Victoria Visits

My sister Victoria was able to come visit. It was so nice to see her. It took her awhile with plane problems but she finally made it. We were able to see some of the sights close to us and also go to Pittsburgh for a day.

They were having a giant sand sculpture done for the Regatta. It was very impressive.

The sand sculpture was right by Fort Pitt. Zach took a field trip here so we decided to go check it out. Josh loved the cannons. We have like 20 pictures of him with cannons.

Zach in a picture. No wonder he doesn't like me to take his picture. I took it before he was ready. He is still a cute kid.

View of Pittsburgh.

We did the incline trolley. It was fun the kids liked it. I did learn that they only take exact change and the change machine they have only puts out quarters so try to have something smaller than a twenty. I had a lot of quarters and it took a while to count out 13 dollars and 47 cents worth for a round trip. We let them keep the extra 3 cents.It had some fantastic views of the city.

Josh inside the incline trolley. It was first use in 1837.

We took Victoria on a hike at McConnells Mill. Bella and Victoria by a cave we saw along the path.

The kids by the river. They loved trying to skip rocks. Zach got up to 3. That was the best for the day.

By the covered bridge. We took Matt's parents here too, but it was raining so we didn't do the hike. We had great weather while Victoria was visiting.

Picture at the mill.

Oops

I put two of the same videos up Sorry. Here is Isabella.

Swimming Lessons

I finally got the videos to upload so here are some shots of Josh and Zach swimming. It took Josh a little while before he warmed up to his teachers and then he did great. Zach and Bella did wonderful. They both moved up to the next level. Josh will stay in level one again. The kids told me the water was very cold. I felt bad but I am so happy to see them becoming great swimmer. Zach will be passing off swimming for scouts right before we leave for Bear Lake.

Here is Bella jumping. I tried to get all three kids so it is kind off all over the place. Sorry.

Bella's Birthday

Isabella is now 9 years old. I can hardly believe it. The last day of school happened to be her birthday this year. She had a great day. She is such a wonderful girl. We sure love her.

This is a picture of her fancy do. For Activity day's the girls learned about hair and how to take care of it. Then they had their hair and nails done.

Blowing out the candles. Josh picked out trick candles for the cupcakes. Bella got tired of blowing them out so her brothers helped her out. It was pretty fun to watch. She later informed me that she did not want trick candles again.

Picture of the cake. Littlest Pet Shop was the theme.

Bella in her new sun dress opening presents.

Josh was so excited for Bella's birthday. He loved helping me get ready for it. He wasn't so great about keeping secrets though. He would ask Bella questions like "Do you like pig pet shops?" So then Bella would come ask me if I had got her a pig pet shop toy. By the day of her birthday I think she knew most of her presents.

Bella again in this picture you can see her red eyes from allergies. Poor thing the pollen in the air here has really gotten to her.

I was able to have one surprise for her birthday. Josh and I rushed around and gave her room a make over. She was so surprised. I was so glad she liked it.

Bathroom shot. She loves Paris and hopes someday she will get to go.

Picture of the walls.

Here is her new comforter. I would have painted the walls white with some hot pink, but I knew since we will probably move again and colored walls don't appraise as well we would just leave the paint alone.

Bella had a great birthday and was so happy to come home from a special birthday dinner at Red Robin and have a birthday message from Grandma Greta. She also loved talking to Grammy Gardner. She loved everyones cards, and letters thank you.

Animal Fun

While we had family visiting we took everyone to see the Living treasure animals. We went on a wagon ride to see a up close look at the animals. There was one animal I would be happy not to see again. The animal is the ostrich. It kept going after my earrings. I kept leaning forward. Finally I ran to the other side of the wagon. The ostrich even bit Matt's brother on the shoulder. I was so glad when the wagon started moving again. The kids had a great time feeding the animals. It was great.
Badminton was also a great entertainment for the kids. I was so happy we finally had some sunshine.

Here is the reindeer that charged Josh. Josh was really hungry so I gave him so goldfish. I told him not to go by the fence because the animals would smell it and want some. Well Josh "forgot" what I said and was standing by the fence when all of the sudden I could see the animals head go up and it started running towards Josh. Josh was so scared. In the process of running away Josh tripped on the tree stump and scraped up his chin and knees. After that he didn't like the animals any more.

Bella loved the kangaroos. She was also able to pet them.

Josh loved feeding the baby deer carrots.

This thing had huge horns. I can't remember what it is called but it was from Africa.

Bella took this great picture of a peacock. Just beautiful.

Zach finally posing for a picture with the deer. Zach even feed some animals.

Towards the end of the animal ride there was a very strong smell. Here is a picture of what Josh thought of the smell. I think that says it all.

Bella on the wagon ride. She had to watch out for the horns when the animals turn their head so she wouldn't get stabbed

The boys enjoying the wagon ride. It ws so much fun the kids loved it. It was so nice to have family visit.

Wonderful Surprise

What a wonderful surprise! We were able to have Matt's parents and brother visit us for the Memorial Day weekend. Matt's parents came earlier in the week and hung out with me (Amy)and Josh. We spent all day in the hospital on Tuesday. Not fun they had originally told me it would only take 1hour 30 minutes, but the blood work took 2 hours 30 minutes to get in to have Josh's blood drawn. He also had his 1st x ray. I am so glad that went faster. Josh thought he was going to turn into a skeleton when he had his x ray taken. He was a little nervous. He did great. We had planned on going to the Andy Warhol museum after Josh's appointment but unfortunately that didn't happen because of time. Oh well. I was able to take them to the Harmony museum which was very interesting. I had to leave early to go get Zach and Bella to take them to an orthodontist appointment. Josh had fun and even got a free sheep he named "timmy" after one of his favorite shows "Timmy Time".

Josh riding a tire horse.

Enjoying the rain on our hike.

Covered bridge.

Matt and Josh by a mill. We weren't able to to the tour because the mill didn't open until the next day. They were stocking the water with fish while we were there.

Before we had family come the boys were able to do the Father Son campout. Everyone had a good time. Josh was so tired when he got home. They sure had a lot of laundry for only one night of camping.

We are finally having a few days without rain. So far since January we have had 7 sunny days. So we try to take advantage of the days when it is sunny and do something outside.
This week was the week for field trips. Zach went to Fort Pitt and Isabella took and walking tour of Zelie. She even got to eat at a local restaurant for lunch. Josh and I went with his play group on a field trip to the local dairy. The highlight was feeding the calves. Josh was a little upset when we first got there. He thought when I said that we were going to see the cows that that meant that we were going to Grandpa Winters' house. His first thoughts when we got out of the car were " This isn't grandpa's. I want to see grandpa's cows." I felt so bad. Poor guy.

Here is Josh feeding the calf. He loved this calf. I think because it was the cleanest.

Here are some snap shots of the kids playing at the park. It was so muddy but the kids had fun.

Sliding down the slide. Josh was a bit nervous at first since it was such a tall slide, but after awhile he really got into going down by himself.