Zoo

You can see the tail of the peacock going under the fence. Troy and Alex were mesmerized by the fact that they could walk beside it. It was really neat!
Christy keeps a tight reign on Carter. At this point, we still weren't sure how the boys would handle random wildlife roaming through the zoo!

Our peacock friend!
The boys look out over the PPG Aquarium. They were just in awe!
Random penguin cleaning.
Brian and Carter make some friends.
I thought this picture was cool since you could see Daddy in the glass!

Alex just absolutely loved the fish!

More Zoo!

Evan's favorite part was the PPG Aquarium - because he could finally crawl around! He crawled over to the elevator at one point. I have no clue where he thought he was going! There is a huge stingray tank and the kids can crawl underneath and look up at the stingrays swimming above them. It is really really neat! The boys loved it! Evan crawled the loop at least 10 times. Here he is crawling beside Carter.
Brian, Carter and Alex take a break. Alex was fascinated with the souvenir cup. What can I say?
At the end of the zoo was a jeep ride! Go Diego Go!


And in case you were wondering what Evan did while everyone else rode the jeeps... He finally surrendered.

The Zoo - Final Images

I'm still gradually putting pictures of the "reunion" up on the blog. I don't want to overwhelm the grandparents with too much cuteness! Here are some zoo pics. These were at the very end. It was easily 97 degrees, which in Pittsburgh, is HUGE. We were so hot and tired. But at the end was a fabulous misting machine! I think that was the kids' favorite part! Here are Alex and Carter enjoying it!
Brian, Troy, Alex and Drew try to find the elusive alligator!
The very end. The stroller tipped back and the boys lounging, totally ready for the car and a nap. Alex was such a good boy that we got him an ice cream cone before we left.

Cousins

Attemtping to gather the cousins for a picture... l - r - Alex (Brenna), Adam (Jeff), Carter (Brian), Troy (Brian), Katie (Jeff) holding Evan (Brenna)
Another attempt...
Carter lounges while Evan tells Katie a story.

Siblings

Everyone made fun of us for not standing close enough. So I tried to put my arms around Jeff and Brian. I wanted to smack their heads together, but they resisted!
Here are the siblings with their spouses - l - r - Jenny, Jeff, Brenna, Drew, Brian and Christy.

Hartzell-Tatusko clan!

We were lucky to have Brian, Christy, Troy and Carter come up from Tennessee to visit us! The boys were just having a blast. And when Troy found out that they couldn't all spend eternity together, he said, "Aww. I so sad!"

Here they are destroying Grandma's flowers! From left to right - Carter, Troy and Alex.

This picture was taken just as Troy hit the ground!
Alex pauses to make sure that everyone saw him!
Troy makes sure the flowers are properly smashed while Alex gets up for another round of flower jumping!

ROLL!

Stella has a system to the back rub and roll. First, she puts her shoulder down and rubs her back. Then she wiggles her front legs.
And then the back!
And then she rests.

Fun!

The boys love each other! They do such cute things! After a nap one day, Alex decided to crawl in Evan's bed with him. Alex pulled a blanket up over both of them and they go so snuggly!