Apple Picking 2010

We've survived the first week back to work and to celebrate Pat and I took the kids apple picking on Friday afternoon. We had a lot of fun! The kids loved being able to reach up and pick their own apples and they loved being able to just bite into one even more. We made apple sauce yesterday and apple pancakes this morning. It's officially starting to feel like fall... Week 2 of work starts tomorrow and it's going to be a busy one. Enjoy our trip to the orchard!




Yummy!


Katie picking apples


Seamus picking apples


Helena Picking apples

BBQ and Back to School

Well, Mary and I went back to work today, so the summer is officially over. We were lucky enough to have Aunt Kathy in from NC for the week, so we decided to have an end of the summer BBQ at our house on Saturday. Nearly the whole Murphy family came over (Uncle John is in Indiana and Uncle Tim and Uncle Dan had to work) and Grandma and Grandpa Huddas came over too. The kids got to play with their cousins, uncles, aunts and grandparents. Sunday Aunt Kathy had to fly home to NC, and Mary had a wedding shower in the morning and a concert to play in the evening. After cleaning up a bit from Saturday and relaxing in front of golf on the TV, the kiddies and I went to hear Mary toot her own horn. They all loved the concert, and after I told them mommy was playing her horn Helena said "Mommy play popcorn, pop pop." Monday was the last day of summer, so we mostly relaxed before working again. The pictures are from the BBQ on Saturday, welcome back to school everyone.


Grandma Murphy and Seamus


Shannon, Jack and Kevin with Helena, Katie and Seamus


Clint and Conner


Happy Birthday Aunt Kathy, Bryan and Brenna


Aunt Shari, Aunt Kathy Murphy, Katie, and Aunt Cathy Murphy (See prior post)


Brenna giving Helena a Rocket Ship Ride

Happy Birthday Aunt Kathy! Who??

Today is Aunt Kathy Murphy's birthday. We had the honor of celebrating it with her since she's in town from North Carolina for the week and is staying with us. The kids were super excited to tell her Happy Birthday and give her a present and cards. This is after yesterday where for a little while Seamus decided that he didn't want it to be Aunt Kathy's birthday. Now I might need to explain something... my poor kids... they are seriously confused. They have too many Aunt Kathys and I mean WAYYYYY too many. Sometimes I even lose track. We have resorted to giving them nicknames to try and keep them all straight. We have Aunt Kathy Murphy who's birthday it is today and who's bed is called the Aunt Kathy bed where Katie takes her naps most days. Not to be confused with Aunt Cathy Murphy, our sister-in-law and Dan's wife. Keep in mind they can't spell so the K to C thing isn't a clue for them yet. Then we have Aunt Kathy Doggy- my friend Kathy who has a puppy named Thor. Any time we mention that Kathy we hear "she has a doggy... it's name is Thor puppy", hence the nickname. Then we have Aunt Kathy Soup, my aunt and my dad's sister. She comes over to visit and brings soup for lunch which they love. We could have also called her Aunt Kathy crackers I guess since that's the next thing they say when we talk about her or soup! Her last name starts with an S though so we stuck with soup. Then there's my Aunt Kathy Huddas, my Uncle Richard's wife. I also have a cousin named Kathy and a Katie(Kathryn) cousin as well. Why do I feel like I'm forgetting someone? Oh yeah, our own little Katie who might one day decide she really wants to be a Kathy instead. We've created a monster!


Katie giving Aunt Kathy her card at breakfast

Happy Birthday Drew!

Well its been about two weeks since we have put the kids into toddler beds. It has been getting better since they pulled off the door. We decided to put them to sleep a little later and read them a story while they are in bed to calm them down. The only problem now is half the time we find Helena sleeping on the floor. Hopefully this whole sleeping in the bed thing will be routine by the time works starts up for Mary and I again. On Friday we went to Drew's Birthday Party, then we went to the Metro beach on Sunday and went on Uncle Steve's boat (except for Katie, because she's a scaredy bug). We then went to visit Grandma and Grandpa Murphy and got to see Uncle Ed, Aunt Deb, Uncle Pat and Bryan, Shannon, Jack and Kevin. On Wednesday we went to the zoo and afterwards went to McDonald's for lunch and let them play in the tubes for the first time after eating their nuggets. Today we went to the Armada Fair before Mary went out to dinner with some people for work. Can you tell we're trying to squeeze in as much into the end of the summer as possible? While Mary was gone tonight we finally got some rain after the drought we've been having this year. But unfortunately a tornado warning came with the rain. Of course when 3 two year olds have to be corralled and brought down two flights of stairs when they expect to put on their pajamas is quite the experience, especially when you're out numbered three to one. All turned out well as all the storms passed south of us. Next week Aunt Kathy Murphy is coming up from NC for the week so we should have some fun before work starts up again. The pictures are from Drew's 3rd Birthday Party.


Seamus riding a Dinosaur at Drew's Party


Helena playing at Drew's Party


Katie having a ball at Drew's Party


Happy Birthday to Drew

Big Kid Beds

I think we might be crazy. We decided after much contemplation to put the kids in toddler beds. It might have been a mistake. Even though they are super excited and have been talking about it for a couple weeks now, I'm not sure it was our brightest move. Tonight is the first night they are sleeping in their new beds and it's 9:45 and I still hear them. They went to bed at 8. Oh, and they've already somehow ripped the door off the hinges and off the wall. Yeah, it might have been a mistake.


Seamus in his Sponge Bob bed. Don't let the eyes fool you, he was NOT sleeping!


Katie in her princess bed. The only one who did not get out of bed a million times!


Helena in her Tinker Bell bed. Pat says her hair in this picture reminds him of a 12 year old boy. She's definitely causing trouble like one!




Bye cribs, we'll miss you! Or at least I will!

Weekend at West Branch

We just got home from a little mini camping trip to West Branch. As Helena would say, "I like it!" We had a good time fishing and even caught some whoppers as you'll see in the pictures. We spent a big part of yesterday playing at the beach and some of us even got to go for a boat ride. Katie didn't like it too much, she preferred to stay back and play in the sand with Clay and Drew instead. We did some shopping and got new shoes for the trio. Seamus got to ride his bike with the big boys to the playground, which he loved. Tomorrow is the corn roast at Aunt Kathy's and we're all looking forward to that. It's almost August... where is this summer going???


Katie going fishing


Helena telling me how she likes camping


Seamus tired out from all of the monsters we're catching


Grandpa's fish


Daddy's fish


Mommy's fish

Road Trip

After five days on the road with the kids we finally all got to sleep in our own beds last night. We had been thinking about taking a couple of day trips into Ohio this summer, but due to a death in the family in Pennsylvania we decided to drive down there to pay our respects and take our trips on the way there and back. We left on Thursday morning and stopped in Port Clinton, Ohio to do the drive through Safari. The kids liked looking at all the animals, but when a buffalo stuck his giant head into the back window of the van it scared the poop out of all of them. When we kept the windows rolled up they all enjoyed looking at the animals at a safe distance. After we drove through and saw all of the different kinds of cows and deer, zebras and giraffes, we went into the picnic table area for lunch. After wiping the animal slobber off the van we ate, watched a pig race and walked through their small zoo area. The next day we drove into Pittsburgh and went the Zoo to see the PPG Aquarium. The Pittsburgh Zoo is nice, but the whole thing is uphill which gets tiring when pulling a wagon with about 90 lbs of two year olds in tow. The aquarium was the kids favorite part of the zoo. They were mesmerized by the sight and I think we heard the phrase "look fish!" about a thousand times. I think they liked it. The next day we went to the Service and funeral for Mary's cousin. We attended the gathering afterward where we got to spend time with family we don't see very often. Later that day we went to the Duquesne Incline which is a trolley ride up a big hill where you can see the city from above. The next day we drove into Toledo and went to Imagination Station where there are a lot of hands-on exploring things that kids can play with. So Katie, Seamus and Helena got to pretend to be doctors, ambulance drivers, fire fighters, and paleontologists. This was probably Seamus's favorite part of the trip, he had a smile so big it's what we call his "Muppet Face." The next day was Monday, and before we drove back home we checked out the Toledo Zoo because we have heard good things about it. The zoo was big, and we spent about 4 hours there and saw just about every animal imaginable. Then we all slept in our own beds for the first time in four days. The whole trip I slept with Katie and Mary slept with Seamus and Helena after we pushed her bed up against the wall. Today we had excitement too because they kids had their first trip to the dentist. Katie was the best behaved and didn't even cry when she got her teeth cleaned. Seamus and Helena did good too, but Katie wins the "Big Girl Prize" of the day. The good news is none of them had cavities, and they all got toys and balloons. Tomorrow we're going to see Grandma Murphy for her birthday. Below are some of the pictures from the road trip.


The Buffalo that scared Katie


At the Pig Race at the Safari


At the top of the Duquesne Incline


Paging Dr Seamus at the Imagination Station


Katie Sliding at the Imagination Station


Helena shopping at the Imagination Station


Digging for dinosaur bones at Imagination Station


Saying hi to the gorilla statue at the Toledo Zoo