sinkerbeam: kidstuff

Goooaaaall!

2012-05-20T22:42:00.000-04:00

Guess who scored her first goal?

Add in an assist and two scraped knees and you can tell that Evy had quite a game yesterday.

More from this soccer season is on Flickr.

Art & Science Fair

2012-04-30T23:12:00.000-04:00

Evelyn spends lots of her free time drawing pictures and creating artwork. At tonight's Art & Science Fair at school she was excited to receive a medal for a drawing she submitted.

We also enjoyed a presentation sponsored by the Carnegie Science Center. Hydrogen fireballs are always cool.

Easter 2012

2012-04-12T23:13:00.000-04:00

Evelyn and Brandon had a whole week of Easter activities, which included baskets, egg hunts, Mule™ rides, cousins, candy and fun.

Girls' Weekend

2012-04-04T23:03:00.000-04:00

One of Evelyn's birthday presents was a pair of tickets to see her favorite band in concert. In Cleveland, Ohio.

She and Steph turned the road trip into a girls' getaway. They went to dinner at a fancy restaurant, stayed overnight at a friend's house, and went to the concert on Sunday afternoon.

Evy had a great time singing and dancing and talking to the band after the show. She is still tired from the fun but busy weekend.

More pictures from her fourth Justin Roberts show are on Flickr.

Bumblebee Lions

2012-04-01T22:41:00.000-04:00

Evelyn decided to play soccer again this season. She is a member of the yellow team - now known as the Bumblebee Lions. That's what happens when you let a bunch of five and six year olds name their own team.

After the first game Evy has already kicked the ball more times than she did for the entire last season. She hasn't scored a goal yet, but is still very good at avoiding mud puddles, waving to her fans, and enjoying the halftime snack.

A few more pictures from the first game are on Flickr.

Birthday Extravaganza

2012-03-13T23:45:00.000-04:00

Evelyn was able to celebrate her sixth birthday for an entire four day weekend.

Highlights included Build-a-Bear, Red Robin, a party, a princess cake, a cookout, bringing treats to Kindergarten, and a cupcake on her actual birthday. Being six is sure starting out great.

More pictures of Evy's sixth birthday are on Flickr.

Two and a Half

2012-02-20T22:42:00.000-05:00

Brandon is two and a half! Can you dig it?

New Car Show

2012-02-19T23:22:00.000-05:00

The Pittsburgh International Auto Show was in town this weekend. We went downtown to the Convention Center to check out some new cars (that we are not looking to buy). Since there aren't any old car shows in the winter, this seemed like the next best thing.

Evy hopped in and out of every kind of vehicle possible - golf carts, mini vans, convertibles, SUVs, and trucks. She especially liked this Mini Cooper with the orange stripe.

Brandon liked the 100th Anniversary Corvette (priced at $126,000). But if you ask him what his favorite part was he'll tell you "the water." The Convention Center sits along the Allegheny River and has a great view of some bridges, PNC Park and the North Shore.

More Auto Show pictures are on Flickr.

100th Day of School

2012-02-04T23:38:00.000-05:00

Evelyn just celebrated her one hundredth day of Kindergarten!

Christmastime

2012-01-02T23:50:00.000-05:00

What a wonderful Christmas season!

We were able to watch Evy's dance show, make some cookies, see Crazy Lights House, and visit with family and friends.

More Christmas pictures are on Flickr.

Cup Stacking Champion

2011-12-12T23:41:00.000-05:00

Evy went to a Radio Disney event at the mall and was chosen from the crowd to participate in a head-to-head cup stacking competition. She won.

Her prize included a Radio Disney bag and four tickets to the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra's Family Holiday Pops at Heinz Hall the following weekend.

We got all dressed up and headed downtown for the concert. The kids enjoyed the music and the guest vocalists, which included the woman who was the voice of Ariel from The Little Mermaid. They also liked the 25 foot tall Christmas tree.

For those of you keeping score at home: Evy + plastic cups = symphony music.

Visiting Santa

2011-12-10T22:48:00.000-05:00

Evelyn wrote her letter to Santa yesterday. She included her requests (baby doll and Barbie), Brandon's request (trains) and a few full color illustrations.

Then we were off to see the man himself. This year's visit went better than last year's. Brandon took a seat, pretended to smile for a picture, and blurted out "trains" when asked what he wanted (as he tried to slink down off of Santa's lap).

Evy is an old pro. She chatted up Mr. Claus as long as she could.

More pictures of Santa are on Flickr.

Ready for Christmas

2011-12-05T22:39:00.000-05:00

The halls are decked, the stockings are hung, and the lights are up. We're ready for Christmas even though it's only the first weekend in December.

Santa is going to need his hat back in a few weeks.

More Christmas preparation is on Flickr.

Thanksgiving Break

2011-11-30T23:23:00.000-05:00

We had a fun and busy Thanksgiving weekend that included turkey, electric trains, family photos and Brandon's first ride on a Mule. The vehicle, not the animal.

More pictures from Thanksgiving are on Flickr.

Dinosaurs and More

2011-11-08T23:49:00.000-05:00

We had a chance to visit the Carnegie Museum of Natural History this weekend. Evy and Brandon became paleontologists for the day.

In addition to the fossil excavation and dinosaur bones exploration, they were able to touch a mastodon tooth and explore the M is for Museum hands-on exhibit for kids. Did you know that the Carnegie Museum has the largest collection of Jurassic dinosaurs in the world? And the most complete Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton that exists?

More museum pictures are on Flickr.

Happy Halloween!

2011-11-02T23:08:00.000-04:00

Evelyn and Brandon turned Halloween into a week long event this year. They picked pumpkins, dressed up for dance class, trick-or-treated at the library and the mall, marched in the kindergarten parade, carved pumpkins, and trick-or-treated in our neighborhood on Halloween (in the rain).

Evy visited more houses than ever before. Brandon made it to three before returning home to pass out candy and play trains while still in his costume.

Lots more Halloween week fun is on Flickr.

Cinderella Goes to the Mall

2011-10-24T23:02:00.000-04:00

Sometimes even a princess needs to go shopping.

43 Hours of Fun

2011-10-05T22:38:00.000-04:00

How much fun can you fit into one autumn weekend? How about a road trip, two birthday parties and a fall festival.

Plus a concert with your favorite band!

More fall fun is on Flickr and new photos have been added to the end of the Justin Roberts in Concert set.

Airplanes and School Busses

2011-09-13T22:52:00.000-04:00

Wings Over Pittsburgh 2011 was this past weekend. Evelyn was her brother's tour guide since it was Brandon's first time at an air show.

Evy was excited to get back into the cockpit. She also took pictures, talked to pilots and collected free stuff.

Brandon liked looking at all of the planes on the ground and in the air. But he really liked the school bus ride that took us from the parking lot to the air show entrance.

Pictures (ours and Evy's) from Wings Over Pittsburgh are on Flickr.

Another Tuesday

2011-09-01T20:31:00.000-04:00

Another Tuesday. Another day off for Evy and Daddy. This week we decided to visit the zoo!

I could get used to these kind of Tuesdays...

More pictures from the zoo are on Flickr.

First Day of School

2011-08-29T23:06:00.000-04:00

Evelyn started Kindergarten this morning!

She had a great day and can't wait to go back. On a "fun" scale from one to ten, Evelyn gave her first day of school a one hundred. We hope this level of enthusiasm lasts for the remaining 179 days.

All on a Tuesday

2011-08-25T22:11:00.000-04:00

I took off work on Tuesday for some middle of the week family fun. It started with getting the kids' pictures taken at Target (Evy had a good time), and then we took our lunch to the picnic tables at the Allegheny County airport to watch some airplanes and helicopters.

Brandon thought he might like to fly in one of the planes, but we weren't allowed to set up a lesson for a two-year-old. Instead we surprised the kids with a trip to Kennywood. Brandon was able to ride the planes in Kiddieland with Evy as the pilot.

It was a really fun weekday for everyone. Pictures from our busy Tuesday are on Flickr.

Birthday Boy

2011-08-21T22:49:00.002-04:00

Brandon turned two yesterday. He'll tell you that he's six, but trust me, the kid is two.

He opened presents, tried to play with each of those presents, and then ate cake and ice cream. It was a great way to celebrate.

Brandon's second birthday pictures are on Flickr.

Haircut!

2011-07-31T22:16:00.002-04:00

The Heart of Summer

2011-07-26T23:32:00.004-04:00

It's 97˚ and humid outside, and Evy and Brandon are soaking up the sun with a bunch of mid-summer activities.

In the past two weeks they have been running through sprinklers, going to car cruises, attending the firemen's carnival, celebrating a family reunion, taking swimming lessons and much more.

Pictures from the heart of summer are on Flickr.