The Feeling of Fall

Several children play on our street.

Several children play on EVERY street.

Most days, since the weather has gotten cooler, it sounds like I live next to an amusement park.  There is yelling, whistles blowing, water bottles being thrown, bicycles being ridden, and lots of junk food being consumed.

These kids live on junk food.

A LOT of junk food.

The local schools don't feed students lunch, and they don't have enough room for all of the kids, so half of the kids go from 8am-12pm, and then another half goes from 1pm - 5pm.

They go on Saturday, too.

AND remember, that the teachers are still not getting paid.

Because of the school schedule, it means there are always kids at home.

And when I say "home," I mean "out in the street."  Mommas shoo them out the door constantly.

Fall is a great time for all of this outdoor activity.

Adults are out enjoying the cooler air, too.  Most people (as in, thousands) go to the parks at night, but as I was walking the other day, I saw this lady sitting on her special plot of green grass in the middle of the afternoon.

They spied me, so I had to take the picture while I was walking, so that accounts for the blurry-ness.

Many houses have a "garden" plot out front about this big, and they might have three chairs and a small table set in it so they can sit and enjoy the "outdoors."

It reminds me of New York City where grass is so scarce.

Walking from place to place has been so much nicer, too, with the weather turning cooler.

It's amazing how the weather can really affect my attitude.

Fall also means "football," as you well know.

Caleb has started soccer (which they call "football" here), and the girls have also begun dancing again.  Kylie is even helping to teach a dance class of little 3 and 4-year olds.

Caleb comes home filthy after every practice.  It's assurance for me that he is making lots of contact with the black rubber, which lies under the turf.

 And as a shout-out to our American roots, he dressed up like an American football player for a dress-up party at school.  I thought he looked great, but he took the toilet paper rolls out of his shirt very soon after this picture.

Keira got in the fall spirit with a pumpkin and a set of watercolors.

Kylie got in the fall spirit by...

 

 I'll let you decide.

(But I will fill you in later.  Today is Doug's birthday, so we need to go celebrate him in this Fall season).