Kitchen Redecorating

For anyone who has ever been in our kitchen, you know how crazy the wallpaper is...was. When I was in Indiana in September, Dan stripped off the wallpaper and prepared the walls. It was a big job!

Here is the kitchen before:

 Hallway into kitchen:

 There were multiple layers of wallpaper on some walls. Here's the second layer - how lovely.

 This wall was the worst. At one time, someone partially ripped off old wallpaper, then mudded over it and loaded it up with glue to apply new paper. It took a lot of sanding to get this wall smooth.

 Sebastien helped with the first coat of paint. We choose a very subtle seagreen color.

 

 Finished! Here are the painted walls and our new kitchen light.

Ahhh, much better! :)

Outdoorsy Stuff Weekend

Luke and Rick O'Donnell went with us to the Kimball Farm Corn Maze in Haverhill, MA on Saturday. Last year we had a crew of over 20 people, and this year, only us. Funny how that happens, isn't it? Anyway, unlike last year, we actually made it through the maze this time.

Here are the munchkins (Luke, Sebastien and Genevieve) making funny poses in the pumpkins.

 Checking out the pigs in their mud pits. They made the entire farm smell.

 Resting before the maze.

 Walking towards the maze. Genevieve is definitely not a fast walker. Walking for her means, dancing, singing, stopping to pick up rocks, look at the sky, collect leaves, etc. If you notice up ahead, Dan has the kid backpack carrier and we used it in the maze.

 Which way?!

 On Sunday we went to a nearby park in Hudson, NH that we'd never been to before. I had heard good things about it. Low and behold, it was Benson Park, an old zoo/amuzement park that was open from early 1900s to 1980, then reopened 2 years ago as a park. It's creepy and really cool at the same time.

Here are the kids posing by one of the ponds. There used to be a ferris wheel somewhere near here.

 Playing in the gorilla enclosure that has been restored.

 Perfecting her "grumpy face". I guess she doesn't like being a gorilla...or being behind bars.

Doggie Happenings

Windham's annual Doggie Costume Parade was last weekend. Genevieve and Gwynnie made quite the pair in their matching ladybug costumes. (Although I had a bumble bee costume ready for Sebastien, he chose not to partake.)

 Here are the girls getting ready to walk around the park in the parade. Mommy ended up carrying Genevieve and holding Gwynnie's leash do we bowed out of the parade halfway through.

 Gwynnie also had her annual vet checkup this week.

In non-dog-related news, Genevieve is FINALLY old enough to participate in soccer classes. She is loving it. Here are the kids (Sebastien in blue and Genevieve in red) warming up.

Fall is here. Sebastien loves his scooter and almost never rides a bike these days!

He also LOVES anything outerspace. He drew this picture of the solar system and labeled the planets with their first initial. (I still think it's sad that Pluto is no longer included.)

Proud face?

Avalynn and Sebastien cart Genevieve around.

Constitution, as in the ship

This weekend we took advantage of our proximity to Boston...and our siblings who live there, and visited the USS Constitution. My dad would be proud. It's a wooden war ship that was used in the War of 1812 and is still commissioned by the Navy. Sebastien and Genevieve just thought it was a pirate ship. There were many references to Captain Hook throughout the day. We had beautiful weather in the high 70s, which I'm wondering if that will be the last warm day for the year.

 Steering the ship

 Jaclyn shows Sebastien how to fire the cannon.

 Below deck

 Looking out towards Boston

 Jaclyn & Sebastien ahead and Genevieve walking the Freedom Trail after visiting the ship.

 We had a yummy lunch, then visited a park by the river. Dan and Brian relaxing.

 Sebastien and Jaclyn at the park

 So the next day (Sunday) was rainy and boring so we thought, "hey, let's go back to the Constitution and go to the museum since we didn't get a chance to go yesterday." So we did! (and luckily all this stuff is free!)

Here are Sebastien and Daddy pulling a goat onto the ship.

 Genevieve practiced sanding the ship deck...

 ...and sleeping in a hammock.

 They even could play with this while we looked around the museum.

Since we had some more time, we stopped by the Boston Children's Museum for a couple hours before heading home. Needless to say, the kids were spent!

Deerfield Fair

We look forward to the Deerfield Fair every year. This is the second year that we had to deal with some rain, but actually it wasn't too bad once we got there. The kids have their nifty new rainboots so puddles were not a problem.Here are the kids ready to attack the fair armed with their fair maps.

 With Dan in the dairy barn

 Looking at chickens and ducks

 Petting a goat

Mmmm...corndogs!

 I'm going to sneak in some non-fair photos now...here is Dan and I later that night at the Haverhill Brew Fest.

 Genevieve excitedly wearing her leotard for gymnastics class.

 Sebastien waiting his turn at gymnastics class.