A Fun Weekend

We had a busy and fun weekend.  On Saturday, Maren, Josh and I checked out the Gluten Free Food Fest.  Our little lady loves to snack and discovered dill lentil chips are a new favorite!



Here she is with her lentil chips.

 Maren and I earning a free bag of pretzels.

On Sunday we went to the Grand Ol' Day parade.  It was an absolutely beautiful day for a parade, and we had two very enthusiastic parade goers!

Here's Owen waiting for the parade and showing off how much he looks like Josh. 

Maren and I posing to earn free stuff again.  

The parade is starting!  

 

The bands were a little much for Maren.

Not for this guy, though.  He did a lot of dancing!

 

He says this is his "dancing face."

Finally, on Sunday afternoon, we celebrated our cousin's second birthday! I was too busy keeping Owen and Maren from opening all the presents to take pictures.  I wish I would have taken one of Jonah before he fell and bumped his head.  Either way, we enjoyed celebrating this little guy and eating his delicious soccer ball cake.

Happy Birthday, Jonah!

New Fence

The newest addition to our home is a fenced-in back yard.  Owen, Maren and Cooper are all excited to have a bit more freedom to go in and out as they please. 



The kids were excited to help with some clean up.

This little guy is the most amazing and dedicated helper. 

A view of our fence and an adorable little girl.

Another view of the fence.

The best part of having a fence is that we can have friends over to play without mom worrying about someone escaping.

And, just for fun, some sweet pictures of Josh and his little clone.

Owen has done great with potty training but is struggling with #2, which means tummy aches and a lot of snuggles. 

Meeting a Celebrity

I know a lot of time has passed since my last post, but I'm just going to pretend like it hasn't and start with a very exciting adventure our family embarked on over the weekend.  We met a celebrity! Our favorite PBS character, Daniel Tiger,  climbed aboard trolley and traveled to St. Paul to meet some new friends.  We had to wait in line to meet Daniel, so his journey to St. Paul turned into a long story to keep the kiddos entertained.  And, now, here's the story of our morning meeting Daniel Tiger.



We took the light rail. Owen had his first ride a couple weeks ago and loved it, so we wanted to give our other train enthusiast a turn. 

This guy was excited to be back on the train!

The taking-it-all-in members of our family.

While waiting to meet Daniel, there were some photo opportunities. This is what you get if you ask Maren to smile.  I can't wait for school pictures!

Owen prefers the animated Daniel Tiger and chose to wave at him from a distance, while inhaling a cooking.  He's my kind of guy.

Maren, on the other hand, was so excited to meet Daniel.

She grabbed his paws and started dancing with him.

She's pretty shy around new people, but a large costumed person is not at all intimidating to her. 

She constantly tells me that she hugged Daniel because he was the "softest" and "squishiest." 

After meeting Daniel, we checked out the park next to the TPT building, which Owen was really excited about.

He had to wait very patiently for his turn to drive this truck, but I think it was worth the wait. 

On Mother's Day, we went out to lunch.  I didn't pack a change of clothes for the kiddos, so, naturally, Maren spilled her juice right away. Thankfully, she was willing to wear Grandma Colleen's cardigan while she waited for daddy to run home and grab a new outfit for her.  Not my most organized mom moment, but it made for a memorable Mother's Day. 

Maren hanging out like it's totally normal to wear just a sweater and a diaper in a restaurant. 

You may think she's sad that she spilled, but she's actually mad her food hasn't come yet. 

Our New House and a Fall Update

We moved into our new home in September. It's in a wonderful neighborhood and has a bit more space for the kiddos, including their own bedrooms.  We are only the second owners of the house, which was built in the 50s, so it does needs some updating. We plan to save major renovations (like bathrooms or kitchens) until the kids are a little older, but we have made some changes and are happy with the progress!

We removed a large awning from the front window, and Josh, Owen and Grandpa Dave took out some overgrown shrubs.  

.

These green appliances have been replaced with white ones.  

I would take a picture, but I can't seem to find a time when my counter isn't covered in dishes!

We replaced the carpeting upstairs. 

And, the most fun part was decorating Owen's and Maren's new rooms.

Maren's - Before 

Maren's - After

 

Owen's - Before

Owen's - After 

 

Our favorite part of our new home is the eat-in kitchen.  Seriously, we love it!

 It's a great place to eat donuts with friends. 

And for our many art projects, like painting pumpkins. 

 

Speaking of pumpkins, Thomas and Percy were obsessed with Halloween this year!

They loved trick-or-treating and had a great time seeing where Josh works at the Starkey Halloween party.  At this party, we also got to see two very different approaches to cookie decorating. 

When were weren't dressed in our Halloween costumes, we enjoyed the warm fall by walking to our favorite bakery with our cousin. 

And jumping in giant piles of leaves. 

 Our new yard may be smaller, but there are still plenty of leaves!