{ friends }

As Oliver and Stella get older, it has been fun to see how they actually remember other kids. Their "friends" are mainly determined by who the kids of my friends happen to be. Nonetheless, they still get excited when I tell them who we are going to see on certain days, whether it is at a play date or one of our classes.

Some of the usuals are:
Audrey and McKenna

Mariam and Charlie (at our Movin' and Groovin' class)

Julia and Lena

Ansel

That rounds out who I have pictures of but there is also lots of talk about Rowan and Clara, Emery, Edward and Rocco. 

In other happenings, we spent a morning at the park and sculpture garden last weekend. Per the usual, our kids just enjoyed running across the bridge near the sculpture garden instead of actually walking around the green open space.

I shared Stella's haircut in the last post so to keep things equal, here is a picture of Oliver with his new haircut and his prized "sucker pop" from the outing.

Fall baking continues and I've decided that each week until Thanksgiving I will attempt to bake a new recipe with pumpkin. Last week was Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins and this week was Downeast Main Pumpkin Bread. Both were hits.......the muffins for obvious reasons (they are filled with cream cheese and sugar) and the bread because it was a basic recipe but yielded a yummy, moist loaf of bread. Oliver and Stella also really enjoy helping by "dumping" ingredients into the bowl after I measure so it is a fun, productive activity for all!

Girls vs. Boys: Elizabeth and I do a kid swap one afternoon a month. The last time the cousins were here, I had to laugh at the difference in play styles that were simultaneously occurring with the boys and girls.

The Lyndale Avenue bridge construction has been ongoing since February and while I am beyond excited for it to re-open on October 15th, Oliver and Stella will most definitely miss our almost daily strolls to the bridge to see the tractors and cranes!

I won't name names, but a certain little girl in this house thought she didn't need to nap in her bed this weekend.

But she does look awfully sweet in daddy's arms.

And lastly, we had a great reunion with some friends from IU yesterday. We met Jenny and Adam when Chop was touring grad schools in 2007. We visited IU and were connected with them by a faculty member who knew we had being from WI in common. Since that first meeting, Jenny and I have kept in touch over email but haven't ever seen each other in person again. She is an amazing friend, mom, and photographer and I admire her in so many ways. They became parents 4 months ago to baby girl Piper. Oliver and Stella were smitten with all of them as you can see from these pictures!