Finally Feeling a little like Fall - the Beginning of October Holiday

I love the changing of the seasons - even here, where they're not as drastic as the midwest. In the spirit of autumn, yesterday I made a batch of pumpkin spice syrup to put in coffee and steamers.  Wow is it ever sweet and yummy! One sip of my pumpkin spice steamer and I almost felt the autumn wind whipping through the apartment, blowing leaves in through the door. Yum!

Kevin has this week off for October Holiday (10/10 is the R.O.C.'s National Day).  This break comes at just the right time when temperatures are finally cooling off and teachers need a break after the busy first quarter.  Each year the Morrison teachers and families go down to Taichung for a teachers' conference for 2 days at the beginning of the October Holiday break. That was last Friday and Saturday. Since I'm not teaching this year, I wasn't required to go to meetings. But I did get to participate in some of the activities for spouses.

Here's a map of Taiwan that shows where Taichung is.  You can click on it to make it bigger. Taipei is in the north. Taichung is about 2 or 2.5 hours south if you take the bus. The Bowdens love google maps!

Of course Ruby came along to the conference and we tried to keep her regular schedule as much as possible during the day, but she was not much of a napper while we were in Taichung. You see, we stayed in the high school dorms since the students were home for the break. A high school student's dorm is not an ideal place for an 8.5 month-old. We had to watch her like a hawk as she is getting into everything these days.  Sorry to the girls whose room we stayed in! Ruby also really prefers sleeping in her crib, so she didn't sleep well at night either (read: nobody slept well at night).  I was more exhausted this year than I ever have been after sitting through hours of meetings and workshops, and I'm not sure how Kevin kept his eyes open during his meetings.

Ruby's been more busy than ever lately.  This week she's learned to pull up to standing by using the couch and we've found her standing in her crib.  She's also "cruising" by holding on to the couch.  So many things capture her attention and she is very determined to find a way to get to them.  In addition to "Ma" and "Da," which our ears are so attuned to, she also likes to say "A bu" over and over, and we're not sure what that means. She says "ball" (sort of), and "uh-oh" quite often.

Here are a few recent pictures for your enjoyment.

Flags line many streets in Taipei for National Day.  I took this while crossing the street.  I'm not sure who the lady is.

Very determined to reach those board games! 

Up she goes! 

"Swinging" from the ceiling fan pull chains

Hmm ... what's in this diaper bag?  I need to check it out. 

She's gonna get me! 

We've made plans to enjoy being outdoors, rest, and do a little catching up on schoolwork and house work over this October Holiday break.  The days on vacation disappear so quickly. We'd like to take a day trip to Yingge, a fun pottery village, one day this week, too.  For now, I'm going to get a jump on my day by making myself a pumpkin spice coffee drink before Ruby wakes up!