No Soul Left Behind

The Dancer is now five years old!  It is hard to believe!  She had a great time celebrating her brother’s birthday only a couple of weeks ago, and wanted to do something exciting for her birthday as well.  So, first we took her to the Shriner’s circus, which happened to be in town a couple of days before her birthday.  Then her grandparents came to visit (the highlight of her birthday weekend!).  Then, for her actual birthday, we planned to go out with friends, but unfortunately I came down the the flu.  I spent the whole day in bed and Daddy had to take the day off from work.  Two days later, Daddy and the Dancer had the flu too, but at least she was well and she could enjoy her birthday.  Here are a few great pictures to share.

What birthday would be complete without an elephant ride during intermission?

Even Smiles loved the circus (except for the clowns, of course!).

There’s nothing the kids love more than a visit from their grandparents!

The Naturalist turned 7 on Friday.  As luck has it, my husband was scheduled to present at a conference in Pittsburgh that weekend.  We decided to tag along and make a family vacation out of it.  We told the Naturalist, “For your birthday, we’re taking you on a vacation to see a dinosaur museum”  (his favorite!).  The Naturalist thought he was in heaven:  He got to stay in a hotel, go swimming, see dinosaurs, and go out to dinner for his birthday.  I can’t remember how many times he said, “This is the best birthday ever!” or “This is a fabulous birthday!”  Kids are always this easy to please, right? 

We had such a great time in Pittsburgh.  My poor husband was so jealous that he wasn’t able to have any fun.  We visited the Carnegie Natural History Museum, the Carnegie Art Museum, the Pittsburgh Children’s Museum, and the Science Center. 

The funniest part of the trip was when, while arriving in Pittsburgh, my husband pointed to the ballpark and said, “There’s the home of the Pittsburgh Pirates.”  The Dancer said, “Daddy!  There aren’t any pirates in Pittsburgh!”

Here are some great pictures of the Naturalist’s birthday, as well as the day after his birthday.

Here’s the Naturalist with some fossilized dinosaur eggs.

In the above picture, the Dancer is holding fossilized dinosaur poop.  The kids got a big kick out of this!

Here are two of my kids, posing next to one of many fabulous dinosaurs.

The Naturalist and the Dancer loved digging for dinosaurs!

The Carnegie Museum of Natural History also had some nice ancient Egyptian artifacts.

We also really enjoyed the large exhibit on Indians!

Here’s the Dancer in the Carnegie Museum of Art.  Since we’ve been studying art history, everyone was excited to see this Monet. The museum also had a fabulous Van Gogh that the kids liked as well.

Swimming at the hotel was a big hit, too!

Here we are at the Pittsburg Children’s Museum.  Okay, I’ll admit it – I had a fabulous time in the Mr. Rodger’s Neighborhood exhibit.  Maybe even as much fun as the kids!

Waterplay was also a huge hit.  It was lucky for us that this was the last thing we did, and it was also lucky that our suitcases of clothes were out in the car.  The kids got soaked!

Smiles was kind enough to take her nap in the stroller.  Thank you!

Here we are in the Science Center.  It had the nicest model train exhibit I’ve ever seen.  The exhibit was huge, and there was so much detail.  Many of the small people moved.  Even the horses’ tails in the towns moved!  We spent a long time here.

One of the highlights of the Science Center was the American, Cold War submarine.  It was 65 years old and was in service for more than 2 decades.  The kids enjoyed the tour so much we walked through the sub twice!