Our Little Get Away

Two weekends ago, we decided to head to Seven Springs, PA for their Autumnfest celebration.  Tom was able to leave work early and we enjoyed a 2-night get away with all three kids.  I had high expectations that included drinking an Oktoberfest beer while we listened to the various bands as our sweet little cherubs ran around.  I never drank even so much as a sip of beer until the boys went to bed.  Tommy threw continuous tantrums during the festival Saturday, so I mostly dealt with him.  Patrick rode the slide from the top of the mountain to the bottom (with Tom) for the first time, and loved it.  We did get an amazing hike in on the ski trails Friday late afternoon.  Tommy wanted carried the second half of the hike, so he referred to the entire adventure as our "hike ride". 

The color was perfect- the leaves were just peaking during our stay.

The funniest part of our trip was eavesdropping through the door on the boys who shared a room together without an adult chaperon for the first time.  P took the bottom bunk and Tommy slept on the trundle.  There was a lot of jumping on the bed, and Patrick fielded quite a lot of questions from his little brother.  Friday night they took forever to fall asleep, which explained Tommy's crankiness the next morning.  Saturday night they did a bit better. We're going to try to get P on skis this year.  I am bribing him with bubblegum. 

Kaya's Baptism

Sunday we celebrated Kaya's Baptism with family. The following pictures were amazingly provided by my dearest friend Elizabeth who traveled from out of state to meet Kaya for the first time and attend the baptism.  The added bonus?  She brought one of my adorable goddaughters with her (more on that soon). 

Kaya never cried, and the boys were pretty good through mass.  During the lighting of the Baptismal candle, Tommy was heard trying to blow it out like a birthday candle.

The godparents- Tom's cousins, Joe and Katie, and my sister Karen. 

Father Ken White baptized each of the three kids.

Grandma Jeanne and Grandma Kaya holding our big girl.

Elizabeth with Kaya

Kaya wore the Pohl family heirloom gown from Austria that Tom's father (and his siblings) wore, as well as Tom.  (Patrick and Tommy wore a different gown).  Unfortunately, the thread-bare gown did not survive the day very well and has a few new holes to commemorate the occasion.

Family from both sides turned out to celebrate with us and we had everyone back to our home afterwards for lunch and a little Steeler's game-day action. Can you tell these are from my camera ?

Tom's cousins- Joe, Katie, Molly, and Molly's daughter, Tippy

My cousin Ali, her son Devon, and my Uncle Jimmy

My mom's sister, Janet, with Kaya.

"Aunt" Sally and David. 

 Sadly, as the party was wrapping up, I drove Elizabeth and this cute monkey to the airport for their return flight home.

Elizabeth and my goddaughter at Pittsburgh's airport, ready to head home to see my other two godchildren (one of which took his first steps the next day!) 

SSA Homecoming 2013

Two weekends ago we rounded up the little ones and made it just in time for Shady Side Academy's homecoming game kick-off.  We would have been earlier, but I had taken all three kids to a nearby fall festival (solo, mind you, and with no stroller) so T and P could ride a pony.  I made sure we were there right at the start of the festival so we wouldn't have to wait in a line of fifty kids.
(Wait for it...wait for it...)

BACKFIRE.  Turns out that despite the festival beginning at 11, pony rides did begin until 1:30.  What ?#@?  So we headed home with two ears of dried corn shoved in my pockets, two small pumpkins under my arms, one Mr. Yuck key chain, a Mr. Yuck pencil, and one very wide awake baby strapped into a baby carrier.

I fixed a quick lunch, got Tommy down for a short nap, and fed Kaya.  Tom finished mowing the lawn and we scrambled to get out the door within 15 minutes of the football game's start time. 

We arrived only to discover-
(wait for it...)

a pony saddled up in the tennis courts, alongside a bouncy house, petting zoo, balloon artist, and face painter.  They were shutting down in 10 minutes.

There was no line, so the boys hopped right on Butterscotch the pony.  I wanted to take her home.

Each boy got one quick run through the bouncy house obstacle course, but the balloon artist and face painter were packing up shop before we could make our way to them. 
SSA killed the other team and we had a happy band of Pohl men (and little girl). Go Indians!

Kaya happily slept through the game, and her car seat doubled as a good holder for Tommy's bag of pretzels. 

Ride Em', Cowboys (and Cowgirl)

I am so far behind in my pictures/posts, that I am just going to post the most recent events and work my way back.  So here goes...

Tom returned this afternoon from a guys weekend in the Dallas/Fort Worth area with his dad, brother, and cousin.  The trip is a family tradition to commemorate Uncle Mike's graduation from high school.  They attended a rodeo, ate a lot of steak, visited the infamous "grassy knoll" , and topped off the trip with the Notre Dame game.  I was solo back home, but because all the Pohl men were gone, we had Baba to ourselves!  She babysat Friday night so I could have a quiet dinner with my best friend from college, ordered pizza for us Saturday night and helped get the kids to bed, and then helped wrangle the kids at church this morning.  Boy, did we miss Tom though.  He arrived with a bag full of cute little cowboy/cowgirl boots.  Tommy loved his so much, he wouldn't take them off for nap and slept with them on.

And this cute one?  Would those boots not look great with a little,white pony?  Yes, her hair is still in constant Kewpie Doll mode.  Her two-month check up is this week, but she has already scored major points with me by sleeping through the night for the past two weeks.  Down around 7:30 p.m., and she typically wakes around 5 or 5:30.  This is making up for the 5 days in the middle of September I thought for sure she was becoming a colicky baby.  She screamed a lot.  I cried a lot.  I was certain she must have had an ear infection since she had a cold for over 6 weeks, but the doctors gave her a clean bill of health.  I had eaten nothing out of the ordinary. Thank goodness she moved out of that stage.  I am still waiting for her to start some baby babble.