Last "Bralys in the Burgh" Playdate

So on Tuesday, Kyndal and I got our kiddos together for the last time before they head out on a new adventure (Kyndal's husband has completed residency and is starting a fellowship that will take them away from here).  Kyndal and I met about 6 months after they arrived here, she was pregnant with Kaiser and I only had Koen at the time.  A lot has changed since then.  Here's just a glimpse of the playdates, parties and hangouts in the past 4 and 1/2 years.  Prepare yourself, there are A LOT of pictures.

There weren't a lot of pictures before a special season Koen had with Kyndal and Kaiser from August to December of 2009.  Kyndal offered to watch Koen every Wednesday while I was working.  They had some super fun times and I would receive the pictures to prove it.  Here are the super young little buds!

At some point we got to have Kaiser stay with us for a bit while Kyndal and Brett had a date. It was Kaiser's first night out.  Pretty exciting!

Tavin came along soon after that (and I think I disappeared from regular playdates for some time), but eventually he got in on the action.  Here he and Kaiser are playing together while Koen and I had a date at the symphony.

Kaiser joined Koen in "big brotherhood" in the Fall of 2010.  Porter joined the playtimes soon afterwards.  Pretty cute addition!

Not only did we all enjoy the mommy/kiddo playdates, but we had 3 years of a fantastic small group we were all involved in.  Here's a photo of the group (and then the kiddos playing it up of course) in August 2011.

And still many more playdates ensued with the four boys enjoying each other's company.  Sometimes even in pajamas (Sept. 2011).

Lots of times enjoying museums and playgrounds around the Burgh.  This is January 2012 at the Carnegie Science Center.  

The Toy Lending Library was another fun spot (April 2012).

The boys always looked forward to seeing each other at church as well.  Here's Koen and Kaiser representing the two families on stage on Palm Sunday 2012.

That's not all.  Kyndal and I have experienced babies #1 and #2 together, but in June 2013 my #3 came along (and Kyndal's was baking in the oven) and she was there to visit in the hospital and snap some of my favorite first day pics of Penn Rye.

So, as you can see, we've been through a lot, played a lot and enjoyed a lot together.  Tuesday was no exception.  Koen was at school, so he missed out on this one (it's OK, he was up about 25 playdates anyways), but the other 5 kiddos had a great time playing it up one last time here in Pittsburgh.  First of all, we must feature Kyndal's #3, Miss Malone Marie.

Then Kaiser, Tav and Porter playing construction site.  These 3 LOVE trucks!

After Penn had finished his morning nap we headed to one of our favorite playsites...Osceola Parklet, the site of our weekly summer playdate for several years.  Kaiser, Tavin and Porter played really well together and Malone and Penn were a breeze in the beautiful weather and attention from their mommies.

All 5 were on the picnic blanket at once (photo opp!).  We are so blessed to have all these little ones.  Amazing to see how our families have grown over the past few years!

I got a cute picture of Tav on the swing.

But Kyndal got a super cute one of him on his scooter.

She also got a sweet one of Penn.

It was a great morning of catching up, enjoying each other's company yet again while watching our kids play.  Kyndal, I've been so thankful for your friendship and being able to do this mom thing alongside you.  We look forward to all that the Lord has in store for you in your next location, but we will miss you here.  Thanks for all the memories.  We'll just have to plan some trips to make some more!

Time at the Lake, Part 3

After an evening and night of thunderstorms, we woke up to gray skies and a cool breeze.  The high today was only supposed to get into the 70's.  It's been great to be at the lake during the hot spell, but the cool-off is even better.  With it being Sunday, I asked Doug if he would lead us in a family devotional time (the boys didn't understand what that meant, but they were super excited to find out it meant something similar to "home church").  Doug did a fantastic job.  Here's how it went.  First we discussed Proverbs 26:21.  "As charcoals to embers and as wood to fire, so is a quarrelsome person to kindling strife."  Can you tell with been having some issues between the brothers?  Doug couldn't have chosen a better topic.  Not to mention the object lesson of this verse meant that the boys got to make fire with their Dad!  Doug did a great job of continuing to underscore how easy it was to light the fire and get it going, just like how easy it is to cause strife and anger with a few simple quarrelsome words.  Here's Doug sharing the verse.

All it takes is a little light to the kindling...

And there you have it, a full-blown fire (or anger pot which is what I've been seeing a lot lately between these two brothers!).

We enjoyed sitting around the fire together as a family.  Well, Doug and I did.  The boys liked throwing things into the fire and watch them burn.  Classic!

I did snap a pic of my big boy, Koen as he was lighting the end of his poker stick on fire.  Sometimes I am just so struck of how quickly this little boy is growing up.

I had some loves with Tav who, although he is also growing up into quite the big boy, often strikes me as still such a babe who needs my attention, snuggles and grace.  

Now, Doug had a second part of the devotional for us.  I really appreciated this because it was a positive application of how to live out the first part.  How should we act then if we aren't to be quarrelsome?  Psalm 133:1 says, "How wonderful and pleasant it is when brothers live together in harmony!"  Well, hmmm, we have a fire here.  What could we do to show putting two things together in harmony that could be wonderful and pleasant?  That's right...S'mores!  Now, I'm not a big fan of S'mores myself (or of the thought of my children eating marshmallows for that matter), but for the sake of the Gospel, I went along with it.  Koen totally got the message and Tavin just totally understood that he was getting a fun new treat.  Here they are toasting the marshmallows.

Tav's first taste.  Looks like he's pondering (probably wondering why Mommy is letting him have this at 10am).

And we've got a sticky mess here!

It's official...he likes it and he's quite adorable eating it.

Anyways, hats off to husband for taking care of "home church" or family devotional this Sunday.  It was a lot of fun and I hope the boys learned something (or at least we have something we can refer back to the next time we have to talk about not stirring up anger).  After our fun activity time, the boys headed out on the paddleboat for awhile with Doug.  They brought me back these amazing flowers growing from lily pads.  Aren't they gorgeous?

Later after Penn's morning nap we took a bike ride/walk down to the cute little town.  Doug had another tree photo shoot with the boys.

When we got home Koen wanted to go swimming.  So we let him. =)  Thankfully we don't have to go too!  Tavin and Doug hung out in the paddleboat trying not to get hit by Koen's big splashes.  After Koen was pretty much frozen we had lunch and then we all just hung out before naptime.  The little guys are sleeping now and Koen's enjoying a DVD.  Koen and I will be taking a scooter walk momentarily and then it's the final packing/cleaning frenzy before we head back to the Burgh.  It's been a great time away and we are sad to leave, but thankfully we do always love getting back home to our routine.  It's Koen's last week of Kindergarten amazingly enough, so summer break is fast approaching!

Time at the Lake, Part 2

As mentioned at the end of the Part 1 post, Saturday was to look a lot like Friday and it did.  And it was great, just like Friday.  We are so thankful to be away together as a little family unit, just enjoying the outdoors and our time together.  Thanks again to Gary and Lisa for their generous hospitality.  We so needed this family getaway!  

So, after the boys came back from their morning bike ride, it was back to the paddleboat.  This vessel has been quite the hit with Koen and Tavin and Doug and I have both enjoyed using it with them.  Before getting suited up to go, Tavin posed with his buddy, The Bear, who stands on the stair landing.  They're the same size!

Doug hung out with Koen and Tavin so I could take a nice long walk with Penn before lunch.  When we got back, Koen was swimming in the chilly lake!  He had gotten hot playing with Doug and Tav and asked to go in.  Why not?  He was so proud of himself he forgot to be cold. After the photos, he remembered he was freezing, so he quickly snuggled in a towel with me and ran to get on dry clothes.  We were proud of him for jumping feet first into the courageous activity though. =)

Koen is also quite brave with the rope swing here.  Check out this swing.

After all the morning activities, we had a yummy grill-out lunch and then a little more outdoor time throwing sticks and rocks into the lake and riding on scooters and bikes and then it was nap/rest time.  Doug headed out for the wedding he had to officiate and the rest of us relaxed.  After the afternoon down time, I got the boys outside again while I fed Penn his dinner.  We made up our own games tonight.  Koen and Tav went hunting for the perfect sticks and then went "fishing."  Check out this catch.

Doug got home in time to snap some pictures of my catch.

Doesn't he look so much better?  In that last picture I can actually see that his left eye is still not quite right, but honestly, all day I didn't notice a problem at all and I know that he was acting completely like his happy self.  Thank you, Lord!  We got another cute picture of him with Koen while I was getting Tav cleaned up from dinner.  This biggest/littlest combo is pretty precious.

I hope to do a final post tomorrow with more pics of the same lakeside fun tomorrow!

Time at the Lake, Part 1

In searching for a blog post title this morning, I was inspired by the cute homemade coaster underneath my cocoa mug here at our friend's cottage at the lake.  Fitting backdrop too.

This weekend we are at this beautiful cottage on Findley Lake, NY.  If you've been reading the blog for a long time you may recognize the scenery.  Our dear friends have generously let us stay here on a number of occasions.  We've come to associate this place with rest and refreshment and the boys are beginning to remember it well and look forward to the different rural adventures it provides.  This time we are up here because Doug is doing a wedding about a half hour from here and rather than stay at home in the hot and humid city, he thought it'd be great to stay away as a family.  I agree!  Good idea, babe.  =)  We got here Thursday night.  The boys did well on the trip and were great getting settled in and spending their first night here.  Friday was full of fun.  First Doug got the bikes all set (including assembling and mounting the new bike seat...thanks Gramma and Grampa!).  Here they are headed out on a bike ride during Penn's morning nap.

And then Doug texted me this picture from their destination, a little mill at one end of the lake.

Once they got home Doug and Koen were anxious to figure out how to get out on the water.  Ah, yes, a paddleboat would be just about right.  Koen was surprisingly confident on the water (yay for nautical blood in his veins!) and quickly grasped steering with the little tiller.  He is also quite the peddler even though he has to sit on the very edge of the seat to reach them properly.

After Doug took Koen out (and they found a super huge fish which they are calling the sea monster).  They came back for Tavin.  Again, I was impressed that he had no fear about getting on the watercraft and heading out.  

I fed Penn while they stayed out for awhile and when they got back we had lunch, then I got to take Koen and Tav out on the paddleboat too.  It felt so good to be out on the water with my boys.  (If you don't know it, I'm a fish at heart and grew up in the water and on the water so I LOVE exposing my boys to it!).  

After this outing, it was time for Tav's nap.  He was worn out!  It took him awhile to settle, but thankfully he did pass out eventually.  Poor Penn wasn't himself Friday morning at all.  He seems to be allergic to something here.  One side of his face has a rash and his eye is all puffy and running and so his nose.  Poor little bug.  Two pictures to prove it.

In the evening, Doug was off doing the rehearsal and so it was up to Mommy to keep the boys busy.  Since we are up here in the woods and at the lake, I knew I had to get them outside.  Thankfully there were lawn games in the basement of the cottage, so I set a few up on the lawn by the lake and the boys played while I cheered them on and fed Penn.

Penn looked a little better in the evening.  I had to get some pictures of his sweet face against the lovely, natural backdrop.  You can see his left eye is still not normal, but he looks better!

Before heading in for the big boys to eat their dinner they enjoyed a little more playtime with Tav's diggers I brought from home (these have been such amazing toys...portable, fun and workable).  Tavin was especially thrilled that Koen wanted to play with him.  They've been having some brotherly love issues lately, so I think it was such a relief to Tav to just play with Koen (rather than defend himself).  

That was about it for the night.  The boys were ravenous for their dinner after their day of outdoor fun.  They all slept good and we are already having a fun morning.  We went out for a walk/bike ride.  After Penn and I parted to return home for Penn's morning nap, Doug sent me these pics.  Koen and Tavin in a cute woodsy pose.

And then throwing rocks into the water (Koen skipped one!).

Well, stay tuned for updates.  Having fun at Findley Lake!  Oh, PS - Penn's eye is looking much better today.  I will be sure to include some good looking photos of his sweet face soon!