Joyfull

I´m still amazed and enthusiastic about the completely unexpected piece of summer that fell into our laps, right now, in October. I mean, just look at this:

Does this look like October to you? Nope, to me neither.
But we´re using every minute of it, man, we are.

Our twins went to visit their grandparents all by themselves this weekend, for the first time, and all went well. In addition, that meant that Eva, Ronja and me finally had time again for an extended girl´s night - so on friday night, I took the girls out to Sauna. They were amazed by every little detail, even by the hairdryers in the dresser, they loved the icecube tub and the smell of the Finish Sauna, the tea and  the little ice-shots they were served afterwards, and the ability to stroll naked through a park. We giggled in the jaccuzi und swam naked in the outdoorpool, while the sun went down - and I remember floating in the pool, totally relaxed, with Ronja splashing around me and Eva happily chatting along, gazing at the shilouette of the trees in front of the sky, thinking this must be one of the most perfect moments in my life.

And then came Saturday, and Tim suggested we´d all head over to Bonn.
Bonn, just in case you don´t know, is our country´s former capital, a smooth and clean and polished little town, and this weekend, the annual reunion celebration took place there. Oh, Big Party! I´m so not a patriot. But the peaceful reunion of our country 20 years ago, that actually is something that makes me... not proud, because I didn´t accomplish it. But happy.
We did a little sightseeing,

witnessed a terrific pianist playing Beethoven,

walked past the glistening Rhine,

and enjoyed all the various streetartists. Several bands played on several stages, and at one point, I found myself throwing my purse to a lamppost, and dancing waltz with my husband around the whole big plaza until I got dizzy, while a fun band from Cologne played some happy folk music, and Ronja danced around like a wildchick.

And I thought to myself that this, for sure, must be one of the most perfect moments in my life.

And then we got our boys back, and today, we cycled along the river behind our hose. And everytime I go there, I wonder why I even bother to spend money going on vacation, when I live here. We visited the cows,

and the horses,

and at one point, we threw the bikes in a bush, kicked off our shoes, and went into the river, for one last time this year. The kids threw stones, and canoes passed along,

and Tim practised with his new Devil´s Stick he got, and I collected seeds of funny plants, and Eva sang cheesy songs.

And I found myself thinking, this must be one of the most perfect moments in my life.

Also, I sew some pants for myself, found some fine treasures on the waste I´ll tell you about later, got a lot of mosquito bites on my legs, spent a lot of time sitting in the sun playing my guitar, so my fingers now feel kind of fluffy, did not do the weekly grocery shopping, and did not clean the house.

So, for this (extended) weekend, I just feel showered in JOY.

Oh, and there´s a new Ed Sheeran song out, as well:

This life is just so delicious!