The Donoghue Family: Welcome, Maple!

We brought home our new puppy about a month ago, and are smitten! Maple Dip Donoghue is a really sweet dog and all three kids are doing great with her. She is a mini labradoodle and will grow to about 35 lbs within a year.

Welcome home, Maple!

Maggie and Evie went with Dad
to pick her up in Ohio

Our first day home together... before she fell in the pool...
but now she stays away from the water,
so it wasn't the worst thing!

I expected Maggie to be the most involved with Maple, but Ben is actually the most obsessed and they are becoming best friends. He loves to give her hugs and play outside, even gets excited about picking up poop! Maggie is doing great with the responsibility side; Evie loves Maple, but is not quite as into her as the other kids - she has a love/ambivalent relationship.

Happy kids

All his love

Drying off the morning dew

I love you

Maple is doing really well with commands to sit and lay down, and has learned how to walk on a leash without pulling like 50% of the time. She's mostly potty trained, but we still have some accidents in the house if we forget to let her out enough - still working on that! We can only leave her alone for about 3 hours right now - so our days are a bit chaotic, but slowly progressing towards a new normal.

One of her favorite spots to play

Sometimes she looks so wise (she isn't)

The kids and Jamie had a great back-to-school experience this year - no tears, no stress, we just sort of fell back into the usual routine. Maggie is in 5th grade, Evie is in 3rd and Ben is in his last year of preschool.

First day of 5th Grade, rocking her Taylor Swift shirt!

The girls are very into this pose - but you have
to say "slay!" when you do it

First day of 3rd Grade! Still will only wear
black or white, our little emo kid.

Thrilled to have some of her besties in class!

Buddies

First day of last year of preschool!

We had some fun times with friends towards the end of summer! Andy and Katie were in town with their kiddos, so we got to see them for about a week. Maggie loved "babysitting" and made a special bond with Henry. We went to a few concerts (including The National), celebrated our 13th anniversary, and had lots of fun by the pool! Jamie also spent a few days in New York with the Sandovals so he could see The National... again...

Fun at the zoo!

Maggie's newest fan

So fun to see this little smush ball!

Partners in crime

Waiting for the Detroit show to start - so many friends came!

Got to meet the drummer after the show!

I was actually pretty excited to meet Aaron Dessner
(guitarist for the National and helped produce Taylor's latest albums!)

Madison Square Garden!

New York friends!

Anniversary date in Detroit!

Phoenix/Beck show at Pine Knob

LED glow balls make for a fabulous night swim

We celebrated my Dad's birthday a little early on Labor Day weekend. He had back surgery recently, so it was good to see him moving around - still recovering, but on the mend!