Autumn is Ausumn!

The title of this blog is a direct Joep-ism ... it is also very true! Having been raised in a land where there is close to a year round summer (where the water restrictions are so severe at the moment that you can only water your garden once a week!), I was never really used to having 4 seasons in one year.

Living in Amsterdam gave me a little taste of what 4 seasons have to offer but moving to Canada has given us the FULL effect of 4 seasons. Winter is brutally cold (although it is colder in Europe so far this year mmmmmwahahahaha - is it evil that this pleases me?); spring time is slushy with sprouts of green all over the place and animals coming out of hibernation; summer is gloriously warm with temperatures soaring above the 30 degree mark day after day; and autumn ... well autumn is pretty spectacular.

The colours are just incredible! We enjoyed some of the autumnal beauty in October when we toured around the Cabot Trail, but little did we know how much beauty was just around the corner from us!

Gatineau Park is actually located in Quebec, not Ontario, but it is just across the bridge from Ottawa which lies on the cusp of Ontario & Quebec. The park is 363 square km's in area and is run by the National Capital Commission meaning it is very well kept. There are amazing hikes up in the park and over the summer / autumn months here in Ottawa Joep has spent countless hours up in the mountains of the park mountain biking ... he is an addict! And there are not many more beautiful places in the world to bike than here in Canada!

We spent a bit of time in the park this autumn enjoying the hiking trails and making the most of the last few weeks of outdoors weather and boy are we glad we did!

In addition to all the amazing beauty and colour that comes with autumn here in Ottawa, there is also the joy of North American Halloween! The Canadians are really into Halloween and this year Joep and I got on board.

We didn't have a lot of time to plan costumes and threw together a quick outfit on the day ... we decided to go as Gold Member & Foxy Cleopatra from Austin Powers. It worked because Joep already had clogs AND a gold tracksuit. So to finish the outfits off we got an afro wig for me and a mask for Joep. When we purchased Joep's mask we spent some time trying to figure out who it was supposed to be. It looked somewhat familiar but we couldn't figure it out and settled on it because at least it was blonde.

Costumed up we headed to Mikey & Anne-Marie's to carve pumpkins and enjoy a few drinks. It was, as per usual, a hilarious evening! For starters, pumpkin carving is actually really good fun. In addition to being really good fun, roasted pumpkin seeds are quite possibly one of the worlds most delicious snacks.

After pumpkin carving and admiring our work (PS - Joep was amazingly talented at pumpkin carving, his looked amazing!) we settled in for a few drinks and laughs. At some point during the night we realized who Joep's mask reminded us of - Group consensus is that it is a Hilary Clinton mask. Whoops. I can see it now but to me it looks more like a serial killer than anything else. I was positively freaked out by Joep in that thing and couldn't have a conversation with him when he was wearing it. It is a universal feeling because everyone tried it on and got the same general reaction from people. Creepy. But surprisingly hilarious.

Halloween sure is a fantastic holiday to celebrate! I am looking forward to a few more Halloweens in the years to come. Joepinator was a very impressive Gold Member and has perfected the art of shouting 'I love goooooold' at random intervals.

In addition, autumn in Ottawa really is amazing ... I'll miss having 4 seasons when we leave. Having said that, I think I'll always be a summer girl at heart so perhaps it won't be too difficult to adjust!