After several attempts, I have successfully finished this blog! Gotta love old, slow computers....say it with me - "I am THANKFUL for this computer."
Last weekend, Darrell and I were able to go out to dinner in Pittsburgh with Darrell's side of the family. We went to the restaurant "Ciopinno's." All of Darrell's siblings and spouses were there as well as Darrell's dad....this doesn't happen very often so it was a huge blessing! We spent four hours at the restaurant enjoying great food, conversation (still laughing about the tuna casserole - and no, that was not served at this restaurant!), and fun. Darrell had control of the camera, so we have a picture of his meal (halibut) and of his sister, Karen, enjoying her meal.
While we were at the restaurant, my two 14 year old nieces, Analisa and Meghan babysat our kids. What a switch! When I met Darrell, these two little girls used to sit on my lap....now they are babysitting our kids! They left us this message I discovered the next day......I think they are trying to secure future babysitting jobs.
Next, to the zoo....we have a membership so it was time to go. We headed to the Pittsburgh zoo Tuesday afternoon and enjoyed some new areas we haven't discovered. Notice that Alec is in some "different" clothes...yes, they are pajamas. He fell asleep in the van on the way to the zoo and had a HUGE accident. I am out of the diaper bag carrying stage and didn't think to bring an extra outfit. So Alec was treated to the zoo pajamas they sell at the gift store....we thank God for reasonable prices and the membership discount!
Our favorite new (to us) areas at the zoo are the deer and the sharks. We think the zoo in the Fall is the BEST time to go!
Throw them off the deck, of course! Ahhhhh, fall fun!
Tomorrow, our family will be driving to Chicago. We will be in Chicago until Sunday, then Darrell and Paula (only) will be flying to San Antonio, Texas (my Aunt Sue in Chicago has agreed to watch the kids) until next Thursday. Then we head back to Pennsylvania Friday with my Dad and stepmom in tow (who have not been to Pennsylvania yet). Exciting times. I will try to update you while we're gone.
Another soccer season is over for us....and I finally got around to taking a couple of pictures. Evan moved up to the big field and had to get used to a lot more running. He also played, for the first time, on a mixed gender league. Ann-Marie decided to try soccer again after taking a year break and found that she really enjoyed playing goalie. It ended up being a wet and cold season, with lots of cancelled practices, but both children enjoyed playing.
Now onto Fall Festival....our dear friends, the Shullenbarger family from Maryland, joined us once again for this event (even though Jessica is 37 weeks pregnant and the baby is ready to come!) The kids enjoyed dressing up and participating in all the games at our church. The event went very well this year and we enjoyed having our friends stay for a short, but sweet, weekend.
Above, the whole crew dressed up....and below, my three (Evan is Annikan, Ann-Marie is a fairy, and Alec is Spiderman).
One of the favorite activities of the evening was milking the cow......Grandpa Shippy in Iowa will be pleased to see these pictures!
On Friday, I had the opportunity to take Ann-Marie and a friend to the Sleeping Beauty Ballet at the Benedum Center in Pittsburgh. We were able to leave the boys with our friend's family (thanks Allison!) and make it a girls' day. We had a fabulous time!
On another note, Alec decided to write his name all by himself on our whiteboard. Darrell took a picture of the evidence......
After several attempts, I have successfully finished this blog! Gotta love old, slow computers....say it with me - "I am THANKFUL for this computer." 
While we were at the restaurant, my two 14 year old nieces, Analisa and Meghan babysat our kids. What a switch! When I met Darrell, these two little girls used to sit on my lap....now they are babysitting our kids! They left us this message I discovered the next day......I think they are trying to secure future babysitting jobs.
Next, to the zoo....we have a membership so it was time to go. We headed to the Pittsburgh zoo Tuesday afternoon and enjoyed some new areas we haven't discovered. Notice that Alec is in some "different" clothes...yes, they are pajamas. He fell asleep in the van on the way to the zoo and had a HUGE accident. I am out of the diaper bag carrying stage and didn't think to bring an extra outfit. So Alec was treated to the zoo pajamas they sell at the gift store....we thank God for reasonable prices and the membership discount!
Our favorite new (to us) areas at the zoo are the deer and the sharks. We think the zoo in the Fall is the BEST time to go!
