Summer Fun

We have been busy packing as much fun as possible into the last month of summer. The kids took a ride on the Strasburg Railroad,



created their own virtual ice cream flavor at the Turkey Hill Experience,

stayed up past bedtime celebrating Lauren and Andrew's wedding,



visited the Pittsburgh Zoo with their cousins,

and had a blast at parties, picnics, reunions and playgrounds.

Lots more pictures of our fun summer are on Flickr.

Brandon is Four!

Brandon stretched out his birthday celebration over a good two weeks this year. It was an extravaganza. He started with a birthday party and a biplane cake.



Then there was a celebration (with more cake) while his cousins were in town. Then dinner at Red Robin (with an ice cream sundae).

Finally, we had birthday pancakes on his actual birthday.



That afternoon we topped it all off with a birthday trip to Kennywood.



If you're keeping track he had two cakes, five happy birthday songs (including a reprise), a ton of ice cream and a lot of fun.

More pictures from Brandon's fourth birthday are on Flickr.

Welcome, Ian!

Evelyn and Brandon have a new baby cousin!

Ian Fire arrived earlier today, just in time for a picnic and some fireworks.

Congratulations Aunt Julie, Uncle Tim and Jay!

Beach Week 2013

We made our annual trip to Ocean City, Maryland, for some fun in the sun.



Evy and Brandon played in the ocean, dug in the sand, played mini golf and swam in the HEY YOU GUYS THE POPSICLE TRUCK IS OUTSIDE I CAN HEAR THE MUSIC PLAYING IT'S COMING DOWN THE STREET AND I NEED TO GO ON THE BALCONY RIGHT NOW I'LL BE BACK IN A MINUTE!!

Anyway, a lot more pictures from OCMD are on Flickr.

Dance Magic

Evelyn finished up her year of dance classes with a recital titled Dance Magic. She showed off her jazz, ballet and tap moves on stage and posed with her flowers afterward.

It was magical. More from Evy's dance show is on Flickr.

Children's Museum

Evy and Brandon visited the Children's Museum on the first day of summer vacation.



They made their way through the whole building - painting pictures, splashing in the water, climbing the cargo net and posing with a nine foot tall Clifford statue.

It's going to hard to keep up this pace through June, July and August.

More Children's Museum fun is on Flickr.

The Fountain Returns

Pittsburgh's fountain at Point State Park is back on after four years of repairs and preparation. We had a chance to see it while we were downtown for the Three Rivers Arts Festival this past weekend.

Evy and Brandon enjoyed standing in the mist. They also had fun making crafts, listening to music and looking at all of the booths of artwork. But I'll bet that if you made them pick their favorite activity of the day it would be the trolley ride into the city.

A few more photos of the point are on Flickr.

Last Day of First Grade

Evelyn finished up first grade today.

She's ready for summer!

Tour Guides

Evelyn and Brandon were the tour guides for their cousins' visit to Pittsburgh last weekend. They started out with a cruise on the three rivers.

The boat ride included balloon swords, pirate training and a little bit of face paint.

After lunch at Station Square and an appropriate amount of dancing in front of the fountains, we all headed up Mount Washington on the Duquesne Incline.



The kids had fun showing the city to their cousins from various perspectives. And they were excited that there was time left for a cookout and a couple of visits to the hotel pool.

More pictures from the tour of Pittsburgh are on Flickr.

Brandon's First Concert

Last weekend we headed out for a road trip to see Evelyn's favorite band - Justin Roberts and the Not Ready for Naptime Players. It was Brandon's first concert.

He was able to sing and dance along with the music and he even met the band after the show. Rock on.

More pictures from Brandon's first concert are on Flickr.