{Day 12} Say "Hola" to Ms. Rosa

My husband was away most of last week. We missed him--so to celebrate his return home... I subjected him to a forced family day :) Now for those of you who know my husband, you know that I say "forced" tongue-in-cheek because there is no where else he would rather be.
Saturday morning started out with Daddy/Delaney day on the River. What an awesome day--beautiful blue skies, calm waters... Delaney was in her glory... time with Daddy all to herself...and all the junk she could collect on the river. Yes, my little junk collector was even at it on the Allegheny River! Jonathan said she almost tipped the kayak over a few times reaching for sticks and debris but I know he loved the time with his special girl.

Now, did you think the day was over... not by a long shot!

When Daddy and Delaney got home from the River... we packed everyone up again and headed back downtown to go to the Three Rivers Arts Festival.

I think the threat of rain scared the crowds off so it was wonderful. No pushing crowds or long lines for food. We brought our favorite picnic blanket, bought some fried, festival food and had a lovely picnic right there in Point State Park. I was excited to eat my corndog... but it was commandeered by Addison right after my first bite. Delaney loved her Quesadilla and Jonathan just picked at everything.

A healthy meal? Not by a long shot--but a fun meal!

Believe it or not... the food was NOT the highlight of the day... Ms. Rosa was! {Who the heck is Ms. Rosa?} you might ask? Only the biggest celebrity... on the Sprout Channel. The kids were so star struck and hung on her every word as she told a SuperWhy story and played Dance/Stop with words that ended in "A-L-L" 

Then, to make sure we were the responsible parents we were supposed to be, we fed them {Ice Cream} for dinner on the way home. WE ROCK!

Of course, we all crashed in a sugar coma when we got home. But the day was far from over... Delaney, Jonathan and I went to our neighbor's house for an outdoor showing of "The Muppet Movie" projected right on the side of their house. They had popcorn and candy and we just laid out our favorite blanket again and rocked out to "Movin' Right Along" and "The Rainbow Connection" and laughed at that crazy Animal who is my favorite Muppet by far--sometimes reminds me of my little Jonathan :)

{Day 11} Making Learning "Funner"

I bought the kids some learning workbooks yesterday at Walmart that I thought we could do over the summer. Before you start booing me as a "non-fun" Mommy... let me just tell you that my kids LOVE doing these worksheets. I feel so accomplished when we sit down and do learning stuff--like I'm actually the Mom I dream of being (but only for a brief second--then I'm back to "get through the day" Mommy)
Delaney had 2 books--a maze book and a hidden picture book--and I think they are both half way done already. I bought Jonathan a Pre-school book that worked on scissor skills then pasting the things you cut out with the appropriate pictures (matching). I figured that the kid loves to cut anything not nailed down in this house--this would give him a creative outlet. He had a little bit of a learning curve to master--wanted to cut the pictures into small strips but then figured it out and away he went. I love seeing the wheels turning in those amazing minds of theirs...

Now, did you think that I would let the day go by with just "fun schoolwork"? No... we had to take a Funny Faces break. I was laughing my butt off taking these snapshots. What a talent my kids have for showing every inch of their gums and what elastic faces they have! We even made Addison join in on the fun...

Now... off to the park for a picnic and MORE fun... it's hard to contain myself today now that I'm finally feeling human again after being sick for almost 2 weeks. Enjoy the sun!


{Update} Had a great time at USC Park today with Morgan and sons. I just had to add some snapshots taken with my iPhone of Addison "enjoying" a Shrek Twinkie. Priceless...

{Day 10} Cupcakes...need I say more?

Today will be hard to find the fun--because I hardly saw the kids today. I had a babysitter today so I could get caught up on my Photography business stuff so I spent the day at Panera on their WiFi but I did manage to cook dinner with them and eat before I had to leave again for a MOPS Retreat meeting. Pat and Robin came over to watch the kids and the kids have come to expect a sweet treat when they come. They did not disappoint. Today was {cupcakes}! My kids LOVE cupcakes! Including Addison. Unfortunately, Jonathan was not done eating his dinner before I had to leave so no pictures of my handsome boy devouring the cupcake too. But here are the dainty princesses...

{Day 9} Are you my Mummy?

Big shout out to Christina from MOPS for this idea... we made Mummy Dogs for lunch today (find the yummy recipe here.) Don't be a hater... I know it's a halloween treat, but the kids didn't care and we had a blast making them. Hey... you do what you can when it's a wet, dreary day out and no chance to play at the park.

Sorry... no pictures of the final product...we were too busy eating them!
P.S. Delaney says Mummy Dogs taste much better when dressed in your expensive dance recital costume :)

{Day 8} Fun with the iPhone

Ahhh another beautiful day at the park. Time to play with the iPhone... Thanks to David Burke for the idea for the Shake Photo app... it's a way to take "Polaroid" pictures with your iPhone... you even shake the phone to make the photo develop. So much fun!

{Day 7} Mom... can I draw on my face?

What is up with Pittsburgh weather. In April and May, it's warm enough to lay out and tan. June 7th... 62 degrees... urgh... needless to say, my kids were not dressed warm enough when we headed out the door to the park today.
Normally I would count "The Park" as our fun thing to do today... but I had other things up my sleeve... in the form of face painting crayons! The kids had a blast doodling on each other. First I confined it to the arms, then all hell broke loose and, well, faces, hands, legs, etc. Even Mom got a butterfly "tattoo" from Delaney. Addison liked it all... the drawing, the swinging, the eating... a fun day was had by all. Finally... some {real} pictures...
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I just love Addison's face while she's getting "inked"... so serious. She's hilarious!

{Day 6} Big Girls Don't Cry

Tonight was Delaney's very first Dance Recital(and probably last--she's just not that in to it--loves Horseback riding lessons much more). She and her friends Clara and Sabrina rocked the stage to the oldie-but-goodie {Big Girls Don't Cry}. It was so precious. In attendance were Grandma and Pap-Pap, Aunt La-La, Aunt Bird and Aunt Pat and, of course, Mommy and Daddy (who were beaming ear to ear). Thanks for suffering through, family...