My sister Katy lives in Pittsburgh, and it really is a fun city with lots to do, so we planned a trip to spend the weekend with her before her trip to China, which she is on right now! We had it planned for a few months, which is necessary with busy summer calendars! So I woke up Friday morning, planning on putting in a day of work (babysitting). The plan was to take Nate to work in the morning, then just pick him up at four and head straight for PA! Well, because of this....
Our plans got changed! I woke up, and we've been having this problem more frequently than we'd like, so I checked the basement right away after an entire night of rain. I went downstairs and it was bone dry! Yeah! Maybe the problem isn't as bad as we'd thought! So I jumped in the shower. As I was finishing up, I could hear the rain pounding on the house, so I thought I should go check again, and this is some of what I found.
So I spent the morning running the shop vac and trying to figure out what in the world was going on. It had rained for 2 weeks straight and no water, then the downpour and this happens. If anyone has any ideas, I'd love to hear them... we got an outrageous estimate to check it out, only to be told "of course, we may not fix the problem at all, this is just a guess!" UGH!
So, Nate came home at lunch and we ran him back to work, then at 4 the kids and I picked him up and we hit the road. We arrived in Pittsburgh around 6:45, with game time being 7:05. We did not make it to the stadium in time for the 1st pitch, but we were inside by the end of the 1st inning. Not too bad! We had a great time, and great seats! God provided! We also got free hats!
While at the game, we saw Gene Simmons heading up the aisle right next to us. Of course Nate was out of his mind with excitement. He got a wave from Gene and was thrilled! I know this photo is blurry, but sadly it's all we've got!
After the game, Katy drove us back to our hotel so we could get a good nights rest for our fun filled day the following morning. At 10AM, we headed out the door and decided to walk around town to our destinations. Here is a shot of PNC Park as we walked to the Children's Museum
A shot of the Ft. Duquene Bridge, over the Allegheny River, we would cross later in the day, with Heinz field off to the right.
Crossing the Clemente bridge to the Children's Museum.
A shot of the kids and I in front of PNC Park with Roberto Clemente
After a nice walk (a little longer than it should have been but that was my fault :)) We ended up at the Children's Museum and met up with my dad, who drove in that morning to enjoy a day with us, and my sister Katy. We hit the Art Studio first. After our last trip, where we did that last and had to try and get wet paintings home, we learned to do that first, so they could dry while we visited the rest of the museum.
Nate enjoyed Mr. Rogers Neighborhood. I made him try on the sweater! So cute!
Here is Taylor in the gravity room in The Attic. It doesn't look like much, but MAN does it play with your head! I just about tumbled, and felt sick to my stomach. I had to get out of there. Of course Taylor is saying "What's the big Deal, Mom?"
This was cute, Toby was cranking on this transmission or whatever car part it is and he turned to me and said "Am I getting Stronger Mom?"
Here we are on the front Porch of Mr. Roger's Neighborhood.
And in the Water part. My dad just observed from a distance, most of the time...
Then we went to the Carnegie Science Center. We all hopped in my dad's truck for the short drive over so we wouldn't waste much time. The kids wanted to jump right away! Get some energy out, it's a good thing!
Toby was absolutely fascinated with the robot exhibit!
They had an amazing miniature train display!
Toby was starting to get tired at this point, but he was playing with magnets and building things!
After the science center, we chose to walk back to out hotel and enjoy the Rivers. Here is a shot that shows our hotel, the Hilton to the right of the bridge. It was very nice with a wonderful view. Great deal on Priceline!
Here is a shot of Heinz field from on the bridge above.
And this closed out our trip! We were walking back, under the above bridge to get back to our hotel and we saw this. Now, usually when you see graffiti, you are telling the kids to turn their heads, but this was proof to us that God was enjoying our trip right along with us, just a reminder of his Ever Presence! Joshua 24:15, it's hard to see in this photo, but it was a beautiful reminder!
God is Good!
Taylor catching some waves on her wave board!
Taylor had a lot of fun in the private pool, especially with her cousin Lincoln!
A shot of Taylor off our 3rd floor balcony.
This was our first morning. Nate and I got up each morning for some quiet time on the beach, and to enjoy the sunrise!
(Ok... no comments about this one... I said it was EARLY! )
This is a view of our house from the sand dune. We had a pretty short walk, but some days it was a Very Hot Walk!
Here is our house for the week. Toby called it the "Big House" :)
Drew having fun in the pool!
And Taylor and daddy playing catch!
It's a little hard to see, but the second morning, we had the honor of getting a show from the dolphins. I couldn't get a good shot, but you can can see about 2/3rds up on the right is one!
We celebrate Matt's birthday, Grandma Debbie's birthday and Mer and Michael's anniversary while we were there. We got grandma an ice cream cake! She was surprised!
Some of the guys hanging out in the game room!
We also had family photos taken on the beach. I may have more of these to share when we get the files from the photographer, but these are ones taken with our camera.
Grandma and Grandpa with all 10 grandkids.
Some shots of my babies!
Toby played in this sand hole the entire final day at the beach. I love this shot, he clearly wasn't expecting the "cool" water! I'm sure it was refreshing though!
This is what Drew thinks of vacation!
Drew and daddy riding the waves!
Toby got a Wonka bar!! He was REALLY hoping for a golden ticket...
On our trip home, we stopped off in Lexington, Virginia so Nate could get his Civil War fix. We visited Stonewall Jackson's House.
And Lee Chapel
This is a great photo Nate took of the Jackson memorial. He doesn't have the camera in his hands often, but I thought this was a GREAT shot!
All in all, a wonderful time, and much needed R&R for the Mills Family!
