Happy Fall

The air is turning cool and brisk here! There are not the same bright fall colors, but at least some of the trees turn pretty shades of orange, yellow and red. Halloween, one of our favorite holidays is not celebrated. Adults and kids do not dress up in costumes and go door to door looking for bags of candy saying "Trick or Treat". No one even puts up any kind of fall or halloween decorations. But, to make it feel more like home, the inside of our house got the full Fall/Halloween treatment when it came to decorations.

The Sunday before Halloween we took Ella to a pumpkin farm in Enschede, about 1 hour north of where we live in Arnhem. It started out as a rainy trip, but by the time we got there the clouds had cleared and the sky was a beautiful blue with the sun shining. The pumpkin farm was a small family owned typical dutch farm. Inside two of their barns they had pumpkins, squash and gourds on display. After approaching us to see if we needed any help and learning that we were American, they became quickly intrigued by us and our story for living in Holland. They wanted to know all about what it was like where we lived in America and what the farms were like compared to the ones here in Holland. They also wondered about our traditions and we told them about Halloween and that we were at their farm to get pumpkins to carve. Carving pumpkins here in Holland is becoming more popular. The family that owns the farm even has a special day where you can go and learn about carving a pumpkin. Here are some pictures of the farm and their signs. "Te Koop" means "for sale".







We also took advantage of the opportunity to get some very cute "pumpkin" pictures of Ella. It wasn't Fall at home, but it was very close! We had a great time. And the following weekend for Halloween we carved our family pumpkins and put them on display with candles outside our house. No one mentioned anything to us about it, but we wondered if the neighbors thought anything about seeing them outside.