Snow in Texas!

Snow in Texas, especially Houston, is a pretty big deal. When forecasts started predicting snow a few days out, I rolled my eyes, but it turns out they were right! I got just as excited as a native Texan about it, and Emmeline didn't have to wait until Wisconsin to see some snow.

Thanksgiving

We got to start a few fun traditions this year, including a thankful pumpkin, and turkey pancakes for breakfast!

This year one of Emmeline's friends, Everett, and his family invited us over to their family's Thanksgiving. Emmeline and Everett had a blast together, and we enjoyed the company for the afternoon. It was nice to have somewhere to go since we couldn't be with our own families.

Halloween & Fall Fun

Another year of fall and Halloween fun. Once again, the weather proved to be rather miserable for most of the month, but we still managed to have a blast celebrating the "fall" season! I let Emmeline choose what she wanted to be for Halloween this year, and after much back and forth between a buffalo (a highly discouraged this one, way too hot!), a cat, an owl, and a dinosaur, she finally landed on an owl. It was fun to make and turned out pretty cute!

Paris Part 2: Walks, Sights, and Food

What Paris post would be complete without mention of the walks, sights, and food? It was fun to revisit many of the places we frequented when living there, and check out a few new things.

Paris Part 1: Paris with a Toddler!

Oh, Paris! After 2.5 years away, we were able to spend several weeks there again when Nick had a business trip there. This time Emmeline got join in on the fun, and I think she fell in love with it as much as we did!

Canada: A Whole Lotta Smoke, Some Beauty, & Calgary

From this point on, our trip was marked primarily by the prescense of wildfire smoke, and a lot of it. Apparently, this has been fairly common with summer with very little rain and wildfires all over British Columbia. Things will clear up for a few days with good winds and then go back to smoke filled. Sadly, there was no way to predict how the next day would be, but we never did see those goregous blue skies again. We still found lots of beauty, and we can only imagine how truly beautiful this area must be without the smoke!

Canada: Beautiful Canmore & Banff

This is maybe the strangest trip we've ever planned: booked plane tickets 9 months in advance (which we never do) on a whim and cheap tickets, and yet probably the least amount of planning and prep before we left for the trip. Despite the wildfires in British Columbia sending smoke our way for the majority of the week, we still enjoyed our first trip to Banff National Park and Emmeline's first trip to Canada (and another country)!