Celebrating Fall

In addition to watching conference last weekend Nate and I celebrated the beginning of fall. It cooled down this past weekend as compared to earlier in the week so it seemed fitting. Every year the first Thursday-Sunday of October is "Oktoberfest" on the main street of our town. We live about a block from main street which is fun because there is always stuff going on in La Mesa. La Mesa has a farmer's market and flower market on Fridays. They also have car shows every Thursday and in December there is a "Christmas in the Village" festival. On a regular day basis, Nate and I also love going for walks down main street and looking in the windows of all the cute shops and restaurants. All these things make La Mesa is known for its charming downtown. If you're from Virginia, it reminds me of Vienna - only smaller.

Oktoberfest is by far the biggest weekend in La Mesa. Their claim to fame is that it is the "largest Oktoberfest west of the Mississippi". And for us that means a weekend of searching for parking for 40 minutes every time we come home only to park a mile away from our apartment, loud German folk music from a live band all day and night, and drunk people parking illegally on our street and making a ton of noise in the middle of the night. Not to mention having the police show up at our door because the people we rent from accidentally called 911 instead of 411 to report someone who parked in front of their garage. Our neighbor hung up when she realized she called 911 but I guess the police still come anyway if the call goes through. Then our neighbors weren't home when the police showed up, so the police knocked on our door and accused us of calling 911 to which we objected. After that they ran around around the house with flashlights and drawn guns until my neighbors got back...Given how safe our neighborhood is I think they were being a little dramatic...

Anyway, we decided to take advantage of Oktoberfest since we were dealing with all its craziness. On Saturday night Nate and I walked down and got the most delicious Bratwurst and looked at all the craft booths and festival treats. I also got a delicious chocolate covered strawberry kabob (great idea, right?) and Nate got some homemade root beer. It was so fun! We had a great time looking at everything and people watching.




Later that weekend we also had a "fall feast" to celebrate the flavors of fall. We made delicious butternut squash soup with a sides of steamed beets, seasoned green beans, and Parmesan garlic toast. It was so good!


Nate and I love playing games and topped the evening off with a few rounds of checkers.



Welcome fall! We are glad you're here! Even if the weather doesn't change...