Aunt Nena's visit

We had the pleasure of having Aunt "Nena" in the 'Burgh in June. Simone loved having a roommate for nearly 2 weeks. We did all sorts of fun stuff around the city. Here are some of the highlights:

 Simone and Nena on an adventure at the Science Center where Sim got to see robots playing basketball and learned about other sciency things from Bert and Ernie. 

 Playing "school". Having Aunt Nena around is like having a professional teacher at your side all day. Her aunt is always teaching her new songs, stories and doing cool activities with her. 

 We spent a fun day at Idlewild. The Doodlebug is Sim's favorite ride. 

 With her buddy, Linus. 

Strong man.

 Good thing Simone came ready with her tattoo. 

 The Children's Museum was celebrating their somethingth birthday. The kids got to make party hats and get in for free. 

 Screen printing!

 This was a cool water wall. Sim got to manipulate the water flow with magnetic tools and shapes. 

 Blowing yourself dry is an activity in and of itself.

 Hula-hoop class! The woman on her right is some kind of hula-hoopin' evangelist. We see her all over Pittsburgh hula-hooping. 

 Hiking in Frick Park with the littles. Inés kept bending her head back and looking up at her aunt. 

We spent the last afternoon of Lalanya's trip at the Phipp's Conservatory. It happened to be a hot day and, needless to say, it was like a sauna in the greenhouse. So that made for a mandatory stop at Dave and Andy's ice cream on the way to the airport. Too bad it was all gone before we got there because after Sim said goodbye to her aunt she cried all the way home:(

Part III

While we were waiting for our food at the highly recommended Shake Shack, Simone said, "Mom, wook! You gotta' get a picture of 'dis!" Keep in mind, all of this happened before our root beer came.

All Simone wants out of life now is to go back to DC.

Part II

Some pictures of us at The Mall:

 Simone appreciating some art, getting out some wiggles that built up while she watched a video installation about parkour.

Simone went crazy over this butterfly exhibit.

Guess which Mormon is more righteous? Guess which one is more promiscuous?

Spotting some bush babies.

Longer story with this one: Inés likes to growl. We call her "growler." It might be because she has rabies. See, a few days before we took this trip, we moved some furniture in her room, and found a dead bat. I got a good look at it once I got it into the sunlight (right before lying it to rest in the garbage can), and it wasn't too creepy. There are some bats out there with monster faces. But with its furry face, ours was as much like a mouse with wings as you could hope. I took advantage of this exhibit to see if I could identify our bat's species. I didn't quite get to the bottom of it.

This is a Neanderthal funeral. My theory is that the museum uses the exposed breast to make science interesting.

Inés isn't much of a pedal pusher yet.

Amorette and Simone had to take a pickle kabob break.

DC Trip, Part I of III

I had the chance to present a paper at a conference in D.C. this May. Since it's so close to Pittsburgh, and since we don't get nearly enough family trips, we all went. I presented the first day, and it went well. But as soon as my panel was over, I ditched the rest of what was a huge multi-day conference and went into vacation mode. Our trip also coincided with a brief return of our good friends Josh, Jill and kids, who were dropping into D.C. as part of Josh's long-term work assignment in Zimbabwe. Unfortunately we didn't get any pictures with them, but rest assured that the reunion was a lot of fun.

Simone loves to be on anything that moves. Trains, subways, trolleys, buses, Dad, Mom, you name it. Where were we going in this pictures? Who cares? The ride was the event, as far as she was concerned.

The hotel had a pool, so we worked on our strokes, and our lounging technique.

This was Inés' first time in a body of water bigger than a uterus or a tub. Something in the water latched onto her.

We also got to catch up with our other good friends, Brook, Linwood and their baby, who is probably our smallest pal at the moment. This picture captures the essence of the feelings of all our reunions with friends on this trip, well, except that Inés was the only one who was naked while hugging a friend and saying, "I've missed you!"

Here we are after enjoying some pupusas. It looks like Inés ate them all. Actually, she makes pupusas...guess how? 

International Children's Festival

I look forward to the Children's Festival every year. The event is held just outside the Cathedral of Learning and there is an array of activities and performances for kiddos (although I enjoy them just as much as Simone). Here's some of the action:

 Tripping out in the inflatable luminarium which was originally built in Nottingham. It's half the size of a football field and rises to 3 stories high. The structure is inspired by natural geometry and Islamic architecture.

  

 Simone was initially frightened when we entered the "castle" until her buddies, Alice & Harrison showed her the ropes.

 Just taking it all in. 

DJ Simone spinning some records with paint with the Roving Art Cart.

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 This kiddo had a great time. She's going for an international look:)

 Another highlight of the festival--the petting zoo. Some were baby animals, others miniature and pygmy... or perhaps they were all baby pygmy animals? All that matters was that they're cute. Simone did pretty well on her own feeding the animals until some sheep were surrounding her and chasing her around. Then she was simultaneously thrilled and laughing and also kind of freaking out. 

This year there was also a baby zebra, alpaca and a camel. Pittsburgh is occasionally bucolic. 

  Carousel rides. 

 Sim & Alice with their Katarina masks. 

Sim's origami butterfly. 

We were fortunate to have the theater to ourselves briefly for the Children's Film Festival. We had missed this part last year and made sure to catch it this time around. The animated shorts were a lot of fun. I'll post some of them soon.

The Call of the Open Road

The Ellsworth family just got some new wheels, thanks to aunt Jamie, uncle Loren and cousin Woody. The coupe's features include baby car seats, eating trays, a pull-out picnic table, and a picnic basket complete with food and drinks.

 Simone was ecstatic opening her gift. 

 "Diamond in the back, sunroof top

Diggin' the scene

With a gangsta' lean

Whoo-ooh-ooh" 

 The Ellsworths enjoying a leisurely picnic.

Installing the food trays.