti with spicy sausage. The boys were blessed with lots of great gifts from friends and family and both seemed genuinely happy with their special days.
School is interesting this year. Mannheim is closing and 75% of the population of the community have left. There are no more than two classes of each grade in school and the class sizes are still very small. The small classes are great for the teacher - student ratio but not so great for the friend pool. The boys have limited acceptable friend options and for that I am a little sad. There used to be 30 -40 kids running wild through our neighborhood at any given time. Now there are about 10 and they seem to always find their way to my house!
Rick Steves calls September and October and April and May "shoulder" months. They are the months that are still great times to travel but are slightly less hot than summer, considerably less full of tourists, and often just slightly cheaper than peak summer travel rates. Rick is right. And we love to travel in September.
Last September we spent Labor Day weekend in the French Alps with friends and then spent 10 days in Milan and Florence, Italy, followed by Oktoberfest in Munich. This year, we spent Labor Day weekend camping with friends in the German/Austrian area of Garmisch, then we spent 10 days going to Venice, a cruise through Greece and Croatia, and brief stop in Innsbruck, followed by a fabulous stop in Munich for Oktoberfest.
It is a full month, so busy that it is truly hard to believe that it is over tomorrow!

Comments

Rachael said…
Wow . . . I am always thoroughly impressed with your travel schedule- but September 2011 really wow's me! So fun! Big birthday hugs and kisses to Gabe- hope he had a great weekend!

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