Piper is 8!

Our sweet little spicy sunshine turned 8! We celebrated with Casey's, Cattitude, friends and family, it was nonstop and she reveled in every single second of it. She perfectly combines her considerate heart with her silly sense of humor. For her birthday dinner choice, we went for steak at our favorite wine bar, gotta love her. Although birthdays are bittersweet, we are excited for a new year and new adventures with our bunny loving Pip.

Enjoy the photo session... (Piper likes to dress in color theme, today was a pink day, as you can see ;))

October in-betweens and my FINAL Great Gatherings!

October in a blink! 

We had some excitement on a random school day when the secretary called me to tell me that Sully was in the office, hurt. This is maybe the first time he has ever called from the office in his school career, so I knew it was something. He had tripped and fell and landed on his hand, heard a crack and that was it. An ER visit later resulted in a broken humerus, fortunately, very minor, but enough to cancel his soccer season. ;(. 

We celebrated more Taylor Swift with her movie version of her concert and fell in in love all over again, Dave and my parents were able to join in on the fun this time making it even more special. We just can't get enough of the gal. 

We watched Isaac and his team take second in state soccer. It was a heartbreaker of a game but the team was proud of their accomplishments and they are excited to seek revenge next year. Isaac got to dress varsity as a freshman this year so it made it fun for us all to cheer them on. 

Finally, Great Gatherings 2023: We had a really fun and really successful Great Gatherings event, its my final Great Gatherings as part of the parent advocate (PASI) board I’m on and it was bittersweet to have it be the most successful to date. I’m proud of our team, we are excited to grant teachers and students money in order to enhance our successful immersion program. Cheers to attending as a parent from here on out, and cheers to PASI for all I have learned from being a part of the board. My term officially ends on July 1st. 

Sully with his new accessory. 

Greta and Jo in their Swiftie Era.

Sully has been writing letters to family 
and this was one his first, and worth documenting. 

10/10 summer with grandpa. 

Etiquette instruction from Greta. 
Any guesses on who the double dipper in the family is? ;)

Post soccer photos

Staying warm at the State Champ game. 

Great Gatherings crew 2023

Muncestream.Advenures: Autumn Camping at Lake Hermann State Park

We made our way back to Lake Hermann State Park for our final camping weekend of the season. We arrived on Friday evening around 5pm and it was so cold, almost too cold to park and set up camp, so we did the bare minimum and spent our first hour bundled in the Airstream playing YAHTZEE! with the furnace on. We went into into Madison for dinner where I taught the kids and Dave how to play gin rummy, it's never too early...or too late! We came back to tuck into the warm camper and watch a movie. 

On Saturday we got up and had a big campfire breakfast and went for a hike around Hermann Pond, the perfect 1.2 mile loop with enough interesting things to keep the kids engaged. We drove to Brookings for a ROKU so we could watch the Twins play in the playoffs and decided to grab lunch while we were there. The kids begged for KFC and wanted to try fried chicken, which is hilarious because Dave has an aversion to chicken on the bone, so they have had it only a handful of times. It turns out they share his aversion because the only food they could stomach were the sides, the biscuit and mac and cheese. 

We made it back in time for another hike around the lake and then hooked up the ROKU to watch the Twins game before a quick happy hour featuring the most incredible sunset. We finished the day with a flashlight dinner and bon fire. It was a great day. 

Sunday was another lovely day, we had a similar campfire breakfast and then played 9 holes of golf at the Madison Country Club. We loved the small town laid back golf course. Everyone had fun and the weather was amazing for October. We had a sunset soccer game, probably a highlight for all, especially for Sully, who has soccer on his mind all of the time. We finished the night with dinner in the camper, and much to our delight, a Twins WIN. 

It was a 10/10 weekend and a great way to round out our 3rd camping season. 

Cozy camper hangs. 

Off to dinner! 

The kids are preparing breakfast on the Blackstone. 

Hermann Pond hike on a perfect day. 

We found every color of the rainbow in this spot. 

Autum camping/post season ball. 

Happy hour sunset...hello Julie! 

Dinner by flashlight.

Autumn golf. 

Soccer fun, especially for Sully who played 1v3 and won! 

You can imagine how this ended. HA! 

Montreal with Mag

Mag and I had a really great extended weekend in Montreal. What stated as a quick get away idea snowballed into an international adventure and we are both excited that that was the first of many. 

We had a long travel day on Wednesday and made the most of it with a long lunch and a hip airport bar. We arrived ahead of schedule but missed the hotel bar last call by about 15 minutes, which may have been the best miss of the trip. We ventured out and happened upon a speakeasy which only served tequila. Definitely no my go to, but the bar tender promised me the best spicy margarita of my life and he delivered. Let the adventure begin! 

The following morning, we went on a scooter tour around Montreal, hitting most of our must-see spots in fun fashion, from bagels in the Jewish neighborhood to Mount Royal to the Italian Market and trough graveyards, it was lots of fun. We hunted down Thai for lunch before walking back to the hotel for a much needed nap. We showered up and went for a glass of wine at the Place D’Arms hotel and then for Italian in the Old Town. 

On Friday we made our way to Rue St Catherine for poutine and all of the souvenir shopping we could handle. It was fun and low key, no agenda and just time to wander. We found a happy hour, got a second ear piercing (we were influenced by the girls), grabbed pizza and a drink at an outdoor patio and then found this super cool speakeasy called Nhauwith with a smokey ambience and incredible signature drinks. It was a full and really fun day. 

Saturday was our final day. We wandered around near the port in the old part of the city, found some boutiques, coffee, and tacos before taking a Lyft to Rues St Dennis. We went searching for beads for the girls but were so pleasantly surprised with charm of the neighborhood. It was loaded with great shops and squares and streets to get lost in. We had an early bedtime and caught a super early flight home in order to be back with our families by 1pm.  

It was drama free and perfect. Can’t wait to see what’s next!  

Airport hangout done right. 

Scooter tour.

Speakeasy vibes.

Mag taught me how to take photos from 
my watch. HA! 

YOLO

Nothing better.

Another day another speakeasy. 

Rue St. Dennis

Exploring 

Charming Old Town

Happy kids... 

...who haven't brushed their hair in several days. :)