4 years old

Penelope has been talking about being 4 for months. And the day finally arrived!

She wandered into our room at 5:45 and said "mommy, I'm hungry...time to wake up Mommy"
I said "Happy Birthday, Penny!" and she squealed. She seemed to have forgotten but not for long since this is what she saw when she walked into the living room. We've been receiving boxes all week, but have been hiding them in the closet. Too much temptation! She started opening around 6:30 when we could drag chris out of bed. (12 min video for family who want to watch at the bottom of the blog)

I loved when Penny opened her dress-up chef costume from Grandma and Grandpa Chuck. She said "mommy, a cooker costume! I get to be a cooker!"

We then headed to the Fall Festival at Quarry Hill Nature Center. I'm so glad I happened to see this flyer a few months ago. I was so excited that it was on Penny's birthday. They had all sorts of kids activities.

Decorate a pumpkin

Sand art

Bug eyes obstacle course

"bug eyes" obstacle course

Bowling

Painting plaster animal feet. Hers was a pocupine

 But the absolute best part of the fall festival...the Okee Dokee Brothers! I may have mentioned them once or twice on the blog. We love them. If you are looking for kids music where you can sing along to that's not Old McDonald or Raffi you should definitely check them out. Their early music has more kids mixed with an alternative music vibe to it, while their newer music is definitely bluegrass. The Spanish CD is great too. We first saw them in January 2010 when I was desperate to find something for us to do on a -20 degree day. That concert was at a local music store in Minneapolis. It was so crowded we really didn't get to see them, but loved the music and bought the CD. As of today we have now been to 5 concerts.  In Minneapolis every concert has been packed with at least 100-200 kids. Totally different in Rochester. By the end of the concert there were maybe 50 kids, but for the majority the "dance floor" was Penny, my coworker's daughter Ruthie, and 2 other girls. 

Ruthie and Penny love it!

They just met today and they acted like they've been friends for years. Love when little kids do that Aren't they so cute?

Here's a video of them doing the "auction song" here in Rochester


can you believe she didn't win? I mean she was pretty much the side show. I wish I had a video of the same song in Minneapolis. It was a sea of kids doing the auction.

the train song...always a favorite

Do-si-do with Mommy

 And the big moment...she got pulled on stage! We've seen this song every time we've gone to their concert so she knew they'd be asking for volunteers. She got a teeny bit of stage fright in her first public performance

Best part of the small audience...Penny got her photo taken with the Okee Dokee Brothers. What a birthday!

Headed home. 

"daddy, I'm going to pretend I'm a sleeping baby" I said she was pretending to be a sack of potatoes.

She was pulling the "But its my birthday" card all day that chris said he was going to throw her into the woods.

My favorite people in the whole world

Below are the loooong videos of Penny opening presents. 

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