Zoo, drive in and a blueberry misadventure

We had a pretty full week.
  Wednesday we invited over another new couple in the ward for dinner and it went surprisingly well.  They are also from Utah and just came out here for Medical school.  We really clicked and the evening was effortless which was so nice.   I was a bit worried because they are newlyweds and Tyler and I have a bad track record of only making friends with people who have kids our kids ages.  I remember being pre-kids and probably judged every mother of a screaming toddler and fussy baby.  I only assume others have the same intolerance for crying babies that aren't their own.  They are the nicest people in the world and I have to stop myself from acting like an insecure teenager "Do they like us?  Do we like them more? Is it too soon to call?"  It's like I'm dating again, sheesh!  They even liked our kids, which was amazing seeing as the girls wouldn't even look at them and crawled into balls whenever a question was asked.  I wanted to say "CHILDREN, these people are nice and trustworthy and kind enough they might offer to babysit someday! BE NICE! love them, don't ruin this chance of potential future dates for me!"
   

Thursday we were pretty excited to go to Member's night at the Zoo.  We've never been members of anything so we had to go.  Living so close to the Zoo we usually choose to arrive around 4:30, right before they stop admitting people and the mass exodus is happening.  Member's night opened at 6:30 and I can tell you that the majority of Pittsburgh's residence are member's at the Zoo, and decided to be there the minute the gates opened.

But we had promised the kids free train rides and face painting so we went.  And then there were so many people that we got neither a train ride or faces painted so it was pretty much like a normal day at the zoo, but with lots more people, and it got dark.  They did ride the log ride though, it was a lot less creepy than the picture would suggest.

 And we did catch a firefly!  I put it on the double stroller on Heidi's tray and it rode with us for about 15 minutes glowing now and then.  I was entranced, Heidi was a mix of terrified and mesmerized.  

Friday was drive in movie day!  The kids have been working their way up the bed time reward chart 'wishing web' by getting to bed on time and without a fuss.

Friday marked the day they reached the top and the reward they chose was to go to a movie.  Tyler and I decided to surprise them and so we did the bedtime routine and tucked them in and then said "Wait, you've made it to the top of the wishing web, who wants to go to a movie instead of bedtime!"  The look on Heidi's face said it all, she couldn't believe what was happening.  Pure ecstasy.  So instead of our regular 7pm bedtime, we climbed in the car and drove out of town to a 9pm movie!

   It was a double feature, 'Planes' and 'Smurfs 2', but the kids were asleep before Planes even ended.  The kids got in free, so for our whole car it was only $12 which made it an easy decision for us to leave after the first film.  We splurged on popcorn and soda and ran around chasing fireflies before it started.  We all squeezed into the back of the car with cushions and blankets and it was really, really fun.

   Saturday we decided to go blueberry picking one more time.  Our previous batch were the best tasting blueberries you can ever imagine eating and when we told our newlywed friends about it they expressed interest in going.  
   So we loaded up in the car, (yes all 7 of us, we love our car) and took off.  Well, turns out blueberry season is over.  There were blackberries, peaches and other things available but we really had our hearts set on blueberries so when I found a place an hour away that said they had some- we went.  When we finally arrived we discovered that yes they did have blueberries, but we weren't allowed to pick anything!  So we drove around the area for 30 minutes looking for something to do and then ended up stopping at a sandwich shop for lunch because Quinn was screaming to be fed and the kids kept hitting each other in the back seat.  It was a great first impression, they might never call again.
   Tyler has a week off of school before the real semester begins and these posts get a lot more boring.  It seems all anyone has to say about the first year of PA school is how miserable it is and how we won't be seeing Tyler at all.  I hope we've squeezed in enough fun to the last 2 months and carry us over to spring and the beginning of rotations.
     Stay tuned for next weeks adventure, will Tyler's stomach bug clear up soon enough to allow for a quick Philadelphia visit? Or is the small family doomed to a week of indoor monotony!!!!!