Free Day at The Frick!

So it's "Rad" days in Pittsburgh right now.  Such an awesome stream of events.  Here's the link if you are interested in seeing what's going on that's free the next few weeks.  Such a great opportunity to check out some great things that the city has to offer.
http://radworkshere.org/interior.php?pageID=61

Today we took advantage of the free day at the Frick (the Fort Pitt Museum was also free today, but Frick is closer, so we did that).  I guess much of the Frick Museum is free to visitors all the time, but there were also special "Rad" days freebies and activities.  We had a great time with all 3 boys.  Here's the photo breakdown...  While I fed Penn in the car, the boys went to check everything out.  While doing so, they stopped at the Kite-Making craft area and both created their own.  Tavin was very proud.  He made a pink one because he loves me so much (it said, "I love Mommy" on it).

After I finished feeding Penn, we first went into the Art museum.  I wish we could've taken pictures in there.  It was so cute.  Koen walked around gazing at the different pieces just as an adult would enjoy a gallery.  It was amazing.  Tavin followed Koen's lead and they were so quiet and respectful and didn't touch a thing.  I was so impressed!  Next we headed into the Carriage and Car Museum.  It's in the old Carriage House on the Frick family property.  

Doug was explaining the carriages to the boys...vehicles pulled by horses.

I thought this was funny...Penn in the "carriage" in the "carriage room."  Get it?

Next we went into the automobile room.  Beautiful old cars!  Here's Koen posing by a Chevrolet for Grampa.

I was surprised to find out that Pittsburgh had some auto makers back in the day.  Here's one vehicle made in Butler, PA.

I had to take a picture of this auto's insignia...Penn!  

After that picture I found out you couldn't take pictures in the museum.  Oops!  Sorry!  The boys did great not touching anything, but we didn't push our luck and quickly moved back outside.  Due to it being a "Rad" day, they had lawn games set up and a free popcorn and water station.  The boys had fun learning croquet.  I look forward to when they are a little older and we can actually play this together.  I forgot how much I liked it!

Doug and Penn hung out (well, Penn was literally hanging in the BabyBjorn...ha!) most of our time there.  Penn is always such a trooper.  He munched on the Baby Bjorn and enjoyed all the different things to look at.  And he is oh so cute!

Tavin enjoyed cornhole.  This would be a good game for us to get for our yard, you don't need tons of space, especially for a little guy to have fun with it.  And even better, you can make your own!

After the lawn games and a walk through the greenhouse on site there, we headed to Blue Slide Park a little ways away in the same Frick Park.  The boys love this park.  I took Penn on a short walk and Doug apparently had fun taking pictures of sweet Tavin.

Then Tavin got on the swings...and never got off!  He spent about 30 minutes just going one swing to the next.  He is just in that phase of loving the simple pleasure of the swing.  I was a swinger myself, so I totally understand.

Koen spent his whole time on the big blue slide.  I took a video of him riding down on a plastic crate which really made him sail (usually they use cardboard).  Unfortunately I by mistake deleted the video.  Oops!  On our way out of the park Doug got a quick picture of me and the big boys. 

Such a great morning.  I was so glad that Penn and I tagged along again for a family adventure.  I just love these Fall days enjoying our city and the fresh air and most of all, all 4 of my boys.

Family Friday

We had such a nice morning today.  I loved it.  It was one of those times where I felt like things are going right, we are handling 3 kids OK and I'm loving it.  It's that simple.  I like making picnic lunches, cleaning up the kitchen while the boys play and Doug drinks his coffee, I love snuggling with Penn in the quiet moments when Daddy has the big boys out on errands, I love walking on warm Fall days and I love being together as all 5 of us enjoying our great city.  So that's a sum up of our morning, but here's the pictures to add a little more interest...  Tavin got to help Daddy put away our CSA vegetables (oops, left them out overnight!).  Tavin was so proud to use his little wagon to load and unload the veggies.  He was beaming with pride (except when I snapped the 2nd picture, oh well).

At that point when Doug and Tav were playing, Koen was doing a craft after inhaling second breakfast.  He had an early dentist appointment this AM that Doug took him too.  So, he had already had some special one-on-one time with Daddy (although you wouldn't believe how he pleaded to get to help with Tavin's project!).  Anyways, soon after the veggies were done, Doug took the boys to get Koen's hair cut.  

Well, that meant that I got to stay home with Penn Rye.  I got this video as he was chatting it up to my phone while I was sending a text, so I thought I'd turn it to camera and just capture whatever it was he had to say.

After Penn and I had some good waketime, I strapped him into the stroller and took a long walk to meet the big boys and Daddy at Mellon Park.  When I got there, Koen was pushing Tavin on the swing and they were enjoying themselves fully.

We headed across the street and up the hill to the walled garden at Mellon.  It was a beautiful spot for a picnic and the boys loved running around and playing throughout the garden and hilly landscape.  Here are our picnic photos.

As we were leaving Doug staged a photo of Penn and I, but Penn was being super cranky and moving all around, amazingly he got this dead-on shot and I just love it!!

We got home a few minutes after 1pm and I fed Penn and Doug gave the boys a bath since they had gotten a little muddy at the park.  After the great morning, all the boys took a good long nap, even Koen.  Penn had a great nap too.  I finally remembered to take my camera up for a wake-up shot.  He's so adorable the way he stretches and scrunches his face up every time I pull off his swaddler.  This video captures the adorable Penn waking up.

Koen and Doug had a friend give them Pirates tickets earlier today for tonight's game, so Doug made Koen sleep this afternoon and Koen had no problem.  He was out hard!  So this evening Doug and Koen went to the game (they parked about a mile from the stadium and rode their bikes in).

And here's the little fan checking out the field before the game starts (Doug is classic for being super timely with fun events, he successfully beat traffic and it looks like they are practically the first people there).

Doug and Koen were given enough tickets to invite friends, so Koen asked Delia.  Her dad easily said yes and Delia's little brother, Huck, also got to tag along (don't tell Tav though).

So while Koen and Doug were enjoying the game, I got to be home with my little guys.  I had a really special evening with Tavin.  He loves Mommy time and I just eat that up!  He was in great spirits and we had fun working and playing in the backyard.  I stuck Penn in the swing for just a minute while I cut up part of Tav's dinner and Penn started totally crunching forward and sitting up all on his own.  I tried to capture it on video, but then got carried away letting Tavin chat it up (he'd been so talkative with me tonight and I just love the way he communicates right now).  You can enjoy Penn in the background and Tavin's huge proud grin in the foreground.

Well, it's been a great day here.  Doug and Koen are still out at the game, but the little guys are in bed and I think I'll be heading there soon as well.  I'm just so thankful for my sweet little family and days like today to just enjoy them all.

Four Kids for a Few Hours

Yesterday I had the privilege of watching my friend, Adrianne's two youngest kids, Claire and Carson.  They were over for about 2 and 1/2 hours and it was a really fun time.  Tavin enjoys Claire a lot and was so looking forward to having friends over.  I was excited to get to know these sweet two a little more while also getting to help out Adrianne (she's been so helpful to watch Koen a few times for me since Penn was born). The three kiddos had a lot of fun and entertained themselves quite well while I stayed busy watching over them and dealing with Penn.

Lunchtime was especially fun.  They were all so good just sitting there enjoying a meal together.  And they had fantastic appetites!  Lunchtime took about 30 minutes due to all the food they consumed. =)

The time passed quickly and Claire and Carson ended up leaving only a few minutes before Koen got home.  Tav was sad to see Claire go and has already asked for her to come back.  We'll have to get another playdate on the calendar!  And oh yeah, let's give a round of applause to me who got a taste of what it's like to balance four kids (under four I might add)!  It went well, but wow, moms of 4 under 4 are talented ladies!

All 3 Compared at 3 Months

Without even meaning to I had Penn in a sleeper this morning that Tav was wearing in some pics right around his 3 month birthday, so I thought it was appropriate to use these photos for comparison.  I didn't have a lot of Koen from July 2007 (pre-blog I didn't take nearly the amount of pics I take now!), but I found a good straight on of his face, well, half his face.  At this point I think Penn and Koen look more alike than Tav and Penn.  Tav was a lot thinner than K & P, so that has a lot to do with it I think.  Your thoughts?

Penn is 3 Months Old!

I can't believe it's already been 3 months.  I'm loving this stage, but I can't believe we are already pass the teeny tiny newborn phase.  I'm trying to enjoy every moment and not let this time go too fast.  I tried to get some pictures of Penn today on this momentous occasion.

Koen and Tavin were a little jealous and wanted me to take pics of their faces.  Watch out.  They are intense!

I got the three guys together for an attempt at a brotherly picture.  Not perfect.  But priceless to me.

Cute Penn Video

Today I was explaining to my mom that Penn is just so adorable and I had to attempt to get a video to make sure she got a glimpse of it.  He's been very chatty and blowing bubbles a lot lately, but of course he got a little shy (and mesmerized by the little light on the camera), so he doesn't say much.  He does smile a bunch and his sweet face is cute enough to stare at even in pictures, so I think a video stream of his preciousness just has to be even better.

GCC Homecoming 2012, My 10 Year Reunion

Wow.  I can't believe it's been a decade since I was a Grover!  Such a special phase in life that I still look upon so fondly.  The reason we decided to head up to Homecoming this year was because my dear friend, GCC roomie and one of my bridesmaids, Jenny, was going to come out from New Jersey for the festivities.  Unfortunately, the weather forecast was questionable and we were unsure if it was going to work out to take the 3 boys up and stand around in the rain, but thankfully on Saturday morning the rain was supposed to stop mid-morning, about the time of our arrival.  I practically had a nervous breakdown on the way up there as we watched it rain pretty steadily and the clouds were dark and ominous with no signs of breaking.  Thankfully after we arrived and just accepted the fact that we were up there and going to make the most of it, the clouds started to part and after only a little rain shower, we had a beautiful Fall day on campus with our family and friends.  

We got to GCC at 10am so I could feed Penn and Doug took the big boys on a mini hike through the woods to explore.  And then at 11am we attended the parade.  I'm not sure I ever watched it when I was in school and I don't think I've seen it at Homecoming before, but now that we have these kids that love parades (and have attended a good amount here in the city), it was really fun.

Doug was having a blast with the boys and sort of turned back into the alter-ego we so lovingly call, "college Doug."  You can spot him here dancing with Tavin.  

The boys were so excited to see the trolley.  55th and 60th reunion-goers rode in the trolley.  We were pretty impressed at how many turned out.

Doug got a few pictures of Jenny and I amidst the pandamonium at the parade.  Love you, Jenny!  So great to be with you back at GCC.  I wish we had a whole week to hang out together instead of just part of a day, but I'll take what I can get. =)

After the parade was done, we headed to the coffee shop on S. Broad St. (a classic hangout spot back in the day).  Tavin and I got a hot cocoa to share.  He was pretty excited.

It was fun hanging out with Jenny and Scott's daughters.  They are so sweet and were very comfortable hanging out with our boys after such a long time since they'd last seen one another (especially Koen and his buddy - so cute!).

And how's this for an amazing picture of all the kids!  I'm doing my weird squinty eyes, but everyone else looks great, so I had to share it. =)

After the coffee stop we had a nice walk back to the car, to reload the stroller with our picnic gear and then we hiked through the woods to our picnic spot.  The boys did so well with all the walking, going here and there and Koen especially, got so much exercise between his scooter and the walking everywhere.

We took the boys over the famous bridge (where Doug gave me a kiss as an upperclassmen to a freshman and therefore gave me the title of an official Grover).  This bridge also is above where Doug was "creeked" after proposing to me.  This is a Grove City tradition and unfortunately Doug's friends were quite unforgiving creeking him on a very chilly night!  Doug explained the story to the boys and Koen didn't believe it and then while they were down by the creek throwing stones in, two creekings actually happened!  Doug figures they were alumni that had recently been engaged and not current students, but it definitely proved the point to Koen!  Here we are safe and dry on top of the bridge (Penn's in the stroller).

Next we had a little picnic by the creek and then we headed back up to the Quad where there was a great kids/families area.  They had several bounce houses and our boys had a blast there for about an hour.  Everything was free and not too packed that line-waiting was frustrating, so it was a perfect afternoon pasttime.  Tavin loved this bounce house and just went in over and over.

Koen ran all around doing some more "big kid" activities.  And here are the two friends again enjoying their balloons that we got right before we had to head back home.  

We left Grove City a little before 3pm and got home in time for Penn's 4pm feeding.  Yes, I know, he's barely written into this post.  I totally forgot to get a picture of him while we were up there.  He was such a good boy all day.  He just rolled with the punches.  Ate in the car, hung out in the stroller, took his naps in there too.  He was great.  I'm so proud of him (and of Doug and I for totally having it under control as parents of 3 boys!).  So, anyways, when we got home I put Penn in his GCC t-shirt and took a few pictures.  Tough to decide which is best, so I'll just put a bunch in.  He's too cute!