{ turkey day }

We have so many things to be thankful for but top of the list: family!

We spent Thanksgiving day in Minneapolis and enjoyed a lovely dinner at Kyle and Elizabeth's house. then we loaded up and hit the road for a weekend at the Lodge. But not before hopping on the trainer to burn some turkey.

Saturday was the big Gopher/Badger border battle and while the Gophers led for much of the game and it was one of the best games between the two, they couldn't pull off the win.

Oliver and Stella much preferred sledding while others tailgated around the fire......or partying inside the warm house!

{ rob gets hitched }

Chop & I enjoyed a fun night out to celebrate Rob & Betsy's wedding day. Rob is one of the last of Chop's college friend to get married and it was a great reunion of friends that we see far too little of. The old crew was back together again!

It was a fun night and a good excuse to get out and do a little dancing (and drinking)!

{ activities }

Both Oliver and Stella are enjoying a few extracurricular activities each week. Stella is keeping up with her dance and gymnastics classes. We got to watch a class a few weeks ago and it was super cute (and even better because it was Halloween week so they were all in costumes!).

She is also loving gymnastics and after this current session, is getting bumped up to the "big" gym.

Oliver started hockey a few weeks ago and while we were a little nervous that he would be discouraged by how hard it is to learn to skate, he has been loving it! Going as far as asking each day if today is hockey day.

Chop has also been busy with hockey each Saturday and Sunday as he is officially coaching Oliver's Minneapolis Storm team.

He typically leaves hockey and looks like this on the way home as he is exhausted!

He has exponentially improved since he started a few weeks ago and it will be exciting to see him hopefully cruising around on the ice by the end of the year!

{ first snow }

Oh, if only I could match my excitement with Oliver and Stella's excitement about the first snow. They were up and eager to take a peek a few weeks ago when the white stuff arrived!

I actually wouldn't have minded it so much if it weren't for the frigid temperatures that have come along with the snow. Oliver did take interest in the tools for helping clear the snow but unfortunately that was short lived.

There is definitely no lack of interest in post outdoor play drinks though!

Lets hope we all survive what is beginning to look like a very long and cold winter!

{ seventy years }

This November my dad turned 70 years old! This is a pretty big birthday so I wanted to do something extra special for a gift. And rather than spending money, it involved his friends, family, past coworkers, etc. sharing memories/stories/notes about him. I sent out an email about 6 weeks before his birthday and asked everyone to email or mail me their messages. My goal was to get 70 but I wasn't sure how realistic that was. But low and behold, after a few weeks and another reminder email they started steadily flowing in. I was thrilled!

I took each of them and put them individually into old retro envelopes and numbered them from 1-70. On the tag it said "seventy years of memories".

We had a lovely family dinner with everyone at our house (hello beef short ribs!) and gave him his gift. He was very surprised and had a fun time reading through all of the letters!

{ boo! }

We had a fairly decisive year when it came to Halloween costumes. Stella went a really original route (heavy sarcasm) with her choice of being Elsa from Frozen.

Oliver went with a fairly standard boy costume and picked being a Ninja. Fairly certain it was based on the fact that he got to carry a sword.

We tried to maximize wear of the costumes - they got to wear them to school and to Kowalskis trick or treating.

On Halloween eve, we had our neighbors over for soup and fixed up hot chocolate and Baileys to take with us as we ventured out to trick or treat. It was a cold year but the kids lasted over an hour and came home with enough candy for a year!

{ school pics }

Is there anything cuter and more hilarious than preschool class pictures? Nope.

{ fall beauty }

Is it just me or does this fall weather and color seem to be extra spectacular?!

We took full advantage of it two weekends ago by heading to a pumpkin patch after our family photos on Sunday morning. Which, as always, goes down as the most chaotic and stressful morning of the year. Why do I put us through this year after year?! Oh well, we did have a good time after lots of bribery for smiles and cooperation.

And then last week on Thursday, almost 70 degrees. We tried the double tag-along back in the spring and O and S weren't quite ready for it as they weren't tall enough to reach the pedals. I am kicking myself for not getting it back out sooner because it was a blast for the three of us to get out on it today. Just in time for it to start snowing. Sigh. Next year it will get plenty of use!

{ gopher homecoming }

I might be slightly biased, but I'm pretty sure these two were the cutest U of MN parade-goers out there. I can almost picture these two in another 15 years recreating this photo!

This once again goes down as one of my favorite family fall outings. All of us have fun heading down to campus, visiting the kid's stuff area, walking along the parade route looking at the frat house decorations, and then watching the parade. Oliver and Stella have mastered their parade waves and smiles to get candy. They also loved the marching band, gymnastics team, and, of course, Goldy Gopher.

A yearly tradition that we will definitely continue!

{ tick, tock }

The days, weeks, months are ticking by and my blogging consistency is seriously lacking. I think it's safe to say that when we hit the end of this year, I won't be doing this anymore. It's a time commitment that I'm just not committed to anymore! But, until then, I'm determined to document the last part of this year to complete four years of blog books to print.

Since my last post, we've had an animal visitor from Oliver and Stella's school. I think I mentioned it in a past post but each weekend a different student gets to take home the pre-k classroom pet puppy "Fluffy". One Friday last month, Oliver was the lucky name drawn! Part of the deal is that you take Fluffy along with you on adventures over the weekend, take pictures, and journal about it. So that's exactly what we did. He ended up at the park with us, getting ice cream at Sebastian Joe's, and visiting the school carnival and parade. They are both pretty excited that they get two weekends with Fluffy since Stella will get a turn as well.

At the end of September, I ran my first official 5k since hip surgeries. Woot! Women Run the Cities will always hold a special place in my heart as it was my last race in 2013 before hip surgeries and my first one back in 2014. It. Felt. Amazing. To be back out on the pavement. I didn't have intentions of "racing" but if you know me, that just doesn't work. I was nervous (yes, to run 3.1 miles) but had a lot of support there from friends who were also running the race. It was a gorgeous morning and I wanted to pinch myself while I was out on the course. I felt so blessed that my body was allowing me to run and the scenery along the Mississippi was beautiful. I ended up finishing in 24:03 - in the back of my head I wanted to finish in under 24 minutes but I'll take it!

Speaking of running, one of my FAVORITE fall mornings came and went the first weekend of October - Twin Cities Marathon! We headed out to the course to watch almost a dozen friends run the marathon. It was yet again a picture perfect morning with ideal conditions and temperatures. I was bursting with pride for everyone I knew out there - each year I watch, I am increasingly in awe of the runners. And Oliver and Stella had a great time shaking their cow bells in support!

Here's a little random goodness of pictures.

I was lucky enough to escape the cities and head north with 8 friends (and no kids.....or husbands!). We went to a friend's cabin at the north shore and had an amazing time hiking, cooking, drinking, and just sharing motherhood, life, and all that good stuff. Again, incredibly blessed by this opportunity and friendships!