Pittsburgh Weekend!

A few weekends ago I was able to spend the weekend with my oldest son, Zach, and his sweet family!

Unfortunately, my husband was out of town and unable to get away, so I headed off for an adventure with this fun group!

I arrived in Bloomington around 7:00 a.m. Friday morning and we all loaded up in their van and began our trip to Pittsburgh!  That would be 3 adults and 4 children in the van!

Graham and Emmett were in booster seats in the back seat, so I squeezed in between them and fit just perfectly!

Joel and Miss Caroline were in the middle rows and mommy and daddy were in the front seats!

We hadn’t driven too far when Graham and Emmett requested a movie! 

We started off with Space Jam, which I hadn’t seen since my children were younger!

It was fun watching Michael Jordan and the Looney Tune characters with my grandsons!  I brought back fond memories of when my children were young!

Our first stop was at Royal Donut!

While Rachel nursed Miss Caroline, I headed in with Zach and the boys to pick out donuts!

They carefully looked at every donut before making their selection!

We were tasting those sweet morsels as Rachel and Caroline walked in!

Rachel selected her donut while Miss Caroline eyed the tasty treat!  She also got a little bite of the donut too!

After breakfast, we continued our trip!

We stopped at McDonald’s for lunch and let the boys run and stretch their legs for a little bit after lunch!

Our next step was at Rogue Fitness in Ohio! 

Rachel surprised Zach by ordering him a weight bar!  I could tell he was pleased with this special gift from her!

However, I have to smile as I picture us trying to get that long bar in the van!

Zach finally slid it under the back seat…up through the middle of the van…extending the bar between the two front seats!

This little bar became my foot rest for the remainder of the trip!

And of course, we had to stop for dinner at Cracker Barrel before we arrived in Pittsburgh!

I promise you…we did more than just eat on this trip!

I loved hearing the boys express their delight as we drove into Pittsburgh!

Expressions included…

” This is the best place ever!”

” I love Pittsburgh”

” Thank your mommy and daddy for bringing us here”!

Their expressions of joy and delight blessed my heart!

We found our hotel and unloaded the van!  So thankful for the carts that carried all of our luggage!

The boys quickly dunned their swimming trunks, and we all headed to the pool!  It was a tiny pool, but the boys didn’t care…they were having a blast with daddy!

Quick showers after the pool and the boys were soon asleep in their beds!

The next morning, we had breakfast at the hotel and then headed to the zoo!

We spend most of the day there…looking at every animal…having lunch…playing on the playground and just enjoying the day together!

The boys were hot and tired as we headed to the car and everyone but Graham fell asleep!

We drove around for a while so they could all rest!

We grabbed dinner and then headed to the Duck Boats!

These are amazing!  You tour the city on land and then this same vehicle/boat slides into the river to continue the tour!

Graham, Emmett and Joel all had a turn driving the boats!  Their smiles say it all!

Of course, every vacation includes a stop for ice cream!

We found a yogurt place that night and filled our tummies with this cool treat!

It had been a full day!

The next morning, we headed to the Children’s museum!

The kids had fun as they went from one activity to the next!  I loved watching their faces as they tried something new in each area!

And of course, if you know our little Joel…you won’t be surprised that he took a tumble!!  I sometimes think we need to bubble wrap him!

Though I was sad that Joel had fallen, I wish I had grabbed a shot of Zach dashing to get to him!

Joel had fallen at the top of slide! 

However, to get to the slide, you had to walk through a tilted room!  But you didn’t know the room was tilted until you started to walk through it!

I was already on my way to the top of the slide when I heard Joel crying.

I had no idea that I had to walk through a tilted room to get to Joel!

Neither did Zach!

I was making my way through the room when Zach came bounding around the corner!

He didn’t know about the titled room and slammed into the wall!

Which was priceless!

I think in his eagerness to get to Joel quickly, he forgot about the tilted room…because when he came back around the corner with Joel…he slammed into the wall again!

Which made me laugh…and made it even harder to quickly exit the room!

Once we knew Joel was ok, I shared with Rachel and we both couldn’t stop laughing…picturing Zach coming to the rescue and slamming into the wall not just once…but twice!

I love the we can laugh together!

After the museum, we headed to an old fashioned ice cream parlor that I had found online!

Zach and Rachel pulled it up and found directions to it!

It was adorable and we all splurged on our favorite treats!

We rested a little before dinner, and our plan was to swim again that night!

Everyone headed down to the pool a little before me that evening! 

I had just gotten to the elevator, when doors opened and our little group was coming back! 

Graham and Emmett couldn’t wait to tell me that there was poop (yuck) in the pool!  No more swimming that weekend!

Our final day was spent watching the Chicago Cubs beat Pittsburgh!

I was so excited to see Rizzo hit a home run his first bat!  He’s one of my favorite players!

We munched on hotdogs, pretzel bites, popcorn and freeze pops throughout the game! 

And we probably drank a little more soda than we normally do!  I know…we are a wild and crazy bunch!

We piled in the van and all of the little ones fell asleep except Graham!

We stopped for a quick bite and arrived back in Bloomington around midnight!

The little ones were tired as we carried them in and got them in the shower! 

They were a sweaty mess and truly needed a shower before heading to bed!

I left this little group around this time and arrived home at 1:00 a.m.

As I was unpacking that night, I just praised God for family…fun…and the love that we share for one another!

It was a wonderful weekend, and I was so thankful to get to join this family that I love so much!

“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful”…Colossians 3:15

And I am….so very thankful!