Happy Halloween!!

We started off the day doing some "Halloween practice"......Parker dressed up and we headed to my work to see everyone and raid the candy jars. Then we went to Great Grandma Marie's and wandered the halls and got more candy. Then we came home and took a long nap in preparation for the long night. After nap we picked up Lee, ate dinner and headed to Grandma & Grandpa C's house. We did some trick-or-treating in their neighborhood and Grandma gave both the boys huge bags full of all kinds of stuff!!Waiting patiently.....
Then we headed to our own neck of the woods and went to a few houses around here, Parker got a juice box and that seemed to be the big winner of the night for him!!

Look at the awesome cupcakes that Mor Mor gave Parker, she also gave him a big Halloween tin with popcorn in it and a bunch of other candy!!

Seriously, he is 3!! What are we ever going to do with all this candy???

After all that we took cousin Lee home and came home to get Parker into bed.....at 10:00!! I think this is officially the latest he has ever stayed up!

Halloween at Byerly's

Potty training is going really well. Today Park's went into the bathroom several times to go potty without us having to ask him. When he is going #2 he likes to read or be read to. No accidents in over 3 days, and only 1 accident in 6 days. No #2 accidents in 9 days!!!Today we got to have an early Halloween and this kid was SO excited!!

We met baby Paige and a friend of hers at Byerly's to go Trick-or-Treating.....

Ivy and Alex were also there!!!

We even got a button of the following pose!

It was good practice for the real thing on Friday, we made him say trick-or-treat and of course thank you! He got so much stuff.......cookies, candy bars, chocolate milk, a matchbox car, carrot sticks, apples, popcorn. He had lots of fun!!

Maple Maze Monday

We met our friends Alex and Ivy at the Maple Maze today. They got along.....like 3 year olds!I told the kids to make goofy faces, Parker decided not to...

Alex insisted that they all hold hands the whole way out.

Mississippi Hippie

Daddy & Parker headed to the river again today. I think I should change the name of my blog to "The River". While they were there they ran into the Mississippi Hippie again. You may remember that he is a man they met earlier in the summer who has a neat little setup at the river, benches, fire pit, rock path, tee pee.....Today he asked Matt to sign him and Parker's name on his bench.

The boys did their usual stuff but also found something new today. A giant monkey!!

It's sad, snow is in the forcast for tomorrow. We will miss the river.

Floating lessons?

Another Friday, another swimming lesson. Parker tells me every Friday that he doesn't want to go. Once we are there he seems to have fun though. He seems to get a little better each week too. He will put his chin in and blow bubbles, and with Angie's "help" he will put his whole face in. He is pretty good at the floating part, as you can see on the following video.

He is also doing great with his potty training! He has gone potty in a few public places, and after swim class today he went at school. He is even getting better about going on his own without a reminder. No accidents in a public place yet either and almost 48 hours accident free. Only 1 accident in 4 days!!

Maple Maze, McDonald's, River.....

This morning we met Alex and Dawn at the Maple Maze. The kids played in the maze for a while and then we went and watched some people playing hockey, Parker seemed fascinated by this!After the maze we went to McDonald's for lunch. Num.
After lunch we went home and took a nap and ate an early dinner. The Knight's came over (including daddy Knight!) at around 5:00 and we headed to the river!
We discovered a new tree "cave" and Parker went in to check it out.
We also saw a huge beaver in the water and on the shore tonight. After exploring the river from down below we headed up and crossed the Stone Arch Bridge before coming home.
We had a super fun night. Thanks for coming with us guys!!!

Fire Station!!

We went to the Fire Station open house today. Even though we went last year Parker was still very excited to sit in the trucks and wear a fire chief hat.... He sat in all of the trucks but spent the most time in the Mobile Command Unit.
This year he got to meet Sparky the dalmatian and give him a hug.
Another cool thing he got to do this year that he didn't get to do last year was spray the hose. He waited patiently in line for this, he was so excited!!
He also ate popcorn this year, which he wouldn't do last year, he tried it last year and didn't like it, now he can't get enough of it!

Here is a video of the boy with the hose.

*On a sad note.....we had 2 potty accidents today, one of each kind. But, we are positive we are making progress and aren't going back to diapers, except at bedtime.

The Boys....

Today was cousin Lee's last day with us (he spent 2 nights, 3 days). Matt took the boys to the greatest place ever....THE RIVER!!! They explored some new areas today and had a lot of fun. It was a nice fall day.Lots of graffiti in Minneapolis....
I love this picture.....
Cousin Lee helping Parker....
Today was day 3 of no diapers, and not an accident yet. Gone 2 hours at the river and we went to Target later, no diaper!!

When Auntie Maureen came to pick up Parker he screamed bloody murder in the driveway and cried because he was so sad that Lee was leaving. It was really sad, and sweet. We had a good time with Lee!

aleXX

After swimming we went to play and have lunch with Alex today. Parker can say Alex now!! He holds the "X" for a while and it sounds really cute. Swimming is going well, he is working on floating on his back and putting his face and head in the water. He can do it but his teacher has to push him a little.You may be wondering why my kid has no pants on in this picture with cousin Lee and Alex....we are trying potty training again. Yesterday he did really well. Went potty in his diaper while out shopping with Nana and potty in his diaper over night, not during nap though. At home he is only wearing underwear, and today from swimming to Alex's house only underwear! No accidents today so far!!
Parker was Batman today and Alex was Superman!

Thanks for having us over guys!!

Fun at "Knight"

We went out with our friends the Knight's tonight....We took them to one of our favorite spots that they hadn't been to yet. The River, Father Hennepin Park and the Stone Arch Bridge. The deer was there again! It was a chilly night too!
If you look closely at this picture you can see one of the 3 ducks that swam up to us.
Here Matt is taking the boys to the waterfall.
Alex and Parker sitting on the rock cliff.
Sitting on the rock wall that we climbed over and then walked up the big hill behind it.
Giving the boys a little city culture....
Looking out at the water from the Stone Arch Bridge.

We had soooooo much fun!!!!

Parks...

Parks went to a couple parks with his Grandma & Grandpa O today. Not sure where, but I heard that mor mor said he was very active!He kept calling this his "Bat mobile Motorcycle" when we looked at the pictures.
Here he is on a train caboose....

He said he had lots of fun and Mor Mor & Pop Pop took him to McDonald's for lunch!
After dinner we went to Grandma & Grandpa C's and Parker finally got to hold a Ladybug. He has been wanting to for quite some time but every time we try it flies away. He was very happy and actually got to hold 2 ladybugs today!

Everyone's Happy!

Parker got a new box to play in today! Mommy and daddy got new appliances!
Our refrigerator was dying and our stove was ugly.
Love these new appliances!!

Bambi

We went to Father Hennepin Park tonight and when we got out of the car this is what we saw. This deer was standing there eating apples and people were walking up to it and running past it, dogs were staring at it and it had no fear. It was really pretty. When Matt took the boys to the river last week they saw a woman feeding the deer out of her hand. We heard people saying that it has lived in the park for about 3 months. We headed down to the river to throw rocks in and look at all the leaves changing colors. We stayed in this area for quite a while and then the water changed direction and we had to move...
This is our attempt at another family photo....
Parker loves coming down here. All through dinner this is what we heard "Mississippi water?" "Mississippi water mommy?" "Mississippi water daddy?" "Mississippi water?" We finally had to tell him that if he said it one more time we weren't going!
A nice shot of Parker and daddy with the changing leaves.
Parker and daddy went down close to the waterfall and threw rocks in. I'm sure they are going to stop inviting me because I am such a worrier and always yelling at them to be careful and not go so close!
It was a gorgeous night and when we went back up to go home the deer was even closer to our car. It was really neat to see.