Last Free Flight for Penn, Part III

Before I get started on mine & Penn's Sunday activities, I will report on what Doug did with the big boys back in the Burgh.  Well, it was Marathon Day in Pittsburgh, the boys had gone to church the night before, so right after breakfast Doug took K & T down to Liberty Avenue to cheer on at least a half dozen friends on this last leg of the run (final miles to downtown finish line start in Bloomfield).  

After some downtime at home, they boys headed down to the Pirates Game.  We are cheapskates though and love an adventure, so to save a dime and add even more fun, Doug packed the bikes and parked 2 miles from the stadium on the Heritage Trail along the river and they biked to PNC Park.  They had a blast at the game (although I did get some texts about how Koen was unraveling a bit at this point).  This was Tavin's first full-length game and he was a champ!  He brought along his parrot puppet mascot from Aunt Abbie and ber-gawked through the whole game to cheer on his Buccos.  

Now back to Florida.  With it being Sunday, we were planning on going to church as one big happy family, but little Elizabeth had been struggling with a cold virus and cough the whole weekend and woke up quite miserable on Sunday.  Leah made the wise decision not to take the snotty, sad baby to church and so we all just decided to lay low (I was a little relieved since I wasn't sure if Penn would do very well in a strange nursery since he's just getting used to ours).  Since we were all dressed for church, I decided to take my handsome little man outside for a photo shoot on the beautiful morning and with the lovely Floridian backdrop.  Here are my favorites.  Look, it's Uncle Phil's truck!  (This kid just loves his vehicles!).

"Hmmm, so Mommy is just really following me around everywhere with the camera."

"Where'd it go?"

"Cheese!"

"Should I be worried about the car coming down the road?"

One of my absolute favorites!  What a dapper little dude!

"These palm leaves are spikey!"

"I'm outta here!" (I think he's trying to lose me at this point.)

He had just touched something that was hot from the sun.  Love the hunched shoulders!

This was his favorite part...running down the driveway over and over again.  Might not be as picturesque, but definitely you can't beat the sheer joy on his face.

So that was fun. =)  We then headed in to get changed into shorts and a t-shirt, but then just shortly thereafter Leah and I decided to get Eleanor and Penn into the kiddie pool in the backyard, so it was back in for a change of clothes.  Eleanor and Penn are just such sweet buddies, it's hard to interrupt their play for a good pic, so here's my attempt to capture their hard work side-by-side playing with the pool water (they had an elaborate system of watering Leah's plants, etc.).

This face was too hilarious not to share.  I think he was a little surprised to be all wet.  "Do I look like I'm enjoying this?"

"Got ya!  I totally love it!"

Penn also totally loved the motorboat ride we took to get some lunch across the bayou.  He was a little nervous and just took it all in on the way there, so I didn't bother taking a picture.  But then on the way home he was Mr. Confident and I felt like I had to keep my hands on him so he didn't jump ship, so I didn't get a picture then either.  But believe me, Penn had fun. =)  I did get a picture of a sail that Phil and I got to take that afternoon while Leah graciously stayed at the house to listen to the sleeping little ones.  

It was an amazing sail.  Phil and I were a brother-sister team to be reckoned with (well, maybe we weren't competition level, but we were a team and it was so fun!).  I thought I was just going to sit around while he sailed the boat, but from leaving the dock to returning home, I was on the job.  I was super nervous as this is the biggest boat I've controlled from the helm and I've never sailed myself on the ocean (this is really bay, but still, I'm used to lakes).  Phil had full confidence in his sister though and so I decided to have the same for myself.  It was a blast.  My favorite was coming about.  I was at the helm and Phil was in charge of the sheets.  His boat can turn on a dime and we got pretty efficient with our coming about and it was so fun to be working with my brother!  Both of us couldn't get over the ideal sail we got to enjoy.  Perfect weather, wind and company.  Unforgettable.  Thanks, Phil (and thanks, Leah, for staying at the house with the little ones so we could have this special time!).  When we got back Eleanor was awake hanging out with Leah and shortly thereafter Elizabeth and Penn got up from their naps as well (Penn has been a sleeping champ...I think he gets pretty tired out with all the cousin fun!).  We let the kids play in the kiddie pool again and then got them dressed and they played on the porch until it was dinnertime.  As we were scurrying around getting their dinner, they had a little snack of pistachios (turns out Penn is a big fan!).  It was so cute seeing the three of them stick together, always close to the bag, sticking their chubby little hands in and devouring the little treats.  How cute is the pistachio party?

After the pistachio appetizer and then dinner, the cousins had a little more time of final play and then Eleanor and Penn got to enjoy bathtime together before bed.  I wanted to get Penn to bed at his usual 7pm bedtime since I knew we had a long day on Monday traveling home.  Since I had him in bed on time, I was able to take in the final sunset of my stay before the sun dipped behind the trees.  Magnificent, isn't it?

Well, that about sums up the trip.  We adults had a pretty low key/not late evening since Phil and Leah headed to work the next morning and I had the travel home and then back to real life in the Burgh.  Penn and I had a much less eventful day of flying home and he was a travel champ as usual.  Here's a picture of him playing while watching the planes during our layover at BWI.  He LOVES the airport and all the goings on there.  It's so fun!

We got home right on time at 3:45pm and when Penn and I stepped off the transit train from the terminal we were greeted enthusiastically by Koen and Tavin.  I felt so special (and I think overtired/unnapped Penn felt a little overwhelmed).  It was great to be reunited.  Another huge thanks to my amazing Douglas staying with the boys and doing such a great job with them (I received some pretty funny texts in my last 24 hours of my stay in Florida about how desperately he was looking forward to the return of Mommy!).  Also a big thanks to Phil & Leah for hosting Penn and I.  We had a wonderful trip.  It was so rewarding to see the little cousins together, so fantastic to be with my brother and his family and so special to share a trip with my littlest.