Oktoberfest in Arlington
I love our neighborhood. More specifically, I love our block. This neighborhood, and all the families that live on our block, have helped me so much in my transition back to American life over the past year and a half. We first bought our house here in 1999, and at this point, we're practically the long-termers. So many new families with young kids moved in over the past few years, creating an amazing sense of community. I can't imagine living anywhere else at this point, even though I constantly complain about house... it's too small, it needs so much updating, blah blah blah, but I wouldn't trade this neighborhood for anything.
About a year ago, we started a "mommy-and-me" happy hour for the women (and kids) on our street and we get together once a month at our houses. Over the summer, we started a babysitting co-op for the young families on our street, so we can save money and help each other out with babysitting. Several times a week, we end up hanging out with neighbors in our front yards after work (meaning when everyone else comes home from work... I'm the only stay-at-home Mom on the block). The kids play with each other, and the adults chat. Sometimes a quick walk around the block ends up taking an hour because we run into so many neighbors. It's awesome. I love this place.
This past weekend, we had our 2nd annual Oktoberfest block party. It's nothing like Munich, although some people eat sausage and drink beer. We pull our grills and patio furniture out to the middle of the street, and everyone brings food to grill and a dish (and drinks) to share. We used to hold block parties on the 4th of July, but thankfully we finally came to our senses and realized that no one wants to hang out with a hot grill on a black, asphalt street in the middle of the DC summer heat.
There was a great turnout, lots of neighbors, lots of kids, and lots of fun. The weather was absolutely perfect. The highlight this year was a moon bounce! I'm not sure why, but one of our neighbors owns one and volunteered to set it up in our front yard. Our yard was definitely kid central. Perfect for Madchen. She had such a blast and LOVED the moonbounce.
Here are a few scenes from the block party, including a cute one of Madchen standing on our front walk with a dish of peas (not the traditional Oktoberfest meal, but at least she eats her veggies).
About a year ago, we started a "mommy-and-me" happy hour for the women (and kids) on our street and we get together once a month at our houses. Over the summer, we started a babysitting co-op for the young families on our street, so we can save money and help each other out with babysitting. Several times a week, we end up hanging out with neighbors in our front yards after work (meaning when everyone else comes home from work... I'm the only stay-at-home Mom on the block). The kids play with each other, and the adults chat. Sometimes a quick walk around the block ends up taking an hour because we run into so many neighbors. It's awesome. I love this place.
This past weekend, we had our 2nd annual Oktoberfest block party. It's nothing like Munich, although some people eat sausage and drink beer. We pull our grills and patio furniture out to the middle of the street, and everyone brings food to grill and a dish (and drinks) to share. We used to hold block parties on the 4th of July, but thankfully we finally came to our senses and realized that no one wants to hang out with a hot grill on a black, asphalt street in the middle of the DC summer heat.
There was a great turnout, lots of neighbors, lots of kids, and lots of fun. The weather was absolutely perfect. The highlight this year was a moon bounce! I'm not sure why, but one of our neighbors owns one and volunteered to set it up in our front yard. Our yard was definitely kid central. Perfect for Madchen. She had such a blast and LOVED the moonbounce.
Here are a few scenes from the block party, including a cute one of Madchen standing on our front walk with a dish of peas (not the traditional Oktoberfest meal, but at least she eats her veggies).
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