Happy Holidays!

We hope you had a Merry Christmas!



More pictures from all three Christmases are on Flickr.

Ready for Santa

The final preparations have been made and Evelyn and Brandon are ready for Christmas!

In the past few days the kids have visited Santa, had a dance class Christmas party, made lots of cookies and set out treats for the big man himself.



More pictures from final Christmas prep are on Flickr.

Merry Christmas!

Christmastime in the City

We took a trip to downtown Pittsburgh this weekend to take part in some holiday festivities. Our first stop was the ice skating rink and giant Christmas tree in PPG Plaza.

We also went inside the Wintergarden to see the model trains, gingerbread houses and Santas from around the world. After a quick walk through Market Square, we took a lunch break and then did some reindeer themed crafts (and hung out with Rudolph) in Fifth Avenue Place.

Our visit ended with a street trolley ride around the city. On the way home we stopped on Mount Washington to see the Pittsburgh skyline (and the Duquesne Incline).



More pictures (both our's and Evy's) from Christmastime in the City are on Flickr.

Christmas Preparation

The Christmas tree is up and decorated, and thanks to Evy and Brandon the bottom three feet of it are packed with ornaments.



The halls (and walls) are decked with festive tschotskes and we are getting ready for the holiday season!

More Christmas prep is on Flickr.

Kennywood in December

It turns out that the motorcycles (and a bunch of other Kiddieland rides) still work in December.



We visited Kennywood's Holiday Lights this past weekend and the kids were able to ride a few rides, eat Potato Patch fries, and check out one million twinkling lights that were set up around the park.



More from Kennywood in December is on Flickr.

Swimming Lessons

Evy and Brandon both finished up their fall swimming lessons this week. Evelyn's favorite part was jumping off the diving board.



Brandon also liked jumping in the pool. But from a sitting position on the side.



I wonder if they'll remember any of the skills they learned in seven months when it's warm enough to swim.

More photos of swimming lessons are on Flickr.

Extended Halloween

Halloween became a ten day long celebration this year. Evy and Brandon's costumes sure got a workout.

The kids were able to get dressed up for dance class, the library, the school parade, a friend's party and two different (postponed until November 3rd) neighborhood trick-or-treat sessions.

More pictures from extended Halloween are on Flickr.

Jumping in the Leaves

Even though we don't have any trees in our yard, we do have leaves. But what provides more fall fun than raking all of those leaves?

Jumping in the pile you just raked!

More leaf jumping pictures are on Flickr.

Beginning of Fall

Nothing says autumn like pumpkins and hay bales. And colder weather. Evy and Brandon experienced all of those things last weekend during a visit to the middle of the state.

They started with a trip to a fall festival where they painted pumpkins, posed with a scarecrow and ran through a hay maze.



They also attended their first Hootenanny on the Hill. And if the hay ride and fresh cut fries weren't enough, how about an appearance by the King himself.



More pictures from the beginning of fall are on Flickr.

Trying to Fly a Kite

Evy had a day off from school and the kids thought it might be fun to enjoy the nice weather on the last official day of summer. They fed the ducks & geese at the game preserve, went to the playground and attempted to fly their kites in the intermittent wind.



The kites didn't stay airborne for very long, so they decided to just pose for some pictures.



More photos from the last day of summer are on Flickr.

Ready for Takeoff

The weather was really nice this past weekend, so we thought an end-of-summer picnic lunch would be fun. But instead of going to the park we decided to visit the county airport.

There was a lot of local air traffic since the Steelers had a home game on Sunday. So we saw jets, helicopters, and even the DirecTV blimp (in addition to the usual prop planes) while we ate.



After lunch the STAT MedEvac pilot noticed Evy and Brandon watching the refueling of his helicopter and asked if they wanted a closer look. The kids were able to go inside, ask the pilot some questions and pose for a few pictures.



Evelyn said it was the best visit to the airport ever!

More pictures from the county airport are on Flickr.

Cubs vs. Pirates

We finally made it down to PNC Park to watch the Pirates this year. Even though the Bucs lost this one, Evy and Brandon still had fun at the ball game.

Brandon was excited to walk across the Clemente Bridge to get to the stadium. Then he consumed as much popcorn and as many nachos as he possibly could.

Evy was more into the atmosphere (almost 30,000 fans were there) and learning all of the claps/chants to root for the Pirates. Clap, clap, clapclapclap.

More pictures from the baseball game are on Flickr.

First Day of School

Evelyn is officially a first grader!

End of Summer Break

Evelyn and Brandon wanted to have a little fun on the last day before school started this year. They visited the Children's Museum and had a blast splashing in the water, making art and everything in between.



School tomorrow!

More pictures from the Children's Museum are on Flickr.

Brandon is Three!

Brandon just turned three years old!

More pictures from his birthday celebrations are on Flickr.

A Week on the Hill

The kids enjoyed a trip to their grandparents' house last week. They had fun seeing relatives, playing with friends, riding in a classic car, going to a wedding, and visiting Dutch Wonderland.



More pictures from their week on the hill are on Flickr.

Kennywood

We took our annual trip to Kennywood Park and the kids had fun on their usual favorites - the Motorcycles, the Auto Race, the Train and the Whippersnapper.



This year Evelyn was tall enough to ride the Racer and she has already added it to her list of top roller coasters (despite losing the race by the slimmest of margins). It was a great day of rides and cousins and Potato Patch fries.

Lots more pictures from Kennywood are on Flickr.

Summer Car Cruise

Evelyn and Brandon had a chance to visit a huge car cruise this past weekend. And it wasn't just classic cars - there were also newer cars and trucks, emergency vehicles, balloon art, mascots, and a race car.



Lots more car cruise pictures (including some that Evy took with her camera) are on Flickr.

Beach Week 2012

We just got back from our annual vacation to Ocean City, Maryland.

Brandon spent most of the week pushing his digger in the sand.



Evelyn spent most of the week perfecting her cannonball.

More pictures from the beach are on Flickr.

New Look

Next time you see Evelyn you'll notice something different...



The braid is ten inches long and is on its way to being donated.

Before and after pictures are on Flickr.

Lights, Camera, Dance!

Evelyn had her first dance recital last night. She has worked all year learning three routines - one each for jazz, tap and ballet. We weren't sure how she'd react to being up on the big stage with the bright lights and a live audience.

Evy loved every second of it. She had fun dancing, enjoyed hearing the applause, and even gave an impromptu wave to her fans as she exited stage left.

More pictures from the end of the dance season are on Flickr.

Picking Our Own

We visited the farm labor fantasy camp yesterday. You get to do all the work in the fields, sweating in the sun while searching the rows of plants and picking your own strawberries.

Then you pay for them and go home.

It's better than it sounds, though. You get to eat them all at the end.

More strawberry picking is on Flickr.

Last Day of School

Evelyn had her final day of Kindergarten this week.

Her class also had a recognition ceremony at the high school where they sang songs and received their "diploma."

We guess it's official. First grade in the fall.

Pictures from the Kindergarten recognition are on Flickr.

Wiggle, Wiggle

After two weeks of wiggling it during every waking moment, Evelyn has lost her first tooth!

Arts Fest

Our family took a trip downtown today to check out the Three Rivers Arts Festival. We had a picnic lunch and he kids spent a lot of time creating their own art in the Creativity Zone.



They also danced to live music in Point State Park.

We started and ended the day with a trolley ride. It was Brandon's favorite part.



More pictures from Arts Fest are on Flickr.

Another Season in the Books

Evelyn finished up her second season of U6 soccer this weekend. She accepted her medal with the rest of the Bumblebee Lions in a post-game ceremony.

Then they each had a cupcake (with yellow sprinkles, of course).

More from the medal ceremony and the rest of the soccer season is on Flickr.

Water Weekend

Evelyn and Brandon had a busy holiday weekend with a water theme. It started in the backyard with a popsicle and a dip in the (inflatable) pool.



Then we took a Gateway Clipper Fleet cruise around Pittsburgh's three rivers.

And grooved to the music with the dancing fountains in Station Square.



More of the weekend's aquatic fun is on Flickr.

Goooaaaall!

Guess who scored her first goal?

Add in an assist and two scraped knees and you can tell that Evy had quite a game yesterday.

More from this soccer season is on Flickr.

Art & Science Fair

Evelyn spends lots of her free time drawing pictures and creating artwork. At tonight's Art & Science Fair at school she was excited to receive a medal for a drawing she submitted.

We also enjoyed a presentation sponsored by the Carnegie Science Center. Hydrogen fireballs are always cool.

Easter 2012

Evelyn and Brandon had a whole week of Easter activities, which included baskets, egg hunts, Mule™ rides, cousins, candy and fun.

More from Easter is on Flickr.

Girls' Weekend

One of Evelyn's birthday presents was a pair of tickets to see her favorite band in concert. In Cleveland, Ohio.

She and Steph turned the road trip into a girls' getaway. They went to dinner at a fancy restaurant, stayed overnight at a friend's house, and went to the concert on Sunday afternoon.

Evy had a great time singing and dancing and talking to the band after the show. She is still tired from the fun but busy weekend.

More pictures from her fourth Justin Roberts show are on Flickr.

Bumblebee Lions

Evelyn decided to play soccer again this season. She is a member of the yellow team - now known as the Bumblebee Lions. That's what happens when you let a bunch of five and six year olds name their own team.



After the first game Evy has already kicked the ball more times than she did for the entire last season. She hasn't scored a goal yet, but is still very good at avoiding mud puddles, waving to her fans, and enjoying the halftime snack.

A few more pictures from the first game are on Flickr.

Birthday Extravaganza

Evelyn was able to celebrate her sixth birthday for an entire four day weekend.



Highlights included Build-a-Bear, Red Robin, a party, a princess cake, a cookout, bringing treats to Kindergarten, and a cupcake on her actual birthday. Being six is sure starting out great.

More pictures of Evy's sixth birthday are on Flickr.

Two and a Half

Brandon is two and a half! Can you dig it?

New Car Show

The Pittsburgh International Auto Show was in town this weekend. We went downtown to the Convention Center to check out some new cars (that we are not looking to buy). Since there aren't any old car shows in the winter, this seemed like the next best thing.

Evy hopped in and out of every kind of vehicle possible - golf carts, mini vans, convertibles, SUVs, and trucks. She especially liked this Mini Cooper with the orange stripe.



Brandon liked the 100th Anniversary Corvette (priced at $126,000). But if you ask him what his favorite part was he'll tell you "the water." The Convention Center sits along the Allegheny River and has a great view of some bridges, PNC Park and the North Shore.



More Auto Show pictures are on Flickr.

100th Day of School

Evelyn just celebrated her one hundredth day of Kindergarten!

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.