Yep, we packed it all in and enjoyed every second.

We were so looking forward to this past week, not only were our sweet friends getting married, but my sister was coming in to photograph the wedding! On Wednesday as we awaited her arrival, The Call, that seems to come quite often now (although we don't always end up getting new children) came. Would you be able to take a 4 day old newborn and his 2 yr. old brother? Ok! The call came at 3pm, they were dropped off at 4pm, I taught piano lessons from 6-7, and my sister and her friend arrived shortly after. That's a full day! I will say though, this transition with the kids was so much more seemless. We have learned our limitations and what works for our family, what the best sleeping arrangements are, and this time going from 2 to 4 was pretty smooth. We girls had mani/pedis scheduled for that evening (my awaited Mother's Day gift!) and out we went. Trying to explain to the girls that didn't speak English well what fostering was, was interesting. She kept saying, 5 days old? Where's your belly? Believe me, I would not be sitting there if I had just given birth. :) Wow, even though the baby being up every 2 hours was still exhausting, having a newborn without having the physical recovery side is wonderful. So on we marched with our week.....

Btw, most of these pics were taken by my sister or her assistant, Honeycomb Photography.

I don't know when my sister took these, but I had to laugh. For not having much hair, she gets some serious bedhead. :) And she's part monkey.

So Friday arrived and off our 2 bonus littles went to a court hearing where some family members were approved to take them in, so they didn't come back. Although we knew this was a possibility, it still tugs at your heart. Knowing their background, you just pray that those little ones will be watched over and taken care of in the best way. Although, it was providential as we looked to the weekend and knowing how much more interesting it was going to be juggling 4 kids instead of 2. Although the wedding was only an hour away, between rehearsal on friday and events on Saturday, we decided to make a short little getaway out of it. We haven't been away as a family since last fall, and there is something so, so refreshing about little respites, short as they may be. We're so glad we chose to stay over, we had so much fun and the kiddos sure adored staying in the hotel.

Aunt Katie is always snapping away...... (lucky for us.)

 Love the scarf from Brown Eyed Girlies. :)

Rehearsal dinner was in this "castle", Graham loved it.

Eden is entertaining herself by stacking creamers.  

The hotel had an indoor playground (genius, since it was so cold for May!). But they were most excited about the pool. At 6:20am Saturday morning, Graham was standing at our bed asking to go swimming. Lucky for us, it didn't open till 9. And Madagascar was on. :)

Wedding time! So thankful the sun came out and it warmed up a little!

 Yep, that's the 2 yr. old's back end.

So happy for this couple who has waited a long time for this day! Every detail was beautiful.

Fast forward to Sunday afternoon and it was camping time for the boys! Andrew & Graham have been very anxiously awaiting some warm weather to pull out the tent. We thought the end of May would be good, but it ended up being in the 30's - brrrr. Extra glad I wasn't there. :) But the boys had the best time. This girl doesn't love the idea of camping, particularly with a 2 yr. old in a tent. And I foresee this as something the boys get to do together for many years to come.

So while the boys camped, the girls hit the Strip District and North Shore and enjoyed some nice relaxing down time complete with movie and Pittsburgh Popcorn.

And then our fleeting time was gone..........we love our aunt katie and thankful she could be paid to be here - yippee! Thankful for many blessings of the week and time with our little family.

a few fun things.....

So for many that kindly ask, yes, the house is very, very quiet! I've almost reached the point where I can talk about the kids without crying. Almost. It's been 2 weeks today since they left, but in many ways almost seems like it was much longer. It has been nice to get back into our normal routine, when the kiddos came, most of life came to a standstill and our regular activities weren't an option. I managed to keep the Pgh Momtourage running, but it was definitely the bare minimum. :) Through some marketing events for the Momtourage, we recently got to preview some fun things happening in Pittsburgh!

Enter: Sky Zone. Sky Zone is the original trampoline park and the one place where it is totally acceptable to have bouncing-off-the-walls fun! Our trampoline park offers open jump, a Foam Zone, 3-D Dodgeball (when available) and the SkySlam basketball court. My kids loved it and I'm telling ya, it was a serious work-out! I played a game of dodgeball with some cameramen & reporters who were there as well, and we were all dying after about 10 minutes. :)

The foam pit was fun, it's actually best for little kids. It was quite funny to see a reporter get stuck in there and seriously couldn't get out for about 10 minutes. At least I thought it was funny. :) It also produced some awesome hair for G!

 Dodgeball/Basketball

And for local friends, there are a few more days to enter my giveaway for free jumping passes! Go here to enter.

 We also have the Pittsburgh International Children's Festival happening here this week. The week includes an incredible line-up of Petting Zoo, Crafts, Face Painting, Al Mazing Magic show, Children's Theatre, Live Music, Weird Eric Magic show, Interactive Musical, Roving Art Cart + so much more. But a big attraction will be the exciting interactive Art Exhibit ~ Exxopolis ~ lit only by the sun! We got to walk through it before it was open to the public and G & E loved it. See more info about the Children's Festival here.

 We took a little walk after to a favorite dinosaur (whose neck gear randomly changes, it was pink tuille today!). They decided to "clean" him with dandelions, hope he enjoyed his bath!

 I love the University of Pitt campus/Schenley Plaza (where the Festival will be held), and such a beautiful time of year with fresh leaves! The kids also enjoyed a noisemaker booth, that should be fun for hundreds of kids all week. :)