Halloween

Halloween on a rainy Friday, no one knew how the evening would pan out, but it was our most successful one yet. We passed out every single candy bar and had nearly 450 trick or treaters. It was a constant line of kiddos on the sidewalk and I was so impressed with how mature and polite the kids were. Cheers to that! 

My crew was dispersed, Piper (a parrot) went with neighbors around the neighborhood, Greta (Thing 2 of 2) went with school friends in a different neighborhood, and Sully (a skeleton) went with a couple of buddies in our neighborhood. His crew walked miles and miles and ended up with 10+lbs of candy...the priorities of a 13 year old ;). Dave went with Piper and I stayed home to hand out candy until Dave and Piper returned. 

We got everyone settled when the evening was over and Dave and I had a glass of wine with some neighbors to end the evening. It was perfect. 

Piper the parrot and friends. 

Sully the skeleton and friends.

💛

Greta and friends.

Piper is 10!

We had so much fun celebrating Piper! Our days have been jam packed this fall with Annie, Jr rehearsals, Girls on the Run, and everything else we could squeeze in, so we made the most of her day with a fancy dinner at R Wine Bar (where she could order a steak) with my parents.  

She woke up with a smile on her face and was SO excited to be double digits. She can best be described as a spicy but sweet, sort of like a spicy cookie, we love every version of her. xoxoxo to you Pip! 

Spicy 

Sweet

Birthday greetings from the GOTR team.

See if she can cross grandpa's eyes. 

Birthday wishes. 

Alllll the Fall Things

We have kept as busy as possible this Fall between all three kids and their different activities, it has been fun, but I'll be the first to tell you that its maybe too much. 

Sully kicked off his middle school sports career with cross country where he met some new friends and set some personal records. We loved cheering him and his buddies at the weekly meets. He also played rec soccer with his trusty team. They have been together for years and its been a joy to watch them grow and get stronger and better, and have a great time together. 

Piper has been busy with Spotlight, Girls on the Run, and soccer. Yikes, that girl went from 0 to 100 this Fall and I could barely keep up. I volunteered to coach Girls on the Run and we had a great time together, she has a bright and spunky personality among here peers and it was fun to get a glimpse into that part of her. 

Greta keeps busy with middle school mentoring and Spotlight, and probably the biggest adjustment of all is navigating middle school. We started off slow as the adjustment feels too much at times, but we are seeing her progress and confidence build daily. She is working so hard and we are really proud of her. 

Seventh grade cross country team.

Nike Preview with friends. 

Cheering session.

Raptors

Go Pip! 

Piper and Elin

Girls on the Run - Mag came to be a support runner. 

Greta, too! 

Our Sonia Sotomayor team. 

Mission: Possible

Greta on her way in to her mentorship. 

Munstream Adventures: Lake Herman State Park

We wrapped up our 5th year with the Airstream at one of our favorite spots, Lake Herman State Park near Madison, SD. We love to claim our favorite campsite near the pond with the best trees, close to trails and all sorts of places to explore. Dave went early and set up camp and the rest of us met him in time for dinner in town. It was fantastic to show up and have all of the set up done. 

On Saturday, we found a small family pumpkin patch near Lake Norden where we picked out pumpkins for the Airstream and at home, Sully also managed to sneak an apple pie out of the deal which is on par for him :). 

Sunday was cool and windy and we took advantage of the day and hunkered down, reading and relaxing in the Airstream, the kids played a few games, I was thankful for an open and low key day. Mag and Jeff and Anna joined us in the afternoon for a happy hour and campfire dinner. The food was great and the kids loved having Anna around to explore. We caught the most incredible sunset and much to the kids' delight, Anna stayed the night. They taught her how to play Monopoly and watched a movie. We had a big breakfast and enjoyed the beautiful day with a long hike. Anna left in the afternoon and we sat by the fire and enjoyed an early bedtime. 

We woke up to more wind and this time rain on Tuesday morning, we had all hands on deck to pack up and get out of there as fast as we could. It went pretty smooth with everyone helping. I drove the kids home and Dave wasn't too far behind with the Airstream. We unpacked it and winterized it and parked it for the winter. Our parking was done in record time (6 minutes!!). We immediately started getting dates on our calendar for next summer. Its crazy how much we have learned an how much confidence we have slowly gained and I feel like this has been our best summer yet, were excited to see what's in store next year! 

Pancakes and bacon for breakfast. 

Lake Norden pumpkin patch. 

Autumn Camping

Herman Pond

Lake Herman sunset. 

Squad. 

Monopoly

Lovely morning for a hike. 

Weeping with the Willows. 

Nature

Afternoon s'mores. 

Afternoon slowdown. 

Documenting Dave's 30 minutes of downtime.
He enjoyed every second. :)

Campfire nachos. 

Greta killing the flies...so many flies!! 

Celebrating our 15th in the UK.

Dave and I had the best anniversary get-away, we truly loved every moment. We had anticipated a 'bigger' adventure for this year and it was perfect. 

We flew into London and caught a train to Cardiff, Wales. Neither of us have been to Wales before and it was a great spot to start our trip. We stayed at this great hotel called the Parkgate which is actually the original location of their Post Office, it was moody and full of great nooks and crannies to check out. The location was perfect as it was on one block from their high street. We arrived on Sunday just in time for a late dinner (due to a flight delay in Mpls), and made our way to bed almost immediately. We explored the city on Monday, appreciating the city center, Wales Castle, which is surrounded by acres and acres of green space known as Bute Park which was originally the castle's grounds. The landscape, gardens and cafes made it so charming, it was easy to spend the afternoon following the various trails. We wandered back and made our way to the waterfront which has been redeveloped into a shopping area with great food choices, museums, and a ferris wheel. We had a happy hour and made our way back. On Tuesday, we explored the Arcades, glass covered walkways, which Wales is known for, they are truly remarkable. Some are fancy, some have shops, some have restaurants, and some have a little bit of everything. The high street stretched for blocks and we had no problem exploring for an entire day. We made our way back for a happy hour at the hotel and a late dinner before taking the train back to London on Tuesday. 

We arrived in London with no problems and easily found the Langham, our hotel in Marleybone. Our hotel was fantastic and exceeded every expectation. They even pipe fresh flower smells through the ventilation, every single detail has been considered, wow. We settled and explored Mayfair and found something to eat before a relatively early bedtime. Dave and I had researched about 5 different neighborhoods we wanted to explore and set out each day to do so. We loved each of them for different reasons, but Hampstead, Highgate, and Maida Vale were our top three. Hampstead has the Heath and a fantastic village and high street, Highgate has parks and squares and also a great high street. Maida Vale is near where we stayed a few years ago and is a bit more residential and quiet but centrally located with my favorite garden shop, Clifton Nurseries. It is also in close proximity to the canals which is the perfect setting for a beautiful walk. We also explored Marleybone Village which is picturesque, Vauxhall for The Black Dog (Taylor Swift, yes we did ;)) and nearby park for a slowdown, Westminster for Parliament, Southwark for the Tower Bridge, and Hyde Park for the sunshine and a good book. We also caught the ABBA experience, and a soccer game for the fun of it. Gosh it never ends. And I'm constantly in awe of the beauty of the old arcitecture combined with the new and how it all just works, and works well. We pride ourselves on relying solely on tubes, trains, busses, and our own two legs for transportation. 

We missed the kids and they missed us, but they had many good people checking in on them and helping with their every need, it was a sweet reunion, and like always, we love to go, but also love to come home, how lucky are we? Cheers to 15 great years of loving, learning, and growing together with our three great kids. xoxo

We made it to o Cardiff!

Coffee by the castle. 

Reminders of home while we are out exploring. 

Dinner on the high street in Cardiff.

One of the many lovely Arcades.

Mayfair, London. 

Exploring Hampstead.

The Black Dog
iykyk :)

I was totally geeking out, we even sat at table 22.

You can sort of see Dave relaxing in the sun. 

Cotton candy sunset with the Tower Bridge. 

Tackling the Christmas letter.

Highgate.

Highgate High Street 

Dave txting Greta his daily dad joke. 

It is as dreamy as it looks. 💞

Tottenham soccer! 

City views. 

Did I mention our amazing hotel upgrade? 

Clifton Nurseries in Maida Vale

Last day, reading in Hyde Park. xoxoxo