Brightwood Lights

If you ever want the full-blown, all-American Halloween experience, come to Atlanta! More specifically, come to the Virginia Highlands.

For weeks, we have been hearing from other parents that the Highlands is a great place to trick-or-treat. I’d say that’s an understatement! I’ve never been to a neighborhood that puts this much effort (or money!) into the decorations, costumes, and candy. People handing out candy seemed so enthusiastic about it that I felt almost guilty if our kids skipped a few houses here or there. Folks were waiting on their porches, many of them dressed up themselves. Jack-o-lanterns were far more than a simple carved face. We literally could have spent 3-4 hours and come home with bags and bags of candy. As it was, we spent about an hour at one-year-old pace and nearly filled up two entire plastic pumpkins with goodies. . . more than enough for our little trick-or-treaters!

For our family, Halloween festivities this month included visiting a pumpkin patch with Oma and Opa a few weekends ago, complete with hayride, inflatable haunted house, petting zoo, face painting, crazy maze, and a pumpkin patch. (Most of our pictures of this were taken with a different camera and aren’t available to me right now.)

Simona and I also did a little festive arts-and-crafts project of making ghosts to hang up in the kids’ room. I’m NOT usually the crafty, creative type, so this was a bit of me trying to stretch myself. We kept it simple and both had fun.

Grandma came to town for several days last week, so we made it to a local “fall festival,” which, though not necessarily Halloween-themed, was still fun. We also carved our pumpkin while she was here.

Simona’s class had a Halloween party on Friday, but tonight was the BIG night. We ate an early dinner and got all dressed up for trick-or-treating fun. The kids wore the costumes Grandma made for them last year, with Simona dressed as an orange and white horse and Andreas dressed as a jack-o-lantern. Simona requested that Caleb dress up as a cowboy to go along with her horse, and he graciously obliged.

As you can see, there were MOBS of families going door to door.

The decorations were intense.

Some houses even handed out “treats” for the (non-pregnant) grown-ups.

Andreas got into the spirit, learning a robust vocabulary of Happy Haween!, Good Light!, Thanks!, Trick-treat, and, at one house, even, “Got it!” after he grabbed a piece of candy. The most fascinating part to him was looking at all of the candles glowing inside the jack-o-lanterns. Simona liked the variety of decorations but was surprisingly shy in her interactions with the adults.

The kids have plenty of “loot” to keep them candy-saturated for some time to come. And Caleb and I have been given strict orders from Simona NOT to eat any of her candy, but to help ourselves to Andreas’s.

Definitely a Halloween to remember.

After Wyatt’s wedding, we (mostly) stayed in Iowa for another week. (By mostly I mean that the kids were there all week, while Caleb and I did some additional traveling.)

Much fun was had at Grandma & Grandpa’s! One of the kids’ favorite activities was simply riding little bikes out on the driveway.

Grandpa also let them play in a puddle out front right after some rain, which Andreas especially enjoyed.

Grandma took us to the Iowa Children’s Museum, which was a highlight for Simona. She got to be a doctor, a cashier, a dentist, a pizza-maker, a ballerina, and much more.

Andreas found plenty of “Flugzeuge” (airplanes) and other entertainment, too.

And Grandma treated us to a ride on the carousel after lunch, which both kids adored.

Other kid-fun during the week included a trip to the splash park, rides on the tire swing, and lots of reading books and playing on the living room floor with Grandma & Grandpa. (More pictures are on the “photos” page).

Meanwhile. . . while the kids were having fun with Grandma & Grandpa, Caleb and I got a chance to go to Chicago by ourselves! We enjoyed an evening with Northwestern friends Anne, Wei-Lin, Brett, Mary Ruth, and Cordell, eating Chicago style pizza and home-made ice cream; wandered around the NU campus reminiscing; visited Dan, Hilary, and their new son Drew (more NU friends); and generally enjoyed Chicago in the summertime.

On the way back to Iowa, we detoured through Dyersville to see the Field of Dreams (ie the cornfield / farm where the famous movie was filmed). As huge baseball fans, it was about time we made it to this site!

If you build it, they will come!

The next big item on our agenda was the 60th wedding anniversary celebration of Caleb’s grandparents, the Neils. All six of the Neil’s children were home for the reunion, and all spouses/grandchildren/great grandchildren but one were able to come, too. Unfortunately, I was a bit under the weather and didn’t get many photos.

A breakfast with Great Grandpa Brenneman and a bonfire at the cabin rounded out wonderful week in Iowa.

(More on the travels to come, but the next post will likely be an update on Andreas and his eyes.)

We have yet to blog about our trips to Maine and Oregon for cousin & older sister weddings, but we’ll come back to those. For now, here’s the most recent update, of our August road trip and latest wedding adventures.

Simona and I left on the first leg of the trip on August 4. We drove from Atlanta to Nashville, where we stopped to have lunch with our friend and former church small-group member, Kyla. It was Simona’s first time in Tennessee, and a HOT day it was. Still, it was great to see Kyla and spend some time catching up with her.

Our drive took us through Kentucky, Illinois, and just across the Mississippi into St. Louis, Missouri. (KY and MO were new states for Simona, too.) She did VERY well on the drive but was quite fussy and unhappy about taking a quick peek at the Arch before checking into our hotel. Turns out, the poor girl had a fever and got sick upon our arrival at the hotel!

Fortunately, she felt MUCH better the next morning and got her wish of “Pfannkuchen” for breakfast, courtesy of IHOP.

The four hour drive from St. Louis to Iowa also passed quickly, and before we knew it, we were at Grandma & Grandpa’s! We even beat Caleb and Andreas, whose morning flight was delayed in Chicago.

We were quite happy to be in town for summer wedding #4, which was Caleb’s brother Wyatt.
Wyatt and Grace met as young children and grew up just a few houses apart from one another. Despite a shared childhood, they didn’t start dating until shortly before graduating from high school. They dated long-distance through four years of college and were married on August 7.

The wedding ceremony was a small, family event that took place in the woods behind Caleb’s parents’ house, next to the cabin at the back of the property. It rained the morning of the wedding, but that couldn’t put a damper on the occasion. Caleb made a handsome groomsman, while Simona did a wonderful job of spreading flower petals in the special dress her Grandma made for the wedding. And, most importantly, the bride and groom were thrilled to become Mr. and Mrs.

The flower girl and groom, waiting out the rain before the ceremony:

Wyatt even wore the same suit his father wore when he got married, almost exactly 32 years before!

The reception took place that evening, which allowed the kids time for naps (and us time to dry off!) before heading in to Cedar Rapids. We had a great time catching up with family and friends, though I unfortunately didn’t get to take pictures since I was mostly busy with the kids.

It was a privilege to watch Grace and Wyatt become husband and wife, and we were honored to be part of the ceremony and reception. We’re excited to have Grace part of the family, and I am excited to have my very first sister-in-law!

Congratulations, you two! We wish you many years of happiness!

(More on the rest of the time in Iowa and the remainder of the road trip to come. . .)

First off, my apologies for starting the last two blog posts with the exact same phrase. Poor form. I’ll work on that. Second, a warning: This is a LONG post!! It’s a bit dated now, but I wanted to write and post it more for our own memory than anything else. If it bores you, feel free to skip! Hopefully something more interesting will come along soon.

On to catching up. . .
Saying goodbye in DC was sad! This move has been a possibility for over a year, so in some ways, it was a long, slow farewell. Each season, month, and week of the past year has been marked by the thought, “This might be our last ________ in DC,” which has been nice, because we’ve been able to savor all of it.

In a formal sense, though, our “official” goodbyes really began late this spring. We have played with Chomp, an ultimate frisbee team in DC, every spring and fall since 2004, but we knew wouldn’t be able to play this spring. We had hoped to make it to one last game, but between weather and our schedules, we had to settle for an e-farewell.

In mid-April, I spent my last evening at “The Porch.” I have worked as an adult leader with this youth ministry on Capitol Hill for the past three years. In fact, one of the girls in my small group was even my “tutee” back when I tutored at the Neighborhood Learning Center from 2004-2006. Which means we’ve had a mentor/mentee relationship since she was in 4th grade, and now she’s a rising 10th! grader. Saying goodbye to all of the youth at the Porch- but particularly to my small group- was emotional. I so wish I could be there as they walk through there remaining years of high school– to see them in grow into young ladies, wear prom dresses, pick out colleges, graduate, etc.

Although we said farewell to a few friends from church and other social settings on an individual basis, we didn’t have too many other larger goodbyes until our last week in DC. Caleb’s office hosted a going-away luncheon for him on his last day of work, to which the kids and I were also invited. Several of his former co-workers who have since moved on to new positions were invited, and plenty of people came by to wish him well. Overall, it was a really kind send-off.

Then came “moving weekend.” We picked up our HUGE Budget truck on Saturday, May 1. That truck was a BEAST! I was glad that I didn’t have to drive it!
Many, many thanks to the wonderful friends who helped load our belongings, including Laryn, Corey, Rebecca, Sara, Jana, Mary Ruth, and Brett. An even more special thanks goes to our friend Janel, who watched Andreas & Simona ALL DAY that Saturday. Hers was hands-down the most taxing job of the day. She also hosted our family for dinner that evening. . . and I have no idea how she managed to cook for that 7 people while watching three kids all day!

Sunday, we ate one last breakfast at Pete’s, a diner on the Hill that we’ve visited a few Sunday mornings a year throughout our seven years in DC, even before we were married or had kids. After that, we headed to WCF for our final Sunday service. We had been given a brief time during the service to say goodbye to the congregation, but I was most emotional during other parts of the service. Looking at all of the faces, I couldn’t help but think that this is what the kingdom of heaven will look like: A random bunch of quirky people all trying to do their best to love God and love each other.

Sunday evening, our friends Heather & Kevin and Laryn & Janel hosted a going-away party for us at Heather & Kevin’s house, which was really special. So many friends came by to say goodbye, and aside from our wedding, I don’t think I’ve ever felt more surrounded by people who love our family. A huge thank you to our gracious hosts!

Monday, my dad flew up from Georgia to drive the truck back down. He loves to drive and was eager to take the opportunity to help us out. We were glad not to have to drive in two separate vehicles! We worked all day, loading final belongings and cleaning the house. Caleb and Dad concluded the day with a wild chase for our scared cat, which apparently involved crawling between drywall and the outer wall of the house, pulling the cat out of her hiding space with a hoe, and trapping her in a garbage can to get her into the back of the truck . . in the end, she did make the journey to Georgia, just not in her cat carrier as planned. Our friends Heather & Kevin again hosted us, this time for our last night in DC (Maryland, actually), while Dad drove overnight to avoid traffic with the big truck.

Tuesday, May 4, was the long-anticipated moving day. It was also the day of Simona’s “graduation” from Little Learner’s Playschool, which she attended for two years. It worked out perfectly to be able to attend the last day of class and feel like she had some closure around that. We love all of the kids and families we have met through the school and will miss this group, too.

After graduation and the class party and luncheon, we piled into our packed-up car and hopped onto 395 for the long drive to the Peach State. Watching the Washington Monument, the Jefferson Memorial, the Capitol, the Pentagon, and the Potomac fade in the rear view mirror was sad. So long, Washington, D.C. Thanks for so many great memories and for becoming our home.

Last week, we couldn’t resist the urge to enjoy of the beautiful weather and blooming cherry blossoms. Despite the record crowds of tourists swarming around the Tidal Basin, we headed to the Mall twice to take in the sights, sounds, and smells of one last spring in DC.

First came an after-work picnic near the Washington Monument and a (partial) walk around the tidal basin to see the cherry blossoms during twilight.

We have seen the cherry blossoms at sunrise almost every year, but we really enjoyed them at sundown, too!

The second adventure was during the workday, so Caleb couldn’t join us. The kids and I took the Metro down to Union Station and enjoyed the sunshine, flowers, and fountains along the Mall.

We rode the carousel near the Smithsonian “castle,” which was fun for Simona but a bit nauseating for me! That thing spins much more quickly than I remember, and balancing Andreas and a camera left me no free hands with which to hold on for dear life! Nevertheless, I did not fall, and she had a GREAT time.

The “half smoke” is the only food item I can name that screams Washington DC, so it seemed only appropriate that we end our touristy morning with a bite of local flavor from a street vendor before hopping on the Metro and heading for home.

We will miss living in our nation’s beautiful capital!