Christmastime

What a wonderful Christmas season!

We were able to watch Evy's dance show, make some cookies, see Crazy Lights House, and visit with family and friends.



More Christmas pictures are on Flickr.

Cup Stacking Champion

Evy went to a Radio Disney event at the mall and was chosen from the crowd to participate in a head-to-head cup stacking competition. She won.

Her prize included a Radio Disney bag and four tickets to the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra's Family Holiday Pops at Heinz Hall the following weekend.

We got all dressed up and headed downtown for the concert. The kids enjoyed the music and the guest vocalists, which included the woman who was the voice of Ariel from The Little Mermaid. They also liked the 25 foot tall Christmas tree.

For those of you keeping score at home: Evy + plastic cups = symphony music.

Visiting Santa

Evelyn wrote her letter to Santa yesterday. She included her requests (baby doll and Barbie), Brandon's request (trains) and a few full color illustrations.

Then we were off to see the man himself. This year's visit went better than last year's. Brandon took a seat, pretended to smile for a picture, and blurted out "trains" when asked what he wanted (as he tried to slink down off of Santa's lap).



Evy is an old pro. She chatted up Mr. Claus as long as she could.

More pictures of Santa are on Flickr.

Ready for Christmas

The halls are decked, the stockings are hung, and the lights are up. We're ready for Christmas even though it's only the first weekend in December.



Santa is going to need his hat back in a few weeks.



More Christmas preparation is on Flickr.

Thanksgiving Break

We had a fun and busy Thanksgiving weekend that included turkey, electric trains, family photos and Brandon's first ride on a Mule. The vehicle, not the animal.



More pictures from Thanksgiving are on Flickr.

Dinosaurs and More

We had a chance to visit the Carnegie Museum of Natural History this weekend. Evy and Brandon became paleontologists for the day.

In addition to the fossil excavation and dinosaur bones exploration, they were able to touch a mastodon tooth and explore the M is for Museum hands-on exhibit for kids. Did you know that the Carnegie Museum has the largest collection of Jurassic dinosaurs in the world? And the most complete Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton that exists?

More museum pictures are on Flickr.

Happy Halloween!

Evelyn and Brandon turned Halloween into a week long event this year. They picked pumpkins, dressed up for dance class, trick-or-treated at the library and the mall, marched in the kindergarten parade, carved pumpkins, and trick-or-treated in our neighborhood on Halloween (in the rain).

Evy visited more houses than ever before. Brandon made it to three before returning home to pass out candy and play trains while still in his costume.

Lots more Halloween week fun is on Flickr.

Cinderella Goes to the Mall

Sometimes even a princess needs to go shopping.

43 Hours of Fun

How much fun can you fit into one autumn weekend? How about a road trip, two birthday parties and a fall festival.

Plus a concert with your favorite band!



More fall fun is on Flickr and new photos have been added to the end of the Justin Roberts in Concert set.

Airplanes and School Busses

Wings Over Pittsburgh 2011 was this past weekend. Evelyn was her brother's tour guide since it was Brandon's first time at an air show.

Evy was excited to get back into the cockpit. She also took pictures, talked to pilots and collected free stuff.

Brandon liked looking at all of the planes on the ground and in the air. But he really liked the school bus ride that took us from the parking lot to the air show entrance.

Pictures (ours and Evy's) from Wings Over Pittsburgh are on Flickr.