The faces of fall

So fall is definitely here now, giving Cindy plenty of options to snap some very cool shots. Here's a few, in no particular order.
Of course, fall has brought with it a sackful of viruses for everyone to battle. Sophia and Geert have been fighting off a cough-runny nose combo that won't quite break into a full-blown cold but also won't go away. Somehow, they've managed not to pass it to everyone else in the house.
Soccer update: Natasja's team won for the first time this morning, 4-1. The girls played a very good game, with Natasja doing her part both in goal and out in the field. Geert's team has bagged 12 points from its first five games and is in second place in its league.
Sebastian turned the big six the other day. Mom visited his class to help celebrate and then he and Geert went to the store later on to pick up a sweet Lego X-Wing Starfighter – with wings that move, mind you - and a binder to hold all of buddy's Yu-Gi-Oh cards.
Next up: Halloween and the neighborhood chilifest on Tuesday. The husbands get to hang in the driveway this year, which means it's time to put together an iPod playlist of spooky, brooding and just downright evil tunes. Come get your candy, kids...

Opa's fly-by

Opa was here last week for a quick stop between Sao Paolo and El Paso. (He makes it sound so cavalier, doesn't he?) The gang went to the Nashville Zoo, where the elephants were on parade and the little giraffes were learning to walk. Beside that, Opa got to hang out with everyone and go to Bleachers to watch football.




And then there's today's big news: Natasja - aka the Soccer-Playing Toothless Wonder – scored her first goal! She took a pass from her teammate on the left wing, sped past a defender, headed for goal and put one between the goalie and the post. Bravo! And here I was worried about all those gaps in her mouth increasing her wind resistance...

Fyah twukk!

Don't really have a whole lot to say, but this shot is just cool. By the way, Natasja lost another tooth the day after the picnic. With three gaps for the world to see, she's now officially the Toothless Wonder. We're still trying to get a good photo of the situation, but there's too much black space whenever we line it up... Sit tight.

Autumn's arrived

We went to Geert's company picnic Friday. It had been rescheduled from July, when a nice storm quickly ended things. We had a great time playing games, stuffing our faces and going on a quick cruise on Percy Priest Lake. Natasja and Sebastian had a blast bobbing for apples. Things got exciting late on when Natasja lost a tooth munching on one of the apples. Pictures of the gap are on the way – her soccer team photo shoot was the day after.