Turkey Trot

We spent Thanksgiving morning downtown while Claire ran her first Turkey Trot with Mark! 

It was sooo cold (25 to be exact)! But Claire and Mark couldn’t be stopped!

 And Oliver and I were there to cheer them on!!!

 They made it!!!

So proud of my trotters!

Love my turkeys!!

Carving Pumpkins

Last night we carved our pumpkins! This year the kids were pretty much able to do it all on their own! While I miss them being little it was cool to watch them get creative!

They needed a bit of help getting started but once they were started they were off!

And everyone loved getting messy!

The final product was amazing!!!  Claire's in the winky face, mine is the elephant, and Oliver's is the jack o lantern.  Mark's pumpkin rotted and was eaten by squirrels so he didn't get one lol!

Halloween Family Fun Night

We had another wonderful Halloween Bash at Windom this year. I can still remember Claire’s first year when she was in a kindergarten and now she is helping out in MIDDLE SCHOOL!

Oliver has a blast with his buddy Will and kept him under close watch the whole night!

Lorenzo Alexander’s daughter goes to Oliver’s school so the kids love hanging out with him when they see him. He is so nice and always takes time to get pictures with the kids.

Claire and her buddies volunteered to come back and help out at the party this year! I am so proud of my girl and so glad we could all still go together!

Oliver was a riot with his milk costume!

And what would this night be without Grandma. She has been braving this party to help me out for the last few years (because Mark is working). I was gonna give her this year off because I didn’t really need help but Oliver would not hear of it! So he called her up and Grandma  gave up a Friday night to rock it up in the Windom gym ❤️

Happy Birthday Mark!!!

We had a great time celebrating Mark’s 43rd birthday with Great Grandma an Great Grandpa!

The kids love visiting with them!

Happy birthday Mark!!! We love you and I have no idea what we would do without you!

Ironman Day #2

Day 2 started with us exploring pedestrian village.

We found a super cute place for breakfast!

And had some fun being silly!

Love these faces!

Pedestrian village reminded me of Beauty And The Beast!

 One spot was prettier than the next!

I couldn't help but take a few pictures!

The kids love hanging out with Grandma!

Mark was ready to check in his bike!

And of course, Oliver wanted to help him!

My little man just wanted to help his Daddy with everything!

All the bikes were ready to go!

 We loved checking out the swim site!

It was so beautiful!

I love my Ironfamily!

Seriously, the whole place was gorgeous!

 We loved the gondola ride!

 We all enjoyed a delicious steak dinner!

After a great dinner it was time to head off to bed for our big day!

Ironman Day #1

This summer Mark did his third Ironman in Mont Tremblant, Canada.  We absolutely loved our time in Canada and we really hope to travel back there some day!

After our fun night in Ottawa we headed to Mont Tremblant.  Mark had to check in for his race so we explored the race site a bit.  Here are the kids at the finish line.

My Ironfamily!

We stopped for a quick lunch and a huge beer.  While we were at lunch the kids found out their teachers for next year and they were thrilled!  Oliver got Mr. Dovey and Claire is on base Andromeda.  The kids were both pretty thrilled so we were all happy!

After lunch we met up with Grandma and Grandpa.  The kids were so excited to see them!

Mark had a dinner and information night to go to so the kids decided to swim.  Luckily we were staying at ski resort so the outdoor pool was heated!  The kids had a blast swimming in the rain while I sat under an umbrella and read my book.

It was super relaxing and just gorgeous!

And the covered hot tub was amazing!

After a fun swim we ventured back out for a late pizza dinner.  And another gigantic beer!

Safe to say the first day was a success!  

Ottawa

On our way to Mark’s next Ironman we decided to do a one night stop in Ottawa!!!

We couldn’t wait to hit the road!

After a long day of driving we couldn’t wait to get settled in our hotel and head out to dinner.  Claire and Oliver loved their first Uber ride!!!

And we were all super excited for some delicious Japanese food!

The food and the drinks were amazing!

Cheers to a great family vacation!!!

This restaurant was AMAZING!!!

After dinner we walked over to Parliament Hill!

It is such a beautiful building!

They do a laser light show every night and highlight the important events from Canada’s history! It was really incredible! 

We all really enjoyed it!!!

This is the the Centennial Flame and it commemorates Canada’s 100th anniversary as a Confederation!

After a long day of traveling and a quick bit of site seeing, the kids were BEAT! 

So far we are loving our trip up North!!!