Tonight

Sam put Olive to bed tonight and she cried a few minutes after he left the room. I went in and she was sitting up in her bed, surrounded by about 10 stuffed animals, with a book on her lap. She said, "Daddy gave me all these guys. I'm reading my book now." I asked her why she was crying and she said, "I wanted you to come in and see my guys and my book." I kissed her and said she should go to sleep after she was done with her book. I fully expected her to cry again when I left, or after she was done with the book (she usually wants help with getting her blanket on). She didn't. But just now, 3 hours later, I went in to check on her before I went to bed, and she was asleep with her guys and her books surrounding her. All tucked in, blanket up to her neck.

Sweet girl.

Walker Fun

This weekend Olive and I met up with Laura, Levi and Irene at the Walker Art Center for some sculpture viewing in the outdoor sculpture garden, and some rockin' at a Suicide Commandos concert inside.

Olive enjoying the view:

I think this photo is some sort of rite of passage - Olive is now a true twin-citian:

Inside at the concert, the girls wore earplugs. I thought they made them look like Shrek:

Olive and Irene enjoying the concert:

And running around the sculpture garden after the concert:

Thank you, November, for providing the gorgeous weather!

Sliding and Bouncing

Olive and Sam went back to Pump It Up last week for some bouncing excitement. Sam was very impressed with Olive's ability to maneuver all the equipment on her own, especially the 90 degree angle climbing wall!

Olive loved it all:

Loved it so much she got sweaty:

Obstacle course:

Climbing wall:

Giant slide:

And a video of the climbing wall and resulting slide:

Rake-fest

Last weekend Olive helped with the raking of the yard. We had a lot of leaves this year, and they all seemed to fall in about a 3 hour period.

Olive preferred her broom for the job:

Did some jumping into leaves with Sam:

And then the real fun began when we found a worm. Ever since Sam started taking her fishing this summer, Olive has been ineterested in worms:

A video introduction:

And setting him free:

Mission accomplished.

Halloween fun

We had a full week of Halloween festivities, Olive has been very interested in all this dressing up, pumpkin carving, candy eating business.

She helped carve a pumpkin for the first time, and dug right in:

Olive dressed up as a dentist for Halloween, and she loved her costume (she borrowed gloves, a mirror, name tag and giant toothbrush from Daddy):

She checked Oscar's 2 teeth:

Took care of her patients:

Read Halloween books with a friend:

And posed with her pumpkin:

Trick or Treating was a big hit:

We even met up with some Ninja turtles (whom Olive was not so sure of, can you blame her??):

A little rain didn't stop her:

By the end of the evening, she was a pro Trick or Treater:

She is already talking about next Halloween.

Wedding

My normal wedding date (otherwise known as Sam), was out of town this weekend, so I got this cutie to go with me instead:

Our good friends, Kristen and Jeff got married in a lovely fall wedding this weekend:

Michael was there to help carry Olive's backpack into the reception:

Michael and Emma:

A big perk of this wedding was the attendance of so many old friends that we don't see very often. This was the first time Olive met my good friend, Carrie:

The newlyweds:

Emma and me:

Delicious dark pink frosting (yikes):

My good friend, Carrie (we made sure we still have our signature dance move...don't worry, we do):

Crazy dance monster:

A quick moment with the beautiful bride:

The bride and groom danced. Watching these two dance made me think about the time when we were all just a bunch of crazy kids on a ski team together. If we'd been able to push the pause button then, and been told that 14 years later I'd be married to Sam, standing with my daughter watching Kristen and Jeff get married, we would have all had a good laugh. But here we are, here they are:

These crazy girls danced:

Added a tiny crazy girl to the mix:

And some crazy boys danced, too:

Did I mention the dancing? Olive danced for about 3 hours straight. She danced with people:

She danced alone:

More solo moves:

And in the middle of the crowd:

I have never seen anyone dance as much as Olive did last night. She danced until she could dance no more. Then she talked about all the dancing until she could talk no more.

Apple Orchard

We had a lovely (if chilly) time at an apple orchard/pumpkin patch this weekend with Matt, Jessica and Oscar.  

Olive wore her fun new hat, which I think makes her look a little like a muppet, or a swamp person, or something:

Olive was very good at picking apples and enjoyed filling her own bag very much:

Sam and Oscar on the hayride:

Cousins:

Family portrait:

Olive sat on some pumpkins:

Oscar growled at some pumpkins:

Olive fed some animals:

Played in the hay:

Jumped off haystacks:

A major highlight was Olive's first ride on the cow train.  She chose the one named Georgie ("just like my friend George!").  We assumed it was a short ride around in a circle or something.  I asked the driver if she was big enough and he said yes, so in she went:

Off they go!  And they just kept going.  The train rumbled down a path and disappeared.  For 10 minutes.  It was more than we (or Olive) had bargained for but apparently she did just fine on her solo cow train adventure:

And the cow train returns, thanks goodness:

After they got back the driver said, "she did great, just sat up straight and looked around the whole time!".  So maybe he was worried she was too little for this ride, too.  Turns out she wasn't.  She's a cow train champ.  "That was fun!".

*Editors note: in the video, don't miss the full grown adult who took the cow train (three from the back).  I assume he thought it was a funny photo op with his friends and didn't realize he'd be stuffed in that tiny seat for a 10 minute ride with preschoolers. :)