Such a Special Visit

So the day after I returned from NH, my brother, Phil, his wife, Leah, and their two girls, Eleanor (almost 4) and Elizabeth (2) came into town for the weekend.  They haven't been up here in 5 years, so it was so exciting to have them here to see a glimpse of life in the Burgh with these boys.  And it was the first time we had all the cousins together.  So, as you can see, appropriate title...Such a Special Visit!

On Thursday, Phil, Leah and the girls arrived around dinner time from the airport.  We hosted them for a kid-friendly dinner and some playtime for the kids.

Don't worry, the pictures get better as the weekend visit goes on.  But hey, you can see that the cousins enjoyed a meal together, which in and of itself was special to see. =)  Phil & Leah took the girls to the house they were staying at to get their girls settled and Doug and I got our boys down at our place, then we adults had sitters come for our kids and we got to go out for dinner at Point Brugge.  It was a great night to unwind, relax and catch up.

On Friday, the forecast called for possible rain, so we decided to go to the Children's Museum.  Tavin ended up staying home from preschool due to some intense allergies he's been battling and I didn't want Koen to yet again miss out on a fun family adventure, so we sprung him out of school (which was so fun to surprise him with that!).  The Children's Museum was a big hit with all the kids and Phil and Leah were impressed with the place.  Here's a photo review of our time there...

Working on an engineering project with Uncle Phil:

Penn was a moody mess at the beginning of our visit.  Koen came to his aid and helped him do a painting:

Another attempt to make Penn feel comfortable:

The littlest cousin was a trooper and just hung out and looked cute:

Eleanor and Elizabeth climbing through the ramp maze:

The special exhibit was the rainbow blow-up tunnel...always a hit:

The kids all enjoyed making rain noises with stones over nails:

Next we went into the Garage Room.  Penn jumped right into the trolley to read a book:

Eleanor and Elizabeth headed to some more hands-on activities.  They are such brave little girls, tackling any fun activity set in front of them it seems.  Here's Eleanor waiting behind Koen to scamper up a big rope ladder.  She was great at it!

Next we headed up to the "Nursery" where the crazy school groups aren't allowed, which was a much needed break from the crowds.  That was totally what Penn needed to relax and really enjoy himself.  Phew!  I was over his crankiness!  The kids all still found plenty to do.  Here's Phil giving Eleanor a ride on the bubble-making see-saw:

Cousins playing with the blue rocks:

After the nursery, we headed down for some lunch.  I had to nurse Jansen and got a shot of my family all enjoying their lunch together.  A pretty special sight for this sentimental sister.  So great to have Phil and his family here!

Most of the kids went on to the water floor before heading home for naptime (I just hung out with Penn and nursed Jansen until it was time to leave).  The kids were all tuckered out from our fun morning together and both homes were calm and quiet (I multi-tasked away, but the other adults all got some much needed chill time, yay!).  Then after naptime, we all met up again, this time at Frick Park's Blue Slide Playground.  Koen, Tavin and even Penn showed Eleanor and Elizabeth exactly why the park is named, "Blue Slide."

Eleanor and Elizabeth showed no hesitation to join in on the fun.

Eleanor even went down without cardboard (and on her belly!), one brave girl!

There, that's how it's really done.  Way to go, Eleanor!

After the time on the blue slide, the kids moved on to playing on the playground equipment.  Elizabeth stopped over to check out Jansen.  She asked me, "who is that?"  Hilarious!

Uncle Phil taught Koen a new monkey bar technique.  How to go bar to bar with just one hand.  Koen was so proud of himself.  And I was excited to see him take advice from someone!  Uncle Phil's pretty cool, so I guess Koen figured he'd give him a chance.

Doug ran out to a favorite pizza place in Squirrel Hill to grab pizza for the kids.  Phil caught this picture of them all around the table and actually all looking and smiling.  Amazing!

Jansen took a nap on me.  He was pretty cute though.  He had his hands folded under his chin.  Oh my goodness!

Around 6:40pm we parted ways to head home to get all our kids in bed at our separate places.  We had been there for about an hour and a half and the kids were still having a blast together.  Penn and Eleanor were playing such an adorable game of tickle hide and seek, I wish I had been able to capture their squeals and smiles, but just take my word for it, they became fast buddies.  Here's a picture I did get of the two at dinner.

After all the boys were down for the night at our house, a babysitter arrived and we headed to Shadyside to meet Phil and Leah out for dinner at Girasole and then we went to our friends' house nearby for dessert.  It was another great date night and I couldn't imagine better company (and it was a pretty tasty meal again too!).

On Saturday, our big plans were to meet at the zoo for the morning and early afternoon.  Initially when I planned this adventure, I was counting on Doug being there for our first visit with all 4 boys.  But alas, he was preaching and needed time to spend on his sermon prep, not to mention the allergies we've all been battling had done a number on his voice.  So, it was all me with my 4 boys and we had a really good time (and were grateful that we were meeting people there for an extra hand when needed for sure!).  Unfortunately, Penn was really weird this day.  Just a whiney mess.  I think the travel and then lots of new faces and activities out of the ordinary in combination with the allergies/cold he was getting over was just too much at once.  He's not normally like that though, so my patience wore thin with him very quickly.  I was frustrated too because I felt like he came off like such a frustrating kid to Phil and Leah and the girls when Penn is usually my happy-go-lucky, easy guy.  Oh well, that's kids for you, they keep you on your toes!  We had a wonderful visit to the zoo despite his mood swings.  I was particularly impressed with Koen's helpfulness (I had to bring the wagon and the stroller in order to hold the kids and picnic and he happily pushed the stroller the whole time).  These glimpses of the young man he is becoming are so exciting and encouraging.  He was my right hand man all day and I so needed that!  Tav just went with the flow and loved being with us all, especially with his Uncle Phil.  He jumped onto him for a hug any chance he got!

The zoo is such a great place for a wide span of ages because everyone can find something they are interested in.  Here are 3 of my boys checking out the sleepy red panda.

An attempted stop for a cousin photo.  

This leopard is exhibit is always one of my favorites.  It's amazing how he always just paces right in front of your face through the glass.  He even surprised the girls a few times. 

There was a new giraffe exhibit where you could get way closer to these amazing animals than I've ever been able to before.  It was a pretty busy day at the zoo, so I hung back with the strollers, etc., but you can see Eleanor up on Phil's shoulders, not too far from the giraffe's head!

The elephant house was a huge hit.  Several elephants were in there getting fed or washed up.  It was a lot of fun to watch these astounding animals up close.  The kids were enthralled for quite awhile in here.

Phil and Leah took the girls through the monkey house (not my favorite place as I don't like the smell or the crowds) and I hung out outside watching the gorilla exhibit with the boys.

Here's cranky Penn checking out the grumpy gorillas.  They would've made a perfect pair.

I had to include a picture of Jansen, the sweet trooper along for the ride whether he liked it or not.  First trip to the zoo for this little one!

We didn't go through the main part of the aquarium, but we did go through the underwater tunnel areas underneath the large tanks.  Here's Eleanor, Elizabeth and Penn loving the otter who was teasing them.  

The sharks were stalking right near the glass.  So gross, but also engrossing...you can't take your eyes off them.

The seals were entertaining as usual.  Elizabeth wanted to go swimming in their pool so badly!

At this point, I had to go find a place to feed Jansen and I took Penn Rye Cranky Pants with me, but Koen and Tavin stayed and tagged along with Phil and Leah and the girls.  We all met up near the entrance/exit of the zoo.  We bravely attempted a shot of all the cousins together and amazingly we got some pretty good ones.  Here are the top 3.  So special to have these cousins together!!

And if you thought that was all we packed into the beautiful Saturday, you are wrong.  After the zoo, we all headed to our respective homes for another calm and quiet naptime (a little nutty at my house, but I was happy that Phil & Leah had some relaxation time while their girls slept!!).  Then I had dinner for the kids at our place before we all headed to the 6:15pm service at church.  We don't usually have a Saturday night service anymore, but it was marathon weekend so the roads would all be closed on Sunday morning.  It actually worked out great because since we had that service, Phil and Leah were able to attend  and see the new space and hear Doug preach.  Leah got some time with Jansen during the service.  So sweet!

After church, we all headed back to lay our kids down.  Once down, we headed out once again.  That's 3 date nights in a row, folks!!!  This time we just went to Phil & Leah's place and Phil and Doug went and picked up some fun take-out in Regent's Square and brought it home and we enjoyed a simple meal at the dining room table there together.  What a special visit.  I love my brother so much, it was great to have him here getting to know my kids, getting a glimpse of our life here in the city and I love his wife and enjoyed my time with her too, not to mention it was great to get to know the girls a little more and see them together with our boys.  We were blessed with beautiful Spring weather which made it all even better.  Thank you to Phil and Leah for coming up here to be with us.  It meant so much to me and I hope it was as nice for you as it was for me.  Thanks to our babysitters for the nights out.  And thanks to Erin and Morriss for the use of your adorable house as a comfortable place to house my family!  Such a special visit indeed!!