Vineyards & Castles Part II

Robert & Noah at the local playground...weekends are great! Animals trotting through green pastures...

A Weekend of Vineyards & Castles

I love weekends.
Well, who doesn’t?
It starts off slowly – with some nice coffee, a walk and a little fun at the local playground.

It is so nice to have Robert home, in fact, it is so nice that I am thinking of getting this 5 days of work - 2 days of play thing changed.

Who invented that anyway?

And I love Basel, and vineyards, castles and hikes.

Shoot, I love everything today, except for the fact that it is only day 2 of the 5 day work week.

In 10 short minutes we can take a tram to a sweet little, fairytale of a village where little hobbit people live and animals trot through green pastures. We then hike to castles from so long ago I cannot even fathom, all the while breathing fresh air and loving life.

And then, we meander down through vineyards to get some true appreciation for the red or white stuff we love to sip slowly on the weekends.

I love this place and I love weekends.

Vineyards and Farms...

Entrance to one of the castles...

Heather, Noah & Robert at one of the castles...there were three on our hike...

Fall leaves...

Old bridges leading to the castle...

It is getting dark...

Family shot at the top of the castle...

Sweet village of Muttenz...

Heather, Robert & Noah hiking...

Boys at the castle...

A cool pattern left by the wind...

View from the castle window...

I just loved this piece of art...it spoke to me...no one else, just me...

Views of the vineyards...our own little Napa..

Grapes and views....

Ready to be picked...

Family shot among the vineyards...no tasting on this hike...

Cool shot Robert took...

Little hobbit people not pictured...

11 Months...

He is standing, crawling, chatting, and declaring his independence and still the love of our lives. Noah is 11 months today.

How is that possible?

This time last year, I was still housing his precious, growing body and now, he is such a part of our family that we cannot imagine what life was like without him.

Now that we are parents, time no longer moves slowly and lazily, but rather races and marches at a pace we are trying desperately to keep up with. So, we are documenting each minute, snapping pictures crazily and enjoying the growing, precious moments that only a child can provide.

Noah is such a gift and such a beautiful compliment to our family.

We give thanks for him each day!

Noah at the local play ground

Loving the swing...
Fun, fun, fun...

Enjoying the day...

Helping with laundry...

Noah sports the Swiss Amber necklace...it is supposed to help with teething pain...

Where does this go?

Morning walk with Dad..

Happiness = The Fall!

Happiness...

Colors, colors and more colors!

With the fall colors in their prime, my steps are a bit bouncier and I find myself grinning from ear to ear. This time of year fills me with a deep, inner happiness.

I recently stumbled across this quote from the book I am reading, The Geography of Bliss by Eric Weiner and I think it does a nice job of summing up happiness.

"Maybe happiness is this:

not feeling like you should be elsewhere,

doing something else,

being someone else."

That seems to say it all!

So for today I will try to remind myself to just be and enjoy!

A beautiful moment shared by my boys!
Robert & Noah enjoying the fresh air...

Beautiful fall...

Quiet, still morning in the woods...

Melinda & Noah on the hike...

Morning solitude...

Trail on the hike...

Fire anyone?

New friend...two is enough...