Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium

Last week we took a trip to the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium. At first I was disappointed in the zoo, but then we got the to aquarium. That was awesome. They even had an area to pet the sting rays. We had one major meltdown near the end, but I blame heat. Can you guess wich picture was near the meltdown time? We got through it and had a good time. 

Favorite Things Around Town

 Dallin and I wake to Russ's work almost weekly when it is good weather. It's only about a mile and 1/2 walk. Last week when we went I gave Dallin my camera and he took pictures of all this favorite things about our town (well, at least the things we walk by). Some of the pictures he wanted to be in.

First, Dallin's favorite tree. Yes, he has a favorite tree. He liked that is it so white and SO big around. All three of us can't reach around it and touch each other.

There are quite a few old sidewalks around. Dallin calls them stone. I am not sure if that is what they are or not, but he thinks they are so cool. I think because they are so smooth.

Someone's yard ornament. I didn't know this was a favorite thing as he never talked about it before, but I guess today it was. There are a lot lawn ornaments in our town.

There are still quite a few brink roads in our town. I was told my the realtor that they are from the 1800s when the town was still young. Dallin thinks they are so cool. Russ hates to drive on them. They are loud. Our road is not one of them with brink. Our 1950 house is in the "newer" end of town. Recently they have torn up Main Street to repave the road. You can see the old bricks they have long ago paved over. 

More old sidewalk. They have to work on some water lines, so some of the sidewalk had to be torn up and concrete was poured in it's place.

A retaining wall in front of one of the old houses. Dallin always has to walk on it.

The First Presbyterian Church on Main. It really is a beautiful building with a little court yard area.

We have a Train Museum. Not too big, but in the summer you can get into the engine and ring the bell.

Sheetz, the local gas station. We love to get snacks there. They have way yummy hot chocolate.

Well, I hope you enjoyed your walk with us. You have now seen half the town. I guess you'll have to come visit to see the rest of it. :)

Lonely Only

Dallin has never hurt for friends to hang out with until we moved. Now he plays by himself a lot. This kid is ready for school to start next year.

I believe in these pictures he is an Imperial Guard. He got tired of running around and I found him sitting at the edge of the back yard playing with the dandelions. Poor kid. 

Of course, once he realized I was taking pictures of him, he had to pose for me. 

Time for an ice cream break. 

Temple Building

We recently found a blog called Build In Holy Places. Dallin loved looking at it. Since Legos are really the only toys he plays with anymore, I told him we could save up for bunch of white Legos and we could build some temples. He informed me we didn't need the "right" Legos to build a temple and he wanted to try anyway. We picked a temple that wasn't all white so we could use colored blocks as the bricks. I helped him separate the bricks by sizes and colors and helped place the pillars. He did the rest. I am particularly impressed with Angel Moroni. He built it all on his own. He also insisted on lots of trees out from. That is what the tall colorful pillars are, tree trunks. 

D's version of the Copenhagen Denmark Temple:

The real Copenhagen Denmark Temple:

Easter

Well, I've been a slacker. I don't know why I don't get around to blogging more. Maybe it is because nothing all that special has happened lately, but looking back I usually just blogged regular, everyday stuff before, so I don't know what the excuse it. Weather? Let's go with that. 

I don't know if anyone checks this blog anymore, especially now that google reader is going away. (Anyone else sad as I am about that???)  I am trying to get used to Blog Lovin, but it is just not the same. Anyway....to the post.

Easter. Here are some photos from Easter time. 

Easter Egg Dying

A friend invited us to an Easter Egg Hunt at their church. It was nice. It is a very small church and she was related to about 90% of the people who came. Dallin was really shy at first but had a good time. They had an egg hunt, prizes, flew kites, and roasted hotdogs and marshmallows. It was a fun group of people to spend Good Friday with.

 Fun gifts from Dallin's adoptive grandmas and grandpas. They are just so sweet to Dallin.

Easter Morning. I think the Easter Bunny went a little overboard this year. Even D said he got too much. The problem is the Easter Bunny finds good deals on things, and next thing you know he has spent $25 and has a full basket. Oh well. He won't get any other gifts till his birthday, so I guess he can enjoy it.

Sunday morning we made Resurrection Rolls. We have done this before. it was nice since usually we are pulling D out of bed at 7:30 am Sunday mornings in order to get to church in time for Russ's meetings at 8:30. (He gets dressed/brushes teeth/etc at church once we get there.) Since Easter was a 5th Sunday, no early morning meetings. We didn't have to leave till 9. It was great. Ironically, we were late for church that morning. Go figure.

Easter Clothes. So handsome.

I'll try to be better with posting, even if it is boring stuff :)

Old Habits Die Hard

Actually, this one died easier than I thought it would originally. Anyone who has spent much time around Dallin knows he is a huge thumb sucker. Also, they would have seen the ratty blanket he named Elmo that goes everywhere with him.  Well, at the age of 5, he has decided to stop sucking his thumb. He has not sucked it for 4 weeks now.  Here's how it went down: We make him save his own money to buy toys and it was taking much longer than he would have liked so I finally told him that is he stopped sucking his thumb for 10 days straight I would buy him a toy and if he went another 20 days after that he could get another one.  That seemed to do the trick. For the first 3 days he wore a glove on his hand and after that he didn't need it anymore. Only a couple of times he forgot but instantly remembered as soon as it went into his mouth. We told him that was OK and as long as he caught himself he wouldn't have to start over on his day counts. It wasn't long until he realized having Elmo around made it harder for him not to suck his thumb, so he asked me to put Elmo up high in the closet where he couldn't get it. He was very sad about it but said it had to be done. After Elmo was gone, he didn't wear the glove at night anymore and didn't have a problem falling asleep without sucking his thumb. This Saturday Dallin is going to pick out his second toy.  I did tell him if he starts to suck his thumb again I get to take the toys back, but I honestly don't think it will be a problem. He doesn't seem to miss it anymore. I am one happy Mom. I wasn't loving the idea of sending him to kindergarten a thumb sucker. I would like to say it was because of some awesome parenting technique of mine, but in reality all I did was offer the bribe. He wanted two new Skylanders so he figured out a way to stop sucking his thumb.  Awesome Job, Dallin!

Remember, It Is Still Winter

I have to remind myself, as well as Dallin, that even though we had a weekend in the 60s that is it is still winter. All the snow has melted, but here are some photos of after Christmas when we got a ton of snow. I am sure more of this is to come. I will say one thing I like better in PA than in MI is there seems to be a lot less wind. When I dress warm, I actually stay somewhat warm because there isn't a cold wind constantly blowing.