On the 26th, we hung out at the house. New toys to play with, plus a nice day made it a good day to just enjoy a low key day around the neighborhood. Grampa spent quite a bit of time outside with Koen working on bike skills. Koen is getting so much better at starting his bike up on his own and the training wheels are permanently off I believe.
The 27th was a yucky weather day with pouring rain all day, so we decided we would all head to the Carnegie Museum of Natural History. My parents had never been there and we haven't taken the kids or been ourselves in months. Our first stop was to see the Christmas trees in the front hall. The boys enjoyed playing "I Spy" with the big nativity scene.
Koen was really into the dinosaurs this time as his knowledge of them has really expanded since our last visit through books and episodes of "Dinosaur Train." It was a little frustrating though that the museum has tons of touch screens in this area that are quite a distraction from the fantastic display of fossils.
Tavin did well in this exhibit. He wasn't super happy with the trip to the museum in general, but he held it together at this point at least. I guess he wanted to go in for a visit with these dinosaurs...
I get so bummed that I'm never in pictures during these activities. Not because I love being in pictures, but because I feel like it looks like I don't do any of the fun stuff with the boys. So, here was my attempt to get a picture. Not great, I know. But proof that I was there.
Doug and Koen were still enjoying dinosaurs, so Tavin and I took the elevator up to the "M is for Museum" exhibit. We hadn't seen this one before as I believe it's temporary (although I really hope they keep it!). It's a lot more hands-on and kid-friendly than the rest of the museum. Tavin loved playing peekaboo in the preservation jars display.
Koen and Doug came up to get us because they discovered a special area in the dinosaur exhibit that we'd never done before. A place where kids can really go and get their hands dirty and pretend to be paleontologists. Koen was so into it. He had already been there for 20 minutes with Doug, but he was excited to "dig in" again with Tavin. Here he is with his goggles picking out tools for he and Tav. 
Then he found a good spot to dig for bones...
Tavin carefully and slowly made his way out to him, Koen was encouraging him the whole time.
Look at my little paleontologists! So cute!
Tav didn't like wearing the goggles, so he didn't last very long. He was sad he had to give up his brush though just because he wouldn't wear the goggles. Needless to say we got out of there to get his mind off of it. We didn't last too much longer due to Tav's crankiness, but I'm sure we'll be back another day. Gramma, Grampa and Aunt Abbie spent most of their time in the Art Museum connected to the Natural History Museum. I was so happy that everyone enjoyed this beautiful and elaborate museum treasure we have in Pittsburgh.We dropped everyone off at home for lunch and then Abbie and I took Koen for a haircut on S. Highland (Hairdressers II - it's the best, haircuts for kids are priced by their age!). Koen was way overdue for a haircut. He was quite shaggy as evidenced by the bad hair day pics on the blog that I'm sure you've noticed. He was excited for his haircut (although quite tense, look at how stiff!).
He warmed up to the sweet hairdresser (who is so good about him moving, etc. I was so impressed!) and soon was smiling and making funny faces in the mirror, and of course, he was talking her ear off.
The three of us then headed home for lunch too. After Doug and I laid the boys down that day we headed out for a "day date." I had some errands I wanted to do, we caught a movie for the first time in probably over a year and had a fun and simple dinner at Red Robin. A really great afternoon/evening. Thanks, Mom, Dad and Ab for taking care of the boys. While they did so, Aunt Abbie worked on Koen's fish face. Check it out...
Ok, so on the 28th, it was freezing, so we figured another indoor activity would be best. Doug and Tavin, Grampa and Koen took on the Children's Museum. The three girls got to stay home. I went to the gym and Ab and I went to Target and Mom got some peace and quiet (not to mention she also cleaned my floors - thanks, Mom!). My Dad was with Koen, so I don't have any pictures yet from their fun times at the museum, but Doug palled around with Tav, so I got a few picture reports throughout the morning. I wasn't surprised to see this one - Tav in his favorite car...
Then I guess he got interested in the plane soon after that. Doug saw some "dress up" bomber jackets. Look at the cute pilot!
Doug said Tavin loved the art room. This is Tavin's first painting. Doug said he told him to paint Mommy. Interesting. (By the way, check out Tav's sweet baby hair mullet in the light).
Everybody got home in time for lunch. Doug stayed with the boys and let me go out to lunch with my parents and Abbie at Alexander's in Bloomfield. It happens to be the restaurant where our elderly neighbor has worked for 50 years. He was thrilled to see us come in and we all enjoyed a traditional Italian, yummy meal. Thanks for lunch, Dad. So nice to have a little special time with you, Mom and Ab like that. We got back home in time for the boys' naps and we all relaxed as well. Mom, Dad and Ab laid the boys down again as Doug and I had a party we needed to go for a few hours. When I got home Ab and Mom were playing Boggle, so I quickly joined in. We had a fun last few hours. Mom and Dad left after breakfast this morning. It was sad, but again, so nice that Ab is still here. Thanks so much for a wonderful visit, Mom and Dad. We miss you already!Doug went out to the gym this morning and Koen and Tavin and I got to organizing upstairs. A project I've put off until after Christmas due to the new toys I knew would be added. Check out Koen's new organization station which he totally helped put together.
And look at the nice clean room. No more toys all over the floor. Hopefully we can now work on being consistent with having him clean things up and put them away regularly so that toys aren't always spread out and in place, discouraging Koen from playing more with them. Not to mention how good it feels to have an orderly room!
Well, that's the brief catch-up. I'll try to stay on top of the blog more now, especially since both sets of grandparents are again relying on it for their daily dose of Melder grandson information!
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