October already – um, when did that happen? The air turned cooler, the leaves turned all sorts of colors…And it’s been gorgeous out – so the kids have been taking full advantage of the forest around.

A change of seasons though also means it’s time to celebrate the semi-annual field day.  Hurrah! All the key elements that were there in the spring were here at the fall day as well – face paint, medals, long-winded warm ups and lots of shouting…

The only big difference (other than the leaves and trees were preparing to make their way out for the year rather than come in) was that this was the first one I had to run.  My toddler – who is much faster than I on two feet – promised to hold my hand and help me along as a runner I am not.  But the allure of sticking close to friends and the promises of medals at the finish line were just a bit too much for her.  I’m proud to say though that I actually finished the course.  Not that it was all that long but it’s definitely longer than my driveway, which is the only thing I have run down to chase the escaping stroller, since my pregnancy.  A nice way to get back into the fitness side of things.

Believe it or not, as this is our last year, we really have only one more field day to go after this  – I know it will be bittersweet.  May it be the best one yet to come!

PS – Apologies for the silence here over the last couple of weeks – some of you might know that I also keep another blog about our adventures as a diplomatic family and that got a major facelift/redesign/overhaul etc – if you’re curious about our adventures as a family, check it out at The New Diplomat’s Wife.

Arguably, it’s the best day of the year in forest school…A couple of times a year, the school invites parents over for a field day – once in the spring and once in the fall.  I was always crushed during the previous ones since work travel always kept me away and I was “that parent”…you know, the one that never comes to any school things because they’re working?  So I was super excited when this spring for field day, we were all here and we all made it.

Calling it field day is maybe a bit generous…In my mind I had been building this up as an afternoon of outdoor forestry trials and physical efforts.  In reality, this is a brief jog around a small local lake with small stations set up where the kids do squats or throw rocks through floating hoops, or my favorite: jumping jacks while counting in English.  Needless to say, our own toddler had an advantage there…And of course there is face paint.  And medals…

She took of running with my husband in tow while I brought up the rear with our stroller and the whole thing was over in the better part of an hour  – all the Danish families dispersed with their wee ones.  Probably for early family dinners and a head start on the weekend.  Part of me wished that they might hang around a little longer – it’s nice to be the parent that has time to participate for a change.  But there’s always Fall Field Day to try to convince everyone to do that!