Thanksgiving!

We had our first Thanksgiving in the new house!! Preparation was much less stressful this year with all of the extra space we had and it was so nice! I prepped the sweet potato casserole the day before but pretty much everything else was made that day. I went for a walk with friends and by the time I got home Pat was getting the mashed potatoes ready for the slow cooker. Everyone came over between 1 and 2 and I think we ended up eating around 3. We didn't have any new dishes for the meal this year but I did set out a veggie tray that ended up almost gone by the end of the night. We had plenty of desserts too and found out probably 3 pies is plenty. It's nice to have the leftovers though!

 

Anniversary Trip-Charleston!

Pat and I celebrated our 20th anniversary this year! Instead of a fancy dinner we planned a trip to Charleston. Pat had been there a couple times and said how nice it was but it was my first time going. We loved it! Such a cute town with a ton of history. Everything operates at kind of a slow pace so we never felt rushed anywhere. We walked around a ton and ate good food and mostly just explored the city for two days. The kids stayed home by themselves and everything there went pretty smoothly (as far as they told us!). So grateful we got to spend time together and we have kids we trust!

There are a ton of house tours to do in Charleston but we settled on the Nathaniel Russell house. Everything feels problematic because so much of the city was built by slaves and the city has done a good job of making that part of the history very well known. The house was beautiful but I was a little disappointed more of it wasn't open to the public and didn't like having to wear headphones to hear the history. I would rather read signs!

We chose the Peninsula Grille for our celebratory dinner and it was really nice! The food was delicious and the decor felt like you were eating in a museum. For dessert we got a giant slice of coconut cake which is their specialty and I was so full already but it was good enough that I found room to eat it! Even the walk into the restaurant was so nice!

The details on the houses and churches were so fun! A lot of pink and bright colors everywhere along with plaques detailing the history

We went on a ghost tour that had us wandering the city to see churches and graveyards and listening to spooky stories. It was so fun!

We ate at Magnolias, which was on every list of things to do in Charleston but we weren't super impressed. There was a ton of fun places to shop too, including that completely pink store in the picture

For breakfast we ate at Hot Little Biscuit which was delicious but pretty rich to start the morning. Off Track ice cream was ok but not anything super special and the Banana Pudding doughnut I had at Hero Doughnuts and Buns was maybe the best doughnut I've ever had!

Wandering random alleys

I think this picture from the plane was on our way to Charleston

Beautiful fountain outside our hotel!

More wandering

Pineapple fountain by the water

We took a carriage tour around the city and this was our horse, Buster

At the airport waiting to come home!

 

Soccer Banquet!

This was the official last event for Owen's junior high school soccer season! All of the winter sports gathered at the school for awards before splitting off by sport to celebrate. Owen got a medal for being a third year varsity player! So excited for him! Then the team and family members ate a bunch of food while the coaches said really nice things about each kid. It's so hard watching the senior parents do these things for the last time knowing that will be us next year!!

Owen receiving his medal

Three year varsity players

Owen, Jalen, Noah, Adan, Omar, LJ
These kids have played together for so many years!

Off to take a picture

Omar, Jalen, Owen

Kids and parents!

Owen and Coach Steve and Coach Joe!

 

Misc

Blackout night for the football game

Beautiful weather for a walk

I put together some Adirondack chairs for the backyard 

The old coffee bar is now a spot for decorations

Fall leaves!

Hike to the top of the stairs

Owen and Griffin

Pat started his meeting like this so he wouldn't have to kick out Griffin

No trespassing sign at what used to be a favorite spot to get down to the river

Blue out at the football game

We got the cats a little cardboard fort but only Griffin likes to go in

Pat got a VR system

Owen played

Paige too

Owen in part of his Halloween costume

Cats got a new cat tree! It's taller (and cleaner)

Paige and I ready for family picture day

 

This is Halloween!

Halloween was on a Tuesday this year, much to Paige's dismay. She did request to stay home the next day but we said no! I had the table all set up and doughnuts ready to go by 7am. This year I had pumpkin surprise balls that looked like pumpkins on the table too. They each had a crown, joke, stickers and a bracelet. Paige's friends gathered at our house and got ready with their group costume, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, they looked super cute but they were very very cold! Owen, Pat and I sat out on the driveway and handed out candy. It was so fun! We met some neighbors and all the kids who came by were polite. By 8pm Paige's friends plus a bunch of boys were warming up in the house and we finally got our family selfie around 10. Such a fun night!