Had a Blast in Salt Lake!

After only a short week at home from the beach house, Mommy, Seb and Eli flew to Salt Lake City for a ten day visit.

Returning to our roots:  Mommy showed Eli and Seb the exact spot where mommy and daddy were married nine years ago.  This only made us miss Daddy more... little did we know that at this exact moment (more or less) his world was being rocked in the East Coast Earthquake of August 2011!   

The boys got right into the thick of things at Tracy Aviary.  Aviaries are always a big hit with Sebastian, our bird lover!

Resting with Nano as we wait for the Live Flight show at the Aviary.

Eli's trying out new head gear to protect himself from the birds!

Tuckered out:  On this day we did the zoo in the morning and the copper pit at  Bingham Canyon Mines (Kennecott Copper) in the afternoon.  Sebastian had to snag a nap wherever he could get one! 

But when well rested, he was able to take in the view of the mines with Granddad.  He was VERY impressed by the ENORMOUS trucks that move all that earth about!  And we arrived just in time to see them dynamite a portion of the mountain.  Impressive.  KABOOM!!

Our last full day was spent in Park City.  We took advantage of the fantastic weather to do the Alpine Slide (seen here with Grandma Jaye and Grandpa Marty)...

...The Alpine Coaster (this time with Granddad -- though Eli did this one more than once)...

Mommy got to go, too. 

And Eli still had energy at the end of the day to do some rock climbing at Park Silly Festival!

Seb and Grandma recharged with a yummy caramel apple right before we head back to the Salt Lake Valley.  What a great trip!

Among other things that happened in Salt Lake:  Grandma Jaye and Grandpa Marty took Eli and Sebbie to Promontory Point to see where the transcontinental railroad was completed, and then went to Antelope Island (the Great Salt Lake).  We ate loads of great meals (visiting many of mommy's hometown favorites), and had fantastic weather.  We love visiting Salt Lake.  If only Daddy could have been there with us!

We arrived back in Pittsburgh Monday night, started school on Wednesday.  Here is Eli on the first day of school on the steps of Trinity Hall.  Have a great year, my boy!

Putting on Miles

The last half of our summer was all about travel, and what a blast we had!

First, while Daddy's away, the rest will play. Grandpa Doug was getting back from a trip to the doctors in New York, and we wanted to see him and help he and Grandma Vivie if possible.  So, one night mommy packed up the car and the next day we drove to Virginia Beach.  The timing of our trip was hopefully helpful, but it also corresponded with Papa's birthday. So he got a cake decorated by four of his six grandkids.  Here they are hard a work:

 Wanna know how it turned out?  Voila!

 We also squeezed in trips to the beach and the aquarium.  Seb loves fish just as much as birds, turns out.

When we got back from Virginia Beach, Eli had another summer camp.  This one was at the Natural History Museum and was yet another hit.  "Splish, Splash" camp focused on life in and around the water.  Fitting, since once Daddy got home from Delaware, we were in full swing preparing for our next trip to the Outer Banks.

We rented a whole house right on the beach with Aunt Mary, Uncle Chris, and cute cousin Ila.  Our house was in Salvo and man did we luck out with perfect weather the whole time.  We also got many fun visitors, including Grandma Vivie and Grandpa Doug for four days, Grammy and Papa for three days, and Kelly, Jason and Henry, our friends from Tuscaloosa who made the OBX a stop on their move from the Deep South to Boston, Mass.  Here Henry instructs us on how to eat a big frozen ball of peas.

Uncle Chris and Aunt Mary's friends also came down to surf.  Tony is a tattoo artist and he was kind enough to "ink up" Eli.  Don't worry, Eli made sure that the tattoo would be temporary and wouldn't hurt.  That Tony is quite an artist, though!

The kids all had such a great time on the beach together!

We made a lot of memories.  Mommy and Daddy got to see meteors in the middle of the night from the hot tub.  And Seb and Mommy got to see three sunrises in a row.  Here they are:

One

What's with the look?  This was your idea, little guy.

Two

Isn't it pretty, mommy?

Three (pretty, but we were ready for some better sleep!)

 Still, the bestest part of our trip was time with Daddy and seeing Grandpa Doug doing so well!  

Yup, we had a great time!  But our summer was not yet over...

Those long, hazy days of summer

Summer began for us the first week of June, once Eli was out of school and Mommy got back from Canada.  And what a long, long summer it seemed like it would be... 

But we had some plans to make the time pass more quickly.  Mommy had enough foresight to schedule five different camps.  That meant that pretty much every other week, Eli spent mornings or afternoons doing something new and fun at one of the many venues that make Pittsburgh so great.  First up was Lego Camp.  It was in the South Hills, so Mommy, Seb, and Eli got a chance to explore new neighborhoods.  Eli loved Snapology!  First camp was a huge hit.  Score one for Mommy!  

After Lego camp was bug camp at the Phipps Conservatory (much closer to home).  But before Eli started that, we all got an impromptu visit from Papa and Grammy Candie.  Highlights from that visit:  the National Aviary where we discovered Seb's love of birds.  Here are the kids, Pop, and some new friends.  

So, as I said, next came Bug camp.  Another huge hit. Eli got to plant parsley seeds, a flower, and learn all about ants, bees, and other great things.  Score another for Mommy.

We also got another visit... this time for over a week!  Gramma Jaye and Grandpa Marty drove from Salt Lake for a big adventure, and included us in on the fun.  We went all over, including to the long-awaited Altoona Horseshoe, where real trains make an almost 270-degree turn and we got to sit in the center of the action.  Eli LOVED it.  Sebastian HATED it.  Turns out the youngest member of our family is not a huge fan of real trains.  As Seb loves to say, "Uh ohhhh."

Turns out the Altoona Railroad Museum is also wonderful!

Another adventure with "the Grandpeople" (Eli's words) took us to Fort Ligonier.  Let's call this French and Indian War Day.  It was a beautiful day, as you can see below

And then there was Pittsburgh Pirates Day. A baseball game made a great last full day of their fun visit. And the home team won!

Eli at PNC Park with Pittsburgh in the background

Once Gramma and Grandpa left, we had only a couple more days with Daddy before he left on his own big adventure - two weeks in Wilmington, DE working on an arbitration. While he began his business trip, Eli did another week-long camp, this time an "Art Adventure" at the Carnegie Museum of Art. Eli returned each day with stories, a newly stamped "passport", and a full portfolio of art.  Another success.

But Mommy was beginning to get a bit antsy what with Daddy out of town and all.  Perhaps it was time for a change of scenery?

A Visit from Granddad

Granddad Sam came to visit us for Sebastian's birthday.  But he (Granddad, not Seb) got more than he bargained for.  A last minute change of plans meant that we had no child care during the time Mommy was supposed to be in Toronto at a conference of French historians.  So, Granddad very graciously offered to stay on a week longer and try his hand at single-parenthood.  Not sure how daunted he felt at the prospect.  As you can see, everyone's a bit exhausted by the end of a long day at the Delnore house!

But thanks to Granddad, Mommy made her conference, and Daddy was still able to meet her in Toronto for a weekend in Canada (which Mommy and Daddy claim is a country where kids are not allowed.  We're not buying it).  Here are Mommy's feet way up high over Toronto (from the CN Tower).  Mommy and Daddy claim that the CN Tower is taller than any building in New York, but we know that is a mere technicality and won't let Canada get away with it... or this no-kid policy of theirs, either.

Back on Earth.

Between Seb's birthday and Granddad's timely visit, we got lots of new boxes to play with.  There was cool stuff in the boxes, too.  But look how much fun the boxes are!

By the way, granddad did a fantastic job watching us.  We had so much fun.  And I (Eli) was so glad he was there at my end-of-year "Celebration of Montessori Life." It meant a lot.

It all meant a lot to all of us.
Thanks, again!

Legos, Legos, and more Legos... and Seb's first steps, too!

Father's Day picnic at Schenley Overlook.  Note buildings of downtown in background (on a cloudy/hazy day).
The picnic was followed by a short game of Frisbee golf on the course directly behind us.

Abe and Eli were in heaven - Lego KidsFest for Father's Day!

Not-so-minifigure

Evidently, Eli and Abe weren't the only ones in Lego heaven.

Seb made a new friend. 

Walking is overrated... that said, Seb took his first independent steps last Thursday, June 16th!!!

Sweepin' up and takin' names.  Our little charioteer. 

Frick Park to Schenley Park and Everything in Between... by Eli and Mommy

Eli dictates:


On one such day, we were walking around and we went to a park with a HuUUuuuUUuuGE tower. And there was a huuuUUUuuUUUUUUUUuuuuuuuuuge climbing and a bridge that was pretty-darn shaky and then I was shooting down the slide for the last to final thing and I was swinging and I was climbing most of the time. But other times I was just running through the tunnels and crossing the bridge with blue gates. . .
Click here for a map of Frick Park - we are talking about the Blue Slide Playground. 

Hit play for video of Eli climbing.

I love Frick Park.

Now we are talking about Schenley Park. There is a great big swing in the playground we are talking about. It can go really high. Two swings on each area and there is baby swings, toddler swings, and big-boy swings, and grown-up swings.  In fact, the grown-up swing is with the only big-boy swing. We are talking about the Anderson Playground in Schenley Park.