(Not so) Happy Valley

This past weekend the four of us headed north to Grandma Land. Michael and I were headed to State College for the Penn State football game on Saturday, and Grammy Lynn and Papa Frank were going to be in charge of the kiddos. We lucked into just about the most gorgeous fall weekend you can imagine. Just beautiful.

On Friday evening we took C&G to GraGra and Papa Greg's house for supper. My grandparents joined us as well, so lots of grandparent L-O-V-E! My grandma drove their fancy, new side-by-side off road vehicle up over the hill before dinner and, let me tell you, it was a HIT with the toddler crowd! GraGra has some pictures, but, sadly, I don't! The kiddos spent at least 45 minutes climbing, driving, beeping, and in-ing/out-ing. Big time fun!

Saturday morning, Michael and I headed off for State College, and Colin and Gillian started their busy, busy day! Grammy Lynn and Papa Frank took the kiddos over to see Great-Grandma Hannold for a visit. They were apparently very charming and happy to visit! (Again, no pictures, but I'm sure Grammy has some). After afternoon nap, the kiddos were visited by MORE grandparents, Dickiedoo and Noonie this time! Then Mrs. Kathy and Joe came for dinner too! Lots of fun, giggles, and showing-off, I hear!

Anyway, Happy Valley. We arrived in State College a few hours before the game, and took the opportunity to stroll around town, grab a bite, and enjoy campus. The we headed to Beaver Stadium with about 110,000 of our friends. It's best to just not talk about the game itself. Bad, bad, and worse. We did grab a picture of us trying to have fun....


We stuck it out until the fourth quarter, then headed out to explore some more. We decided to check out the new arboretum on north campus. WOW! It's my new favorite place on campus! So beautiful! Michael only had the "little" camera, but he took these beauties!





And, we took the opportunity to sit and relax a bit!



Then, we headed back to town, grabbed some dinner and ice cream, and said BYE to Happy Valley for now! Everything in State College was absolutely beautiful, except for the awful, awful football....

Helps-It!

Gillian's new favorite phrase is, "Helps - It!"

Which translates to, "Helping!!"

Meaning, "I need to help you NOW!"

Colin has now picked up on this phrase, and I get LOTS and LOTS of help. Especially in the kitchen.

A good example:

Hay Day!

Last Saturday, the county threw a little (FREE) fall festival at South Park. Now, it ran from noon to 4:00, and since the kiddos nap from (approximately) noon to 3:00, we only made it for about the last half hour. I wish we could have gone earlier, since they both ended up being REALLY interested in it! Next year...

Anyway, the Hay Day consisted of (FREE) bouncy houses, balloon artists, a craft fair, a petting zoo, and a, wait for it, THOMAS THE TRAIN RIDE!!! (Thomas is experiencing a HUGE popularity boom at our house right now) Two of the bouncy houses were too "big" for C&G and the balloon people were wrapping up when we got there. So, Thomas and "baby" bounce house, it is! Grammy and Grandpa Frank went along with the kiddos and me, since Daddy was away throwing Matthew's bachelor party!

After Colin's spectacular Beach Boardwalk Meltdown in August, I was expecting him to not want to do ANYTHING. Umm, guess again Mama. He was SO EXCITED to ride on Thomas. They both waited patiently in the relatively short line and then it was our turn!!!

Sadly, Mama was foolish enough to make them SHARE a train car. Colin was NOT pleased. Bad Mama.


Fortunately, Colin seemed to have fun once the ride started! Gillian, of course, had a BALL. I really think she thought she was steering that train!


After the train, we hit the bouncy house! We had also tried a bouncy house earlier in summer, and it was a Colin FAIL. But, not this time! What a difference a few weeks and months make!


So, a fun, quick Hay Day!!

Wee, wee, wee.....HOME!

Our little piggies:





Apparently, all our best videos happen at the dinner table.

Wait, what?

Tomorrow is October? Huh. Not sure how that happened.

Anyway, we've been pretty boring lately. No crazy Canadian ice sports or whatnot. Although, happily, Colin did make it through his first cold with NO WHEEZING since last Thanksgiving. Happy Sigh. The same cold really knocked Bean for a loop and she was pretty much drowning in snot for about nine days. Fun times.

Anyway, last Saturday or Sunday it was reasonably warm, dry, and snot-free around here, so we headed to the park. The kiddos had fun pushing their strollers around the duck pond and over the foot bridge, and then we headed down the the mini-Stonehenge (our best guess is it's an art installation). Bean and Bubba really like to climb on the rocks, and JUMP off (with help)! They were looking pretty cute in their (Grammy provided) Halloween shirts, and luckily, we had the little camera!

I had to remove Gillian's large, pointy stick first!


Not so pleased with her Mama...luckily, I'm used to it.


Ok, getting back to cuteness....and teeth.






And, we're done with this!


Anyway, we are headed straight into October, and it's a crazy, crazy month for us. I apologize in advance if we get behind!

Crazy Curling!

This past weekend, Michael and I had a fun date night (thank you GraGra and Papa Greg) and we met a bunch of people to go curling. Yep, curling. That crazy ice sport that only surfaces on American tv during the winter Olympics. We've actually been before, so this was our second attempt!

Pittsburgh is home to, not surprisingly, The Pittsburgh Curling Club housed at the Robert Morris University ice rink on Neville Island. They offer several open houses throughout their season and offer to teach random people (such as us) how to curl. It is a blast.

You cannot take yourself very seriously while trying to glide on ice, pushing 42 pounds of granite, and aiming for a four foot circle about a mile down the ice rink. You are guaranteed to fall on your bum at least once, so you might as well get it over with.

Anyway, this is what curling is supposed to look like. Crazy Canadians.


This is what our curling lessons looked like.....

This is me learning how to push off, being taught by the awesome Mark. He's Canadian. Listen to how positive Rachel is about this!


Now Matthew "throwing" and Rachel and Michael sweeping. Matthew had a tendency to throw a little "heavy" and shoot through the back of the target...


And finally, Rachel throwing and Michael and Matthew are sweeping. Now, standing down at the target is the "Skip" of the team. The Skip tells his teammates when to sweep and how fast to sweep (to help the stone go faster or farther). Michael and Matthew do not listen well to their Skip. That's all I'll say on that.


Anyway, our little foursome played a mini-game against some other newbies (although, I hear they had a ringer). We lost. We didn't even score a single point. Very sad. But still fun.

Please, Turn Down Your Volume

WARNING: This video is funny, but very, very ear piercing.

The kids are currently cracking each other up. The just look at each other and laugh hysterically. It's pretty cute, but L-O-U-D.



Yes, that is a plastic bag. And, yes, we did take it away.