The Birthdays

Alex had been insisting for weeks that all she wanted for her birthday was an Ariel doll (thank you Grandma, check mark) a giant mermaid (eye roll from the parents, seriously?) and balloons!  We had a single helium balloon at the top of the stairs and when the girls awoke and found that they just played with it in our room, completely content for 20 minutes before we suggested venturing downstairs.

Alex  decided on a butterfly cake again after seeing pictures of her 3rd birthday, and then there was the obligatory birthday / St. Patricks day cereal and animal parade.

Since we had decorated the week before with Grandma, there wasn't much more than balloons to add and with Tyler's lungs and a ton of string we pulled that together quickly.

Heidi has finally come to terms that her birthday is the last one, but it was a rough few days.  She got Alex plastic princess shoes.  The klackity kind with high heels.  Alex was over the moon.

Last minute changes to the cake worked out well when Alex decided she wanted a fairy cake.  She helped me decorate and told me what to do.  It was a lot more fun that pulling it together at night for a surprise morning reveal.

Then I wanted a St. Patricks day family picture, why do I try.

The girls had matching headbands, it would have been so cute.

I've been feeling the need to have cute pictures with my kids, and finally decided that with a camera remote I could pull off such a thing alone!  No more bugging Tyler to take pictures of me!

Quinn was the only complaint one.

For maybe 3 seconds.

The pictures look cuteish, but in reality she was trying her hardest to go limp and escape.

It's her newest walking avoidance tactic.  Noodle legs.  She is getting heavy enough that the momentum works and she can pull off the trick.

I don't remember what Heidi was crying about.

You would think, with all the pictures I take, I would have a good one with my kids. Nope.

Since Daddy would be gone the rest of the day, we blew out the candles and cut cake after breakfast

Alex even cut and dished her own cake!  My heart broke a little bit.  She is growing up so fast.

We let Alex make all the decisions the rest of the day and met some friends at the Museum of Natural History for the afternoon.  The birthday goblins had set up a scavenger hunt in the museum with goodies, clues, felt bags and everything!

It was so much fun.  I wished I'd done 10 more clues!  They girls were all still young enough that they were completely oblivious to our sneakiness and distractions so we could plant bags and clues.

I love going to the museum and seeing things that we've been learning about in school.  Seeing Alex's eyes light up as she explains things to a friend, or asks deeper questions about a topic feels amazing.

After the museum we went home for Alex's special birthday dinner (Mac and Cheese) and ate icecream while we watched 2 Dr. Quinn.  Alex is a little obsessed and always chooses Dr. Quinn over cartoons. Love it!

Tuesday was my birthday and I got to sleep in and was delivered breakfast in bed before the girls woke up.  Tyler had to take off for another full day at school so I did school with the girls and then we went to the Toy Lending Library with some of my friends for the afternoon.   It's in the basement of this awesome church castle.  Alex also goes to girl scouts in a church castle.  We love the church castles on every corner here in Pittsburgh.

The day ended pretty awesomely.  My super pregnant friend told me to bring the girls over and have dinner with them since we would be alone and that would have been lame.  So we walked over for dinner and discovered that she had invited all my favorite Pittsburgers for a surprise party!  The pizza was fantastic, the cake was amazing and I think my favorite part was that she treated me like the kid- lit the candles, had everyone sing and gave me the first piece of cake.  She is a pretty cool lady if you can't tell.
The day could have ended miserably, but instead I felt super loved and happy and not even a little bit old.

The last Brady days

Days 3 and 4 of Brady fun went far to quickly.

We ventured to the Carnegie Science Center Thursday and got to enjoy EVERYTHING they had to offer.

Quinn is in that in-between stage.  She can still be content to sit in the stroller for 3 hours while everyone else has fun, but there is a breaking point.  She has some wanderlust in her.

Alex was about as excited NOT to go in the submarine as Grandpa WAS to go in.  But once we convinced her that it wouldn't actually be submerged she was game.

We all agreed that a submarine would be the worst place to ever live. Ever.

It was a beautiful and frigid day in Pittsburgh.

Tyler has been channeling his inner runner the past few months and gotten quite good.  I see track stars in our future.

Friday we puttered around, not wanting to say goodbye.  We visited Tyler's campus and got lost a few more times before the airport.

 We visited a hilly park on a windy day to try and squeeze in a few more minutes of family time.

Heidi loved every windy minute of it.

The airport drop off went about as well as can be expected.  We bribed them with icecream, and each other with Costco, hoping for a distraction from our sorrow.  Saying goodbye was hard, and also meant that spring break was over and it was back to the grind.

Grandparents day 2

Day 2 of the Brady's visit was the complete opposite of day 1.  It rained all day so we threw ourselves a party!  Since 4 of us have birthday's within 2 weeks, Grandma and Grandpa brough everyone's presents and we had a big party with brownies and icecream, more Dr. Quinn and Grandma's famous roast and Grandpa's mashed potatoes.  The icing on the cake were all the party favors that Aunt Natalie had sent, leftover from baby Madison's first birthday. 

 

The girls were in charge of the candles.

I have to say I was pretty impressed with Grandma's decorating skills!  I had no idea she was so good with streamers and balloons!

Quinn was very interested in ripping streamers down.

She warmed right up to Grandma and Grandpa when they arrived, and loves the doll they gave her for her birthday.  Quinn plays with stuffed animals and dolls like the other girls never would.  It makes me so happy.

We decided to try a trial run for the eventual 1st birthday cake mess.  Here is our before short.

The during, it was just a brownie, so she couldn't made a huge mess.

And then she blew my mind by cleaning the plate.  This girl is an eater!

Grandma and Grandpa helped out with some box pictures.

Sometimes it's so hard to choose my favorite!

When Tyler is around, he is a pretty awsome Dad.

Love this guy.

Quinn will do anything for a sucker.

And gets pretty mad when she is cut off.

Grandparents visit!

Tyler's Spring Break was magical for a few reasons.

 

The first of which was that Tyler's parents came for a visit!  We'd been dying for visitors and the girls could not wait to have Grandpa and Gradma come!

The second magical thing was that the day they arrived it was so warm we didn't even need to wear jackets!  It felt like the perfect summer day and so after picking up Gma and Gpa from the airport (and gorging ourselves on delicious Burgatory after that) we parked downtown and walked to the point!

It felt like being home, and I think we were all longing for a little bit of home.

We made it across the bridge without anyone defying gravity and spontaniously falling into the river.

And all the cars were able to stay on their side of the bridge and not crash into us.  I have irrational fears about many things.

Quinn even got her very first sunburn!

The point was a fun place to explore and I look forward to going back when things are green.  Heidi loved having Grandpa's undivided attention whenever she wanted.

Alex clung to Grandma when she wasn't collecting dead leaves and seed pods and running like she never had before.  But when I think about it, it has been a LONG while since we have been anywhere that she could just run.

And so they ran.

The warmth and the Grandparents and having the Tyler away from school made for the best day we've had in ages!

We tried to act all cool like we were Pittsburghers, but then we got lost driving like 5 times.  It's not Tyler's fault though because he never drives anywhere and basically lives his life on a 3 mile path to school and back. 

I think I can call Pittsburgh my city though.  I'm starting to get to know it and love it.  The roads are less terrifying and I'm making fewer wrong turns.  I can even venture downtown without GPS and not get lost. Sometimes.

Quinn didn't know what to do with all the attention!

Tyler has been quite the trooper since Christmas.  We have finally gotten our roation list though and are only 2 months from the end of this terrible, long and lonely learning year!!!!

We spent such a big chunck of the girls lives at Grandma and Grandpa Brady's house that they girls are still convinced that THAT is home.  I don't think it has helped matters that Dad sort of disapeared once we arrived in Pittsburgh, and they talk about moving away all the time.

I have to say that it's growing on me though, although I don't think it's my forever city.

Just so much to do here!  So many viewfinders to climb on!

Tyler really liked having his Dad around for the week. 

When he wasn't reading books to the girls he was doing man stuff with Tyler.  It was good for Tyler.

After visiting the point we got lost on the way to the Duquesne Incline (GPS's fault) but eventually got to enjoy the view of the city from Mount (ha) Washington.

I made everyone try to pose into the sun, remembering a picture from our first week here.

Crazy to think that Quinn was a floppy little thing when we first arrived.

 

And look at those girls!  Who are they?  Alex's bangs can almost be tucked behind her ears now, and Heidi won't let us cut her hair short anymore (thanks alot Rapunzle.)

After the Incline we went home to show off our house and let everyone relax for a bit.  I think we even treated Grandma and Grandpa to an episode of Dr. Quinn before we all rolled into bed.