Awesome Aunt Abbie

Yay!  Aunt Abbie is here!  Doug is away for several days, so Abbie planned her summer trip to Pittsburgh to overlap with his time away so that she could be my company and help with the boys.  I am so thankful!!  After a rough week, it was such a blessing to look forward to my sister arriving to tag team it with me for a few days.  Not to mention that these past 6 months have been tough for me to be away from family (lots of factors, but I think the stress and strain of Tavin's speech stuff has taken a toll on me and leaves me wishing I was close to home).  Anyways, Ab couldn't get here fast enough.  The boys were intense on Friday morning, but we got through it with lots of time in the pool in the backyard.  Ab arrived during naptime and right afterwards she jumped right in with Tavin and Koen (she of course came bearing gifts).  They've been playing "pizza shop" a lot since Friday.  This Melissa & Doug set is a huge hit with both of them!

On Saturday, Ab played with Tav and Koen while I took Penn on a walk before his nap to get some groceries.  Then during Penn's naptime, Ab played housesitter and I got to take my big boys to the pool for a nice long visit.  It was such a fun time.  After such a stressful week with their aggression and annoyance towards one another at an all-time high and my nerves completely fried, it was such a blessing to have some good fun together with no conflicts.  In the evening the boys enjoyed more pooltime play, but this time in the backyard.  Koen developed a jump and Penn of his own accord celebrated it with hands up in the air.  We got him to do it again on this video.

Today we went to church together at Oakland.  It was so nice to have Abbie there.  Penn stays up with me during the worship time and for the first time in 3 days, he finally warmed up to Ab a little and touched her arm and played with her bracelet (yep, he's been quite the tough kid to win over, but Aunt Abbie has been very patient and understanding!).  Penn and Abbie made big strides in their relationship after church when we went to the Children's Museum with Uncle Nate, Aunt Megan and their two boys.  The Clifford exhibit was the boys' favorite today.  Upon entrance to the exhibit they were greeted by Clifford himself.  They were a bit distracted though when they "posed" for a pic with everyone's favorite, Big Red Dog.

Learning a little bit about Norman Bridwell and his work.

Penn was happy to learn to play the drums on stage with Clifford and his pals.

Captain Koen and First Mate Tavin gave Aunt Abbie a ferry ride to Birdwell Island.

Penn and Andy enjoyed the baby area of the exhibit.

Penn loved this area.  I was so thankful they had a place for him to play while the big brothers were so busy.

The BEST part of the time in this exhibit was when Koen and Tavin pretended to be postman on the island.  They were so into this game.  It was such a fun time to see them working together and so imaginative!  

Before leaving the Clifford exhibit, Tavin posed with his friend, Emily Elizabeth.  He's been really into the books and PBS TV show for the last few months and he was so excited about this whole special place where it comes alive.  Cutest picture of the day.

At lunchtime Uncle Nate and Aunt Megan had a present for Penn to open in honor of his birthday.  Penn's big bros were super excited to help him tear into it.

Yay!  Books just for Penn!  Penn loves books and it's always so nice to get something special just for him.

After lunch we played in the "garage" area for awhile.  Again, Koen and Tavin played so well together, it was so refreshing to see.  Koen was the driver (and very into it) and Tavin was in the backseat pretending to adjust the air conditioning vents and watch DVD's that Koen controlled from the front.

Finally, the last place we visited in our limited time at the museum was the refurbished water floor.  Tavin grazed through several activities.

Koen spent pretty much all his time engineering a pump and sprinkler operation.

Well, that's about it for Abbie's visit thus far.  This afternoon was low key (and this evening was a blur).  I look forward to posting more in the coming days about my sister (and one of my best friends) being here with me and the boys.  So thankful!