Children's Museum of Pittsburgh Review: Field Trip Friday

We can't wait for it to warm up here in Pittsburgh, but we won't let the weather stop us from having fun!  This past week, we took a really fun trip to the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh and can't wait to show you around!

We started our trip in the Studio, where the kids painted, molded and pressed.  Fun easels for painting with tempra, and water color painting platforms provide the perfect palate.

Lessons in Parenting: Choosing Chores for Toddlers

It's hard to believe how much my kids have grown up, even in the few short months since they've turned two.  One of the coolest things about this age is how they love to be "helpers."  Julie's the first to let me know with "oh no - spill" and ask for a "tow" (rhymes with cow) to clean it up.  I'm so impressed with Brayden's abilities to follow two step directions, and put things away when asked.

So when I came across Dr. G's blog post about kids and chores, I thought it was time to think more about the ways my kids could help in a more structured way.  Head over to Dr. G's blog and hear all about the three major benefits for bringing chores into your kids' routine - and download her free, age appropriate chore chart for your little ones!

For our kids, we're starting small.  Our first chore routines include:

• Dumping our plates into the garbage after meals
• Using towels to help clean up our spills
• Helping to sweep when we play with rice and other sensory materials
• Wiping the table after making messes with paint
• Cleaning up our piles of toys when we're finished playing (still working on this)
• "Feeding our pets" (with treats) every day

Of course, they take some prompting, but here's hoping with a little encouragement and consistency, we'll be well on our way to reaping the rewards of family chores.

Speaking of Doctor G, she's the the official spokesperson for the Parenting Expo in Pittsburgh happening this weekend.  If you haven't gotten your tickets yet, head over to our event post and get your promo code for a last minute discount!  Don't delay though - the discount ends at 5 p.m. on March 5th!

Here's Doctor G., talking more about the event!  Come see her live this weekend, and hang out with us at this super fun filled event!

Carnegie Science Center: Field Trip Friday

During these super cold Pittsburgh days, I'm longing for something to get us out of the house and keep us busy.  While Dan might think I'm collecting new museum memberships just as fast as I'm collecting new ribbons, I have no regrets in our recent purchase of a Carnegie Museum Membership.

One of my favorite things about their membership in comparison to some others is that the membership can be in the name of one adult for a two adult pass.  Which means that I can take my husband, my mom, OR a girlfriend.  As children aged two and younger are free, we luck out only needing a Dual membership to cover our needs.

While there are TONS of things to do at the science center, for right now, we hang out mainly in the Exploration Station Jr. on the fourth floor.  This one area is enough to keep us busy for at least an hour or two, which is about the extent of our outings.

One of the main highlights of the activity area, for kids aged 3-6, is the giant water table. Complete with fountains, streams, lots of balls, funnels, scoops and more - it's the first place my kids run when arriving.  I hustle to strap them into the provided smocks before they get their clothes soaked.  If your kids are like mine though, smocks don't offer much protection.  I dress them in layers to keep long sleeves from dipping into the drink, and bring extra clothes all the way down to alternate shoes.  SUPER fun and worth the drive down all on it's own!

Other amusements include a GIANT Operation game, letter blocks, lots of books, miscellaneous building materials, and a favorite bin full of stethoscopes and otoscopes.

Above our heads, a climbing apparatus reminiscent of your local playground gives kiddos a view from the top.  No slides necessary, but lost of portholes and stairs for little climbers.

There are more ball gizmos than a kid can handle at the Science Center.  Load them into buckets, shove them into a suction tube, or crank them through a tunnel - all path leads to a holding area above you.  Once enough balls have been loaded, the bell will ring and you'll be showered by balls from above.

What else can you do with your toddler at Carnegie Science Center?
- Meet a friend in the lot tunnels (top left)
- Brush a set of giant dentures, sit on some molars and pose next to a huge toothbrush (top center)
- Pretend to be a farmer (top right)
- Play a tune using unusual percussion instruments (bottom left)
- Visit the resident reptiles (bottom center)
- Get building with these gigantic lego-esque blocks. (bottom right)

We also enjoyed a trip through the miniature railroad and had a bite to eat in the cafeteria.  Definitely enough fun for (at least) a monthly trip to keep us entertained - we can't wait to go back!  Hopefully we'll be able to share more of the fun in a future Field Trip Friday post!

*Thanks to our friends Katie and Audrey for joining us!  Check out Katie's blog at http://b00kends.blogspot.com/!*

The Science Center is also offering special activities on Muchkin Mondays!  Who's joining us next time?  




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Field Trip Friday: BounceU of Warrendale

As we get back into the swing of things in the new year, we've been venturing out to find some new places to hang during these cold winter months.  A recent favorite has been BounceU of Warrendale and their weekday "Preschool Playdates."

BounceU has some super cool inflatables, including a giant two-story inflatable slide, giant bounce houses, a "wipeout" style obstacle course inflatable, and even things like inflatable baseball.  These are the perfect things to get kids excited, active and spend some of that built up winter energy.

We've had the pleasure of attending twice recently and always make sure we show up during their Preschool Playdate sessions.  These Monday, Thursday, and Friday open play events are only an hour, but offer plenty of time for our little ones to get their bounce on.  It's $8.25 per child, but we opt for the 5/$35 pass which gives you just a little discount.

My kids absolutely love it and we'll definitely be back again before things start warming up.  I love seeing how brave Brayden can be as he troops off to climb the massive slide all on his own.  The sheer joy on his face on the way down is so fantastic.  Julie is just awesome when she's bouncing.  I swear her focus just comes out and she really has a ball.

A few recommendations if you check our BounceU:
- Bring socks, they're required!
- Call ahead.  We recently had a playmate get turned away since they hadn't called ahead to save a spot.
- Thow some water bottles or sippies in your bag.  They will be thirsty after all that activity
- Attempt a 1:1 adult to kid ratio if your littles are little.  We made our first attempt without backup and it was tough to really keep an eye on both kids.

I REALLY regret not bringing my camera to give you some shots of all the fun we've had.  Don't fret though!  I'm sure we'll be back soon and will capture all the bouncing very soon!

Pittsburgh Free for Kids Link-Up

This summer has been so fantastic in finding free or inexpensive activities in Pittsburgh.  We were thrilled to have found Curious Little Kid's "20 Things to Do in Pittsburgh for under $20"  and Macaroni Kids whose resources offer great suggestions for families.

I've seen so many great Pittsburgh posts recently that I thought it would be fantastic to start a Pittsburgh Free for Kids link-up to bring many of them together!

So have you written a post lately about somewhere you've been that was free (or nearly free) that you'd like to share?  Fill out the form below and share with us!

Just a few requests to keep the party fun:

1 - Click the link below, and a new window will open for you to enter your post title and link.  Once completed, come back here to confirm that you're added to our list!

2 - All posts should be about places within a 2 hour drive of the City of Pittsburgh.  All posts should include information about free or inexpensive activities (under $20).

2 - Consider including our Link-Up button (linked below) in your post!  Copy the code under the image and put it into the HTML portion of your post.  Not required, but we'd love to be included!  We'd also love for you to pin or tweet this post to help us help you get more viewers!

3 - Click around and visit some posts to find even more fun things to do with kids in Pittsburgh!

4 - Come back and link again next time you post another great activity!  We'll keep the button in our sidebar so you can find it easily.  

Thanks for visiting, and we can't wait to see all the places you have to share!

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Western Pennsylvania Balloon Quest: Field Trip Friday

Every so often, my mind used to wander to a time when, as a child, we'd been coming back from my Dad's company picnic, and had the pleasure and surprise to see numerous beautiful hot air balloons floating through the sky above us.  We'd stopped and taken the time to enjoy them, and the memory has lingered throughout the years.

Brayden just adores looking at Balloons (especially shiny Mylar ones) and I thought he might think that seeing hot air balloons was pretty cool too. It turned out that I started googling local hot air balloon festivals at just the right time, as our local one was just the next weekend after my search!  The Western Pennsylvania Balloon Quest  is an annual event in New Castle, PA on the fourth weekend in July every year, and is done in partnership with their local fire department. It's very well established, having been operating since 1989.

We arrived right on time to see about fifteen balloons inflate, lift off, and drift over the horizon.  All in all, it was a pretty quick experience but one WELL worth the hour drive up there - we'll definitely visit again!

From our experience here's a few things I'd share:
- Get there early!  There were a billion people and they all have to park.  We were so close to missing the action that next year we'll definitely get there earlier.
- Many people bring lawn chairs and settle in.  There's tons of room to get a good view so there's plenty of room for all.
- Bring your camera!  People were all over the place with DSLRs.  So glad I had my camera with me for some beautiful shots you don't see every day!
- The event happens all weekend with a balloon glow on Thursday night, and launches Friday Night, Saturday morning and evening, and Sunday morning and evening.  Plenty of time for everyone to check it out!

website: http://wpaballoonquest.webs.com/

address
UNION TOWNSHIP VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT

304 SOUTH SCOTLAND LANE

NEW CASTLE, PA 16101

After the balloons drifted out of site, we checked out the carnival happening on site.  There were numerous rides and food vendors, but nothing really "for us" with tiny kids that I am still super cautious with.  We did make our way to the fountain and duck pond right on site and had a great time checking out the ducks and munching on a snack.

We had a fabulous time and will definitely be making this a yearly tradition.  Perfect event for free family fun in the Pittsburgh area!

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We love Early Intervention!

It was at our four month baby well-visit that our pediatrician diagnosed Brayden with torticollis.  "Torti-whaat?" I said to myself as I gave our doctor a blank stare.  The short definition is that Brayden had a head tilt, caused by the tightness of his sternocleidomastoid mucle (the muscle behind his ear that connected to his sternum).  For us, this was likely an issue that started before birth when he got stuck in a "frank breech" position with his feet on his head while still in my belly.  So the doctor prescribed Physical Therapy and sent us on our way.  While we started our journey at the Children's Institute's PT clinic (also awesome), the twice a week appointments were especially difficult with twins. Packing up an infant, and driving half an hour away, to have a half an hour session, while leaving Julie at home, dealing with his massive reflux and my pumping schedule - urgh... the hecticness of it is making my head spinning just thinking about it!

As Brayden's head shape was also an issue, we were referred to a specialist a Children's Hospital who suggested that we get in touch with Early Intervention as a source for home based PT who were awesome in helping with torticollis issues.  As an offshoot - this specialist also recommended a helmet for Brayden's plagioephaly (wonky shaped head asymmetry) which you can read about here.

So began our experience with Early Intervention in Allegheny County.  This incredible program offers physical, occupational, developmental and speech therapies to qualifying children within Allegheny County usually at no cost to the family. For us, the process included meeting with our service coordinator who met with us, explained the program, and had us complete some paperwork.  Because Brayden already had a diagnosis, he automatically qualified for treatment, but children without this would also complete an evaluation of all sorts of elements (physical, social, and cognitive development) and if their scores fall below certain levels, they are accepted for services.

Brayden was matched up with an awesome therapist who came to our home weekly, and was truly fantastic with our son.  She would stretch his neck, find his tickle spots, do massage, and play games with him.  It was so fun that he rarely complained!  Best of all, no long hauls to the outpatient PT office and expensive co-pays.

As Julie became more mobile, we realized that her crawl was a little "wonky" as well, and she wasn't rolling over normally.  Brayden's PT checked her over and concluded that her tummy muscles were not as strong as we'd hope, and so Julie too was evaluated and qualified for services.

As the babies have grown, their needs have changed.  Now VERY active toddlers, their need for physical therapy has passed and they are strong, flexible and very physically normal.  But we have had some concerns about their speech delays.  At 18 months, they each say only a small handful of words each (5-7).  Although I narrate our every move, Brayden only says Dada, Mama, Nana, uh-oh and yum and Julie's vocabulary consists of the same, plus "hi" and "no" (a recent addition).  Neither use these words to request food, nor can I get them to say "up" or "more" despite my efforts.

So yet again, we are thankful for Allegheny County's awesome Early Intervention program coming to the rescue.  Both babies are working with a developmental therapist who weekly works with them to encourage speech through engaging play and mimicking.

Unfortunately, twin families often find themselves with similar concerns as those we've had.  Smaller spaces as well as more time sitting is a frequent occurrence for twins and multiples.  Twins are also more frequently effected by speech delays although the true reasons for this aren't well established.

If you're a Pittsburgh family looking for resources, the Alliance for Infants and Toddlers is definitely the place to call for support.  Even if you do not have a doctor's recommendation, a parent's concern is enough for them to do an evaluation.  While I'd never encourage mom's to panic, and there is a huge range of "normal" my personal belief has been "if they qualify, they need the services.  If they don't qualify - even better as they'll be fine."  I personally don't feel like there's ever a down side to having a concern evaluated for the simple peace of mind.  If you're out of the Pittsburgh area, I have tried to find a directory for you but don't see one out there unfortunately.  My best advice would be to google "early intervention" and your county as these typically run through the Education Intermediate Units.

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Round Hill Farm: Field Trip Friday

I'm excited to introduce Field Trip Friday - a time to share our experiences at all the places we've visited as a family!

My mind reminisces every so often of childhood memories at Round Hill Park.  With a bag of stale bread in hand, I'd hop out of the car and head straight for the lake where I'd lob hunks of crust at the ducks circling in the water. My grandparents took me most often, and as a former farm boy, my Pap was always glad to see my excitement at the animals there.

Now visiting with my own little ones, I was so excited to feel the familiarity of this special place and thrilled to see some of the new updates to make the park even more fun for kids!

We made our way to Roundhill park last Friday on a gorgeous day with a few moms and kids from our playdate group.  Special thanks to Sara from curouslittlekid,com and her "20 Things to do in Pittsburgh for under $20" post for the recommendation!

We started out at the duck pond where I excitedly got out my bag of semi-fresh "stale" bread thinking that my babes would do just as I had once done and feed the ducks.  This was a bit of a "fail" (as Dan would say) as I watched Brayden, then Juile, stuff their mouths full of their bread without second thought to the ducks.  They did enjoy watching me feed the ducks though and Brayden has even begun giving us an adapted duck "quack" (more of a grunt really.)

After the pond, we visited the farm portion of the park where animals of sizes could be found!  When you first pull in, this is to the right of the entry.  A nice stroll through the buildings allowed us to see chickens, turkeys, sheep and pigs the later my kids just adored.

Although I haven't written much about my passion for photography quite yet (don't worry - it's on its way), I am learning to have an eye for great locations and Round Hill Park is definitely on the top of my list for a great Pittburgh photo session location!  It has stone retaining walls, beautiful white farm fences and even great mildly sloping topography to provide some great backdrops.  Fingers crossed we can make it there this fall to get a little session in with the kids!

After visiting the animals, we got back in the car and headed towards the spray park.  This area is to the left of the main parking lot in front of the entry road.  For us, this was definitely a car ride but you could probably walk it if you were ambitious!

The spray park is provided free from Allegheny County and features numerous water features - fountains, sprays, and a barn that periodically dumps water on those standing beneath it.

The kids had an absolute blast running through the spray and trying to touch all of the streams of water.  Even though there were a few groups there when we attended, I felt like there was plenty of room for all of us.  I'll let the pictures speak for themselves on the fun that Brayden and Julie had there!  

Just a few notes for anyone visiting in the future:

• There were a few park benches around the spray park area, but we took extra towels and a packed lunch which worked out well.  There is also a pavilion and some playground equipment nearby if you are looking for something more substantial.
• Unlike the city Spray Parks (I believe), Round Hill Spray Park does have chlorinated water.  I personally am thrilled about this as I feel like this could be kinda germy if the water wasn't properly cleaned.  Keep in mind I'm relying fully on my nose for this information so your mileage may vary.
• Finally, there are a few port-a-potties and at least one large portable stall designated for changing.  No indoor facilities are there, but this works pretty well. 

So our official review of Round Hill Park?  We loved it and can't wait to go back. :-)

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Special thanks to Katie of Katie Fair Photography for sharing some of her pictures with us for this post!

Blogger Inspiration

As you may have noticed, I've been writing a lot more lately!  I was so lucky to have been invited to an incredible "Lunch and Learn" event last week and it reignited my passion!  Hosted by Heather of Diary of a First Time Mom and The Motherhood, it felt so fabulous to escape from "the toddler zone" and have a grown up afternoon.

I was so incredibly impressed with the bloggers who were brought together for this afternoon of learning and fun,  We enjoyed a lovely lunch, and met together to share our writing experiences.  I was so humbled to realize that many of these women have been blogging for years, have made true life changing impacts on their readers, have made incredible partnerships, and many write every.single.day.

And while I felt like the blogging baby in the room, I remind myself that "a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."  I hope you'll follow along as I begin my steps - day by day to bring My Tales with Two to a level that will bring you coming back for more!  I can't guarantee daily posts quite yet, but I can promise things will be much more regular around here!

Check out Heather's post at Diary of a First Time Mom to find out more about all of the amazing Pittsburgh Bloggers that were brought together, and see pictures from the event!

What topics would you like to see My Tales with Two cover?  Do you have a motherhood or twin challenge your curious how we managed?  I'd love to hear your ideas!


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