Oktoberfest!

I don't know why, but for some reason, the Oktoberfest in Miami, Ohio has quickly become one of my favorite fall traditions.  We were invited to go in 2011 by our friends Ann and Andy.  We had just moved to Northern KY, we were living with my parents, and we had started new jobs at new schools.  Things were up in the air, to put it mildly.  But at this little riverside celebration, we were able to sit with friends, drink good beer, eat cheap food, and let Sylvia color the heck out of a pumpkin.  We had a great time in 2011...

Two weeks after that Oktoberfest, we found out we were expecting li'l miss Margot!  Which means Sylvia was roughly the age that Margot is now when we found out I was pregnant.  Mind blown.  It's seriously like a black worm hole in time, when your second child catches up to your first child and you realize that life doesn't implode upon itself.  Things just keep going, the way they're meant to be. 

Last year, in 2012, I sat on a blanket and nursed a 3 month old Margot at Oktoberfest, drank good beer, ate cheap food, and watched Sylvia, Cici, and Ayla run around, play games and color pumpkins.  We had a great time again in 2012....

This year we almost didn't go.  It's Sunday.  We've been busy.  It was drizzling rain and Sylvain was working.  But when the girls woke up from their naps, I decided we really had nothing better to do, and I kept imagining the previous two pictures in my head and remembering all the fun we had sitting on a blanket, drinking good beer and eating cheap food.  So I loaded up the kiddos and off we went!  The rain stopped, the polka music was rocking, the girls piled leaves at the bottom of the slide and kept themselves busy for hours while Margot and I sat on the blanket and ate and ate and ate.  We had a great time this year....

And no matter how hectic or overwhelming life gets, I can look back at these pictures and remember this tradition as a time of friends and fun.  Look how much Sylvia has changed!  Look at Margot - she wasn't even THERE in 2011!  I am so blessed to have these girls and our sweet friends, The Reynolds, who are expecting Cici's younger brother in December!  Next year is going to be awesome!