Pumpkin Patch

It was sunny and...kind of warm...so we went to the pumpkin patch today! Maren is much bigger than those pumpkins this year. She picked her very own small one and a little white gourd.

Maren helped her dad pull the wagon and it was heavy with the pumpkins in it!

We saw the ponies and horses on the farm, too. The wind was a little much though and it wasn't long before we were all ready to head home.

Chips

Maren enjoys stealing things from the pantry when the door is left open. I was busy making biscuits for dinner this afternoon and she got the fritos out. I could see her trying to open the clip to get into the bag, but it wasn't working. So, she went to the cupboard and took out a bowl. then she turned the bag upside down and shook it to get the chips out. She tried many different times before asking me to open it and when I told her she couldn't have them she gave up - but went back to the pantry to ask for fruit.

Potty?

Here's Maren testing out her royal chair, while eating a cookie, and Izzy's watching. Believe us - we have NO high hopes for this new chair right now, but she is interested in potties and diapers...so why not? She said "wow" when she saw the box and then "open....open....open!" and sat down promptly when it was out of the box. Now to teach her what to do when on it...

New Toy

Maren would like to introduce her new outdoor castle! After much debate and the pain of not living within short walking distance of a park (it's more like a long walk, short car drive, or short bike ride) we decided to get her a small version of a play set to use so she can learn ladders and slides and practice her climbing.

She seemed to have a lot of fun playing on it yesterday afternoon. I was so glad the rain went away. The grass was soggy, but it was nice ans sunny!

There is even this peek hole and we had LOTS of fun peeking.

Maren would crawl to the slide opening then hurry back to the peek hole and say "peeeeeek!" I rarely get so many smiling pictures looking directly at the camera!

Talking to Gama and Papa

Here's Maren talking to Gama and Papa!

An Apple A Day

Allen's Orchard, 2009

Maren learned to pick apples today. It was kind of hard because her hands are so small!

She even found treasures on the ground - like this pear fron the pear tree behind her. She was very excited to bring her treasures back to the basket. We worked really hard on being gentle with the apples, but it seems they are more fun to throw and attempt to get in the basket.

Maren wanted to hold her very own apple on the way home. I even think she picked this one. Of course, she couldn't wait to get home to taste it. SO.....

This is how far she got in the less than 10 minute drive. We kept making her say words like "cow" on the way home to make sure she wasn't choking. She kept eating this apple for the next hour at home until...

I put her down for a nap. She talked to her precious apple for more than 10 minutes, grabbing a bite here and there, but would NOT let go of it. See how it replaced stinky frog when she finally fell asleep? We had a fun time and ended our evening tonight with home made apple crisp.

Another Day in the Park - with Alena

This weekend has been better than we could have hoped, weather-wise. So sunny and warm! Yesterady we went to a party at the neighbors' then a block party for our neighborhood last night. We met the Jensen's at the park today for a picnic. Maren was busy busy running around, pointing out "goose", "puppy" and "puppy" (squirrels). She and Alena ate lots of picnic foods (cheese and fruit mostly) and enjoyed trying each other's water cups. There was even time for fun at the playground! No way was Maren going home with out playing on the equipment. I think it's time for our own swing set. We had a great time, Alena, Melissa, and Ben!