Quint is Three!

Big Day around here....

Today Quint turns Three!

Quint is:

a builder

interested in construction

caring big brother

independent

helper

silly

great player

fun

English speaker

train lover

our first little blessing

Quint's birthday fell on Game Day. He loves trains, especially the Hawkeye Train. We drive by where they park the Hawkeye train, and he always points it out. We knew he would love to ride it. We talked about it, and he almost jumped out of his chair! He was so excited, and kept say, "we go on the Hawkeye train today?" Finally, it was his birthday, and we had a great day!

We love you Quint!

It Goes too Fast.

Recently we took this video of Quint playing. It just occurred to me that it goes so fast. I know he is only three, but everyone tells me you blink and they are 18. I feel like I blinked and he was 3. Just trying to take it all in. I know I am overdue for a Russell video so don't worry that is on the way soon:)

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Lions and Tigers in our house!

October 31st was full of anticipation around here:

Halloween

Watching the Football People

A Big Football Game

A Lion and Tiger were emerging from our house

Trick or Treating

Staying Up Late

The day lived up to the hype. We had a great time watching the football people, the football team won, the lion and tiger came out and were very scary, the treats were tasty:)

Our Halloween in Pictures:

Scary Lion
Lion Roars
Tiger Roars

Tiger Roars More

Trick or Treat

Our Pumpkin at Night

A walk in town with Grammy and Papa

Our move brought us much closer to downtown and in a great walking location. We took Grammy and Papa for a walk around our new zone. It was a gorgeous fall day, and we had a great time. Dad got some great shots. Here are a few:

Family pic, downtown

Walking on Undergrad campus

Cute pic of our favorite footbridge

I love the play structure with the boys, but everything is better with a Starbucks:)

Quint showing Daddy his new climbing skills

Grammy sending Russell down the slide!

He made it!

Quint showing his exuberance

Grammy and Papa Visit!

Grammy and Papa came to visit us this past weekend! We had been talking about with with Quint for a while....he would say "Grammy and Papa coming on the airplane?" "we go to the airport?" The count down to the visit was tough for Quint. The morning we went to pick up Grammy, Quint woke up and said, "go get Grammy today?!?" Obviously, we were excited:) Russell was a little sick but we still managed to have a great visit. Here are some pictures of Grammy and Papa with the boys. More activity pictures to come:)

Thanks for the great visit! We miss you!

Apple picking....

Visiting the apple orchard is big out here. So, when Aunt Rebecca was into we made the trip. What is the saying "when in Rome..." It was a bit chilly out but we had a great time. Quint loved picking the apples and carrying them in his bucket, and Russell loved to eat them. It worked out great. Don't know if I could have done it alone, it was awesome having Aunt Rebecca there to share the memory and help me make sure I didn't lose one:)

It wasn't a big sign....and just a little one way dirt road.

There is so much to love about our state:)

Look Apples!

Russell is a walker...thank goodness, it was a hike to the good apples

Aunt Rebecca and Quint picking an apple

Russell eating the apple

Quint was so proud to carry his own bucket

In the orchard

Look at my apples!

Very Iowa, it really is that cute

Still eating apples...on the way home:)

He shares my love!

I love sunglasses...specifically big sunglasses:) It brings me so much joy to think Russell might share my love. Even if he outgrows it, he looks so cute now!

Defender of our Castle

We moved into a very old house which has been renovated into apartments. Although we only live in about 700 square feet of the building, Quint refers to it as "our castle". I agree, it is much more fun to say we live in a castle than an apartment. Our whole family has adapted the label.

Recently, Quint decided he needed to defend our "castle". We determined the vacuum attachment was also a very nice sword. Here are some pictures of him defending our castle.

He was very intimidating...I think that guy is nervous:)

The man went away, and Quint declared victory!

FIrst trip to the dentist

Today Quint had his first trip to the dentist. The doctor recommended it a while back, but he didn't even have that many teeth. Now he has a mouth full and I thought it would be good practice. We went to the college and had a dental resident. He was great. I have to admit, I dislike the dentist alot so it kinda freaked me out, but he did great.

Moving Day again!

End of July, early August is moving time in Iowa City. We decided to move for again, to be closer to school for BK. Even though we lived a short 2 miles from school it would take BK nearly an hour on the bus system. Now, he is only a 10 minute walk from us! We get to see him so much more and it was totally worth the moving hassle.

We love our new place, Quint calls it a castle but it is really just an very old fraternity house that has been renovated. We live in what used to be the "library". Its a bit smaller than our old place but very unique, it reminds us a bit of our place in Boston.

Since everyone in Iowa City moves at the same time U-hauls are impossible to come by. We were so blessed by our good friends who offered to help with their family business trucks. We are so grateful for their trucks and their muscles! We couldn't have done it without them. Quint and Russell were so flexible during the process. They even tried to help with the play structure:) Overall, it was very smooth move.

Special thanks to the Balmers for all their help, and to Mark (the previous tenant) for moving out of our new apartment a few days early so we wouldn't have to be homeless.

Plumbing truck by day, moving truck by night:)

Big muscles required to move our very fancy sofa

(a gift from John and Elaine...Thank you!)

Little men, big helpers

Moving into our new "castle"

Empty Truck....All Done!

Friday....we are so close!

This morning I woke up to the sound of large vehicles....and thought...if they wake up the babies at this hour I will kill them! But, they were quiet and when the boys woke up (on there own) we went out to take a look. Neighbor John was getting new gravel put in. It was great! We had a picnic breakfast and watched the tractor and dump truck. Thanks for the free show!