Washington D.C.

With life being so crazy we decided it was the perfect time to go visit the temple, so the week after the 4th of July festivities we loaded into the car and decided to squeeze a trip to the temple and capital city in before Tyler's graduation ceremony.

It was a hot humid day and we were all sweating to death.  Tyler took the kids and wandered around the visitors center while I went in and then we switched.  It was madness that second hour as the kids were already bored with everything inside and it was too hot outside, but well worth it.

After the Temple we drove to the National Mall in hopes of seeing a few monuments and going to a museum or two.  It took forever to find parking and we were nearly to the Lincoln Memorial when our stomachs led us to a concession stand instead.  Bad move.

It started to rain, and then it started to pour and there was NO shelter.  Alex had randomly grabbed an umbrella from the car which saved her and Tommy (who were having their turn in the stroller) from getting soaked through like the rest of us.

We were sopping wet when we made it to the shelter of the Lincoln Memorial- It looked like we had jumped into a swimming pool with our clothes on.

It was a pretty pathetic sight.  Tommy was crying and hungry, Quinn was just sopping wet and our pretzels were soggy bread.

We spent a few moments being grateful for the humidity which kept us from freezing, and for the shelter of the awesome memorial and then decided to walk to the Washington Memorial (in the background).  About the time we got down the steps it started to rain again so we rerouted to the car and called it a day.

I remember going to a lot of these places when I was a kid with my parents on a special trip when I was about 11.  It was fun taking my kids and seeing it all through their eyes.

The kids have started dressing themselves alike on their own.  

Every now and then they come running when I call.

The next day we devoted to the Smithsonian Museums, which means we made it through 1.2 of them.  We started with the Museum of Natural History and got tickets to the butterfly room per Alex's request.

And of course we broke the rules on not touching them, because everyone else was catching them and it was Alex's dream to have a butterfly land on her.

It was pretty magical I will admit.  Especially when I giant blue morpho butterfly landed on Alex's dress and hung out for 5 minutes.

The mall is a LOT bigger in person than it looks on the map, and so walking from there to the Air and Space Museum and then back to the parking garage knocked us all out.  Quinn fell asleep in the stroller and Tyler ended up carrying and pushing ALL the kids.  It was amazing.

We stopped by the sculpture garden to soak our tired feet.

And noticed rain drops starting to fall.

So we loaded up and booked it back to the car to avoid a repeat of the day before.  It was a fun experience even if we saw less than 1/4 of what we had hoped, but it's not so far and a great excuse to head the D.C. way instead of Columbus on our temple trips.
I think the kids favorite part of the whole adventure was watching shark week in the hotel at night.

Beginning of July

 After Grandma left we sort of floundered for a few days until we realized the cardinal rule of having 4 children- get out of the house.  We learned quickly that the coolest place we could be was the car, and having all 4 kids strapped down and out of reach of each other (for the most part) was a bonus.
   Tyler had just finished classes after 2 solid years of stress, so we decided to have a bit of fun and celebrate having free time and a baby out of a body.
     Our first adventure was the drive in theater.  We loaded up on popcorn and treats, stuffed all our soft pillows and blankets in the back of the truck and went to "Inside Out".

 Tyler said that this was the most fun he has had in Pittsburgh.  It was a ton of fun, but then when I realized that all he has to compare it to is writing papers, going to lectures, rotations and the Zoo, I wasn't super surprised.

 Quinn filled up on popcorn and cookies before the movie began and fell asleep on Daddy about 1/4 of the way through the movie.

 Alex and Heidi had taken a peanut butter jar and caught fireflies in the bushes while we waited for the movie to start, I think they had about 47 or so before they decided to set them free.

 I think Tommy is adjusting to life with us.  He sleeps a lot still.

 Quinn is a force to be reckoned with.  We really have to plan our days around getting her out of the house.  Lately this has been a one on one walk where she gets to choose every turn we make.  She is an ambitious leader and isn't afraid of walking up 6 flights of steps.

 The beginning of July we made our annual trip to a blueberry patch to pick berries for our annual blueberry pie - a tradition in it's second season.

 Quinn is obsessed with blueberries so this was for her, she moderately cared.  But in her defense it was about 500 degrees outside and we were all dripping sweat.

 But no one quite like Daddy who has begun his turn at having the furnace strapped to his body.  I picked berries while he caught butterflies for the kids- and was a fantastic sport about the whole thing I might add.

 Reilly's Summer Seat farm is where we went and it was an adorable little place.

 The pie was delicious, thanks to these big helpers.

 The fourth of July we had sort of a lazy day before heading to the Cochran's for a picnic and firework watching.

 It was a wonderful time.  The kids entertained themselves on the trampoline almost the entire time, and the adults got to sit and chat and eat and it was wonderful.

 The Shaler city firework display was set off across the street and down the hill from our picnic and so we had the best seats in town.  Quinn was in awe and possibly horror from the lights and sounds.  She sat mesmorised with her hands over her ears.  When I covered her ears for her, she moved her hands to her mouth.  Tommy cried.

This sort of sums up life with Quinn these days.  Be on your toes.... or else.

July 11th marked Tommy's one month on earth anniversary and Tyler's white coat graduation ceremony!  Here he is holding his prize.

The girls have LOVED having Daddy around all the time, and I have LOVED having my husband back.

Grandma and Grandpa Brady were able to come out for the occasion and spend a few days.  The kids were of course in heaven.  Tommy squeaked the entire ceremony.  It was great seeing all Tyler's friends and meeting their families and having an official end of it all.

It seems that whenever we have family come visit, someone ends up in the hospital.  The Brady's arrived just in time for Tyler and I to take Tommy to and ENT on Friday because of his constant noisy breathing, and then all day Sunday they watched the kids while we were at the hospital getting an MRI and scope to check him out.  Bilateral vocal chord paresis. More on that later.

Every home should come equipped with one of these chairs, complete with story reading grandpa.  The kids favorite part of the visit- hours of stories with Grandma and Grandpa.

Quinn's favorite part of the graduation.... cookies and melon and running around on the yard with Grandpa afterwards.

Post Tommy arrival / Grandma weeks / Heaven on earth

One of the best parts about having babies, is having my mom come to visit and spoil me and my kids for the week afterwards.  This time we got really lucky and she was with us for nearly 3 weeks total!

It didn't take us long to realize that the best way to take care of 4 kids in a small house, is not to be in the house.  I'd been dying to be mobile for months anyway so we spend the 2 weeks after Tommy arrived doing every fun thing you can imagine.  I was on Tommy duty, Grandma was the sole caretaker of Quinn and Alex and Heidi were a split job.  Tyler was finishing classes up with long full days and we didn't see much of him at all.

One of our first adventures was a trip to Sorgel Orchard to go strawberry picking.  Heidi loves strawberries, but it had been raining so much that most of them had gone rotten on the bush and the ones we did get weren't fantastic, but it was so fun picking them.

The weather was perfect that day, one of the coolest days in weeks and no humidity.

We got a tractor ride to the fields and the girls ran around happily with their buckets.

We picked up some of their fabulous apple cider, a few peaches, a watermelon and some ice-cream afterwards to enjoy at home.

It doesn't seem possible that just 2 years ago we were here with my Mom and Quinn was the baby being held on this bench while the kids played with the goats.  How time flies!

Tyler and I took a picnic and the kids to explore a huge park near our new home while Grandma got her first break in 10 days.  Quinn is sporadically interested in Tommy and is a bit rough with her love.

Isn't she beautiful?!  What a cute couple.

Quinn thrived with Grandma around, and Grandma solved a lot of Quinn troubles- like tying a rope around the fridge, and removing a rung from the bunk bed ladder so she wouldn't bug Heidi.

We took a Sunday drive around Pittsburgh sight seeing and ended up at the point to see the rivers and the fountain.

It was a warm day, but the breeze and the water helped make it fun.

Quinn is obsessed with buckling the stroller and car seat.

That child has so much personality.

She practiced climbing the stairs without a rail....

and walking down them like a big kid......

She was so proud of herself!

Heidi and Alex of course ran around climbing everything they could.

Grandma always gives my kids their first bath, and Tommy was no exception.  He did fairly well and didn't fuss about it.

We tried to take baby pictures, but Tommy wasn't interested and didn't cooperate.  We went to the library a few times, visited parks, and went on drives.  It was a wonderful time.

Quinn will occasionally revert to baby mode when she feels she isn't getting attention.  She will cry "waaaah waaaaaah waaaaaaah" pretending to be like the baby to get attention.

It's hard not to give it to her.

Tommy is a perfect baby, he only cries when he needs things, and although he is long is is super cuddly.  Alex loves holding him all the time and each girl is convinced that she is his favorite and is the only one who can cheer him up when he cries.  He is a noisy breather and has sort of a dinosaur squeak with every breath, similar to what Quinn had but louder and deeper.  It makes it difficult to sleep in the same room.