Recital time!

After four days up north with Grammy and GraGra for some Beechwoods Bible School, Colin and Gillian returned home just in time for Gillian's dance recital. The recital she has been anticipating for about eight months.

After quiet time, I got Gillian all ready to go. We did a ballet bun, a smidgen of mascara (holy cats), and some blush. G was on cloud nine.


At the high school we were met by Grammy, Papa Frank, Dickiedoo and Noonie. And GraGra and Papa had driven over from our house with us. So we were a CROWD! I took G backstage while everyone else took their seats.

TA DA! (The lipgloss was another highlight for G.)



And one quick picture with the Mama before I left her with the backstage Mom and took my seat!


No pictures or videos allowed inside the auditorium. Sorry. But Gillian was fantastic! She did most of the steps, looked at the audience, and even smiled at the end when she was supposed to. Papa Frank said she looked like an angel! She was wonderful.

At the first intermission after G's dance, we all left. Sorry to all the other dancers. But Colin was NOT going to sit through any more recital. He just wasn't. I collected Gillian, who immediately insisted on getting out of her costume because it was ITCHY. And she NEEDED to collect her flowers from her grandparents that she was SURE she was getting.

Oh look, she was right.


Colin wanted to know where HIS flowers were. Gillian was gracious enough to share.




That is one HAPPY girl.


We had a nice (if not long) dinner at Eat n' Park with ALL the family, even Uncle D and Aunt Cedes came! All in all I think it was a great first recital experience for our bitty ballerina!

Father's Day 2013

Honestly, I cannot remember what we did on Father's Day. It was a very low key day, as requested by Daddy. I know we grilled some steaks and had homemade pesto pasta. And took some pictures.




I remember Daddy telling me that he had a good Father's Day and had all he asked for. So, let's just call it a win.

The Funnest Place. Ever.

(Sorry I went missing. In the last two weeks we have listed our house, sold our house, bought a house, had a dance recital, welcomed a new nephew into our family, and, you know, all the other normal stuff!)

A few weeks ago Daddy's company had their summer picnic at Kennywood Park. Daddy and I have always enjoyed going to Kennywood as they have about five roller coasters to enjoy (three nice wooden ones!). BUT, Colin and Gillian have never been there! It's so close! But we've chosen, in the past two years, to drive over to Idlewild for our amusement park fun. This year we thought we'd check out Kennywood. Besides, the advertising was working on Colin and he NEEDED to see the Black Widow ride.

First up, we took the kids on the ONLY roller coaster they were tall enough to ride on. It was their first roller coaster ever.....and it might be their last for a while.



Colin did look a little skeptical there, huh? Well, they both reported that the roller coaster was "too fast, too hilly, and too curvy." BUMMER. Mommy and Daddy like roller coasters!

So, off to Kiddy Land. Yay.




THIS is the ride they ended up liking best. The mini-roller coaster. They rode it about fifteen times.






More fun!










Daddy was actually along too! He just took all the other pictures!


Goofy.


So, we had a great day! Colin declared Kennywood the "Funnest place EVER!" and he insisted that we needed to return the next day.

Up-do!

Gillian has been growing her hair for months! She wanted a "real ballerina bun." And, here we are, two weeks before her recital and TA DA! We made it! Miss Mary Ellen, our hair lady, was kind enough to do this today! Let's hope Mommy can do a repeat performance!

Oh, Momo.

Our bestest, furry friend.

Slippy Fun!

A few weeks ago, the kids and I picked up a $5.99 slip n slide at Aldis. GREAT fun. As long as this thing holds up, I think we will entertained by it quite a bit this summer!





This is G's "G.I. Jane" army crawl.

Fun with Friends

Right after Memorial Day it got HOT here! Briefly. So, Miss Laura and I thought it be good to hit up the spray park. BRILLIANT. Other than the fact they didn't open until June 1. Ooops. So, we made some lemonade and ran the sprinkler in Miss Laura's yard! Although C&G seemed to be FAR more interested in the power wheels jeep in the garage!


There is a reason children are not allowed to drive until 16. For real.

Memorial Day Catch Up!

It's been a few weeks, but I'm going to add our Memorial Day weekend pictures!  We had a lovely weekend up North, visiting with friends, and celebrating Mommy's birthday!

It was a chilly weekend, so we spent some time playing indoors....and enjoying DUELING iPads.  Jeez.



The kids did drag Daddy out for some soccer right after breakfast on Sunday.  In pajamas!




We joined Noonie and Dickiedoo for lunch on Sunday.  The kids went CRAZY over his side bank that was covered in rocks. I think Dickiedoo spent all afternoon hauling the rock back UP the hill.





The sun DID feel good!


There's Dickiedoo tramping through the woods with kiddos in tow.


Sunday night Aunt Emily and Uncle Stevie had a little party for Uncle Stevie's graduation from electrician's school. YAY Uncle Stevie! The kids love the play set in their backyard!





On Monday we had our annual picnic with Uhls and Keisters! Fun as usual!

There was a lot of wagon hauling. Not by ME. Other people are much nicer.


There was a little planting going on too.








IT'S JOE!! YAY!! One of our favorite people!



Our princess.


A great weekend full of family and fun!!