Baseball & Monkey Rodeo (Yes, I said "Monkey Rodeo")

Thursday night was "Bark in the Park" night at the Spikes stadium. We went to the game with Nana Sharon, Pappy Dave, Aunt Susan and Uncle Gary and Kelsey and Kaitlyn. The kids enjoyed their free baseball meals of hot dogs, chips and soda.

After sitting through the first inning, the kids were ready to head over to the Kids Club area to bounce, run and climb. We spent the remaining 7 innings in this section. They didn't stop moving!

We headed back to our seats to watch the 8th inning through the 10th inning. We got to see Spikes win in extra innings!

The Monkey Rodeo man brought out his Monkey Cowboys, riding some sort of herding dog. This man had a deep spiritiual love for these monkeys. He shared his story with us of falling in love with monkeys at a very young age and dreaming of having his very own monkey. He now has 6 and has a very special connection to these monkeys, as well as the monkeys to the dogs. (I felt like I was sitting in the audience of Saturday Night Live. )

These were the rams the monkeys and dogs herded. Quite amazing. Definitely something I'll most likely never see again. Ryan's concern on the way home "Mommy, why were those monkeys wearing clothes?"

Penns Cave

On Sunday we went to Penns Cave with Nana Sharon, Pappy Dave and Kelsey and Kaitlyn. We started off the trip with a Safari tour. We saw lots of deer, texas longhorns and some beautiful wolves.

The wolves were so pretty. Their eyes were so yellow. The kids wanted to pet them.

At the end of the tour we checked out the sunflower field. Beautiful!

After the safari we took the long, steep and slippery walk down the stairs to the boat for the cave tour. It was 50 degrees in the cave and very very dark. Kelsey told Shelby earlier in the week that she was nervous about going into the dark cave on a boat, but she didn't seem nervous to us. She was excited to get on the boat and sit beside David.

The flash doesn't let you see how beautiful it was inside the cave.

Rainy Afternoon Activities

The rain continued all day on Saturday. After the museum and the library, we took the kids to the dollar theatre to see Rio. Our group split up to see three different movies, so Ryan, Kelsey, Kaitly and I ended up having an hour to find something to do until the other movies were over. We headed to Barnes and Noble and stopped at Starbucks for a cookie and latte (cookie for them latte for me).

They loved the train table. Kaitlyn did pretty much take over the table, but she allowed the other two to each have one train. She really does like to be in charge.

Science Museum & Rainy Day Walk

While Shelby & Bob are away, Nana Sharon and Pappy Dave are watching the girls for the weekend. They brought them to State College to go on the Farm Tour with us, but the rain cancelled our plans. We took the kids to the new kids science museum downtown. Paul and Pappy Dave helped them build circuit boards to make fans turn on, alarms go off and lights blink. Ryan and Kaitlyn had fun with Nana Sharon building a house, just like Katilyn's house. She was building the swing-set and sand box next.

David and Kelsey also had fun building a course with blocks that would allow a marble to roll through it and ring a bell. They worked on this for a long time together.

After the museum we took a walk in the rain to the library. When I asked them if they would like to go back to the museum when they stay with me later this week, Kelsey said "Sure, but what I really want to do is go for a walk in the rain with umbrellas!" Not sure I'm hoping for rain while they're here, but I guess I know what we'll do if it does rain.

Steelers Training Camp

I took the boys to Steelers training camp in Latrobe on Thursday afternoon. It was a really hot afternoon. They had a great kids area with lots to do. The boys liked the activities more than watching the players.

The ran through the course to score a touchdown many many times. Their favorite part of the kids area was the obstacle course. The loved jumping and tackling the dummy. Ryan would tackle it and then give it three really hard punches. (I may need one of those inside my house. Maybe they would punch it instead of each other!)

Very Hot Day! We drank lots of water!

Swim Team Championships

David competed in the summer league swim team championship this weekend. He got to pick 3 events to compete. He asked to be in the 25 meter Freestyle, Backstroke and Breaststroke. He was so confident that he could do the Breaststroke. He had just started to learn it this month. He made it across the pool, but got disqualified for doing a flutter kick during it. We haven't told him yet, and either has anyone on the team. He was so happy just to make it across and be with the 8 and under group (the "big kids"). :-)

Saturday night the team had a banquet and handed out awards, ribbons and t-shirts. Then they had a late night swim for everyone.

Ryan jumped right in. He wanted to show us that he can do freestyle too.

He puts his face in the water and breaths from the side . . .just like David. Maybe next year he'll do it without the floaties. Ryan and I left the banquet at 9:30. Paul and David stayed for the late night skits and spooky midnight walk. Someday, (David suggests next year) they will set up a tent and spend the night at the pool with the team.

Discharged! :-)

David had his last cardiology appointment this morning! He has been discharged from cardiology! They were verifying that the VSD (small hole he had in his heart when he was born) was gone. He had an EKG and an ECHO. Everything looked great and the pediatric cardiologist pronounced his heart completely normal, just like any other 5 year old heart. Great news to start off the 4th of July weekend.