Pittsburgh Day 2 - Part 2

After the Dirty O, on to the Pittsburgh Children's Museum. Again, I find myself discouraged and frustrated by the lack of execution displayed by our own Children's Museum back in Cincinnati. Just so many more "wow, that's cool" type things going on here and so many more "never seen that before" activities...just very impressed. Some pics and maybe some videos again:

The girls got to make paper - cool!


The Limb-Bender


Mari LOVED this PVC-pipe area - you can see how involved she got.




Isn't it nice that they give them those raincoats? They got drenched anyway.

Pittsburgh Day 2

Had a relaxed morning swimming at the hotel pool, then got lunch at the Dirty O, another nostalgic locale for my dad. A few pics:

For those who don't understand how this place works - this is a SMALL order of fries. No joke.


Mari is happy.


Dad and my meal:


Dad is happy too.


We did, however, finish off the fries.


And maybe a video from the O here: (hope this works).......

More in a moment...

Summer trip number 2

Greetings from Pittsburgh!

Steph is back home with the twins, I am here in Pittsburgh with Faith, Mari, and my dad. Long story, this was the best way to do things. We all miss each other but are also enjoying the reduction in workload.

So, today, another early rise, on the road by 6:10 - so that we could make it for a full day at Kennywood Park. For those who don't know, Kennywood is Pittsburgh's amusement park. Now, I've sort of fallen in love with the charm and friendliness found at some of the smaller-scale amusement parks we've found throughout the country. Centerville on Toronto Island, Lake Winnepesaukah in Chattanooga, Wonderland in Amarillo, our own Coney Island in Cincinnati...which by the way, is way way underperforming its potential. But I can talk about that another day. My point is this - Kennywood is really too big to be considered one of those 'smaller' amusmement parks...but it FEELS like one. And it's just really an amazing place. Coaster afficianadoes know all about Kennywood's unique coasters that nearly all 1) use the natural mountainside setting for dramatic and hidden drops (often right out of the station), and 2) do not place the biggest hill first... But what amazes me about this place is the number of historic and 'last left of its kind' rides which are housed here. The Kangaroo, the Turtles, the Auto Race, all are accompanied by historical notes explaning the significance of the rides. This is a cool place. And the kids' area has more stuff dedicated to the smallest riders than King's Island, and in a much more compact setting. We all had a great time. And when the video comes out (in 2012 at the current rate of progress) a big thank you will go to Uncle Barry for doing so much videography. Nice to have an expert assistant.

Now. Point needs to be made about something here. Explanation given. This is Rumpelstiltskin:



He came from a McDonald's happy meal and has become a bit of a cult figure in our household. He joined us on our trip to Hilton Head and is with us now in Pittsburgh. Sort of decided that he would become our own "roaming gnome" and we'd snap photos of him wherever we went. So. Here he is at Kennywood, and then at Mineo's, my dad's childhood pizza haunt:




Oh, and a couple pics of the girls too. Most of what we got today was video, but there are a few good pics:

Back Home

Sorry everyone that the updates ceased so quickly - internet became frustratingly unreliable. Tried several times to do some things, finally just gave up.

We're back home now...return trip was no fairy tale. Stops for puke and whatnot. Over 12 hours in transit when all said and done. Tomorrow will be rough for everyone, patience and behavior-wise. We're ready.

Was a wonderful wonderful trip. I used to get sad like I was leaving a friend when I left here, but this year it felt very much 'easy come easy go'. Not sure why. Probably partially the fact that a beach vacation with our family is actually a LOT of work and not all that relaxing. Fun, to be sure, but not like the golden days of lying by the pool using the music on my headphones to time when to flip over so as not to burn. Partially the fact that there are two more trips this summer still to go - one little one and one longer one. Partially the fact that summer is still very much ahead of us. Lots of reasons.

I think that I personally really turned a corner as far as the work involved. I used to be really really annoyed by all the lotioning, changing, dressing and undressing, and this year I barely noticed it. We've finally found our beach groove with 4 kids. And hopefully...even easier next year.

A good time really was had by all. I'm tired now from a long drive - I will try to post some GREAT pics and a video clip or two tomorrow. Thanks all for checking in - enjoy the summer!

Matt

Beach Update

Another good day yesterday!

Took the kids down to the beach in the morning - Robby was having a tough time, he might be getting sick again. Had no patience for anything. But...with the wind and the waves even his screaming gets drowned out about 20 feet away so we didn't mind. Robby and Hannah definitely like playing in the sand more than being in the ocean. That's good because it lets us split up...and even leave them alone for a moment or two if necessary. They're so good. The first thing I do is dig a big hole and that's where they sit and are happy to sit for hours on end. Meanwhile, Faith is completely trustworthy to go sit out in the shallower water and chill. Mari just keeps moving back and forth and that's good for her.

At one point yesterday I even was able to comfortably watch all 4 kids while Steph went to go do another activity at the pool. No problem.

Now, at the pool is another story. Robby and Hannah are comPLETEly unpredictable. One day they're both happy, the next day they're both freaked out - and it can change randomly at any moment. They need constant attention and we don't always have the help available because the girle aren't completely independent in the pool either. So we don't go unless everyone's there.

All that said it's still being a good time. I've gotten to the point where I hardly notice the mess of work necessary to get them out the door. You just do it.

In other news, Steph and I DID get our hoped-for anniversary dinner last night, just like last year, at Charlie's Etoile Verte. I can't tell you how good this meal was. Literally, the second-best meal of my life. It has moved ahead of my meal at Emeril's in Orlando. It was religious. Now, part of this might be that we've been trying so hard to cut costs at home that we've been eating what the kids eat half the time...but no, the food was that good too.


For our appetizer we had a 'salad' of avocado, lump crab, tomatoes and remoulade sauce. Oh, the flavor explosion! The first bite I tasted as far down my body as my shoulder blades. Steph said she felt it in her knees. I can still taste it. For an entree, I had blackened Mahi and Steph had wild sockeye salmon with basil pesto. I am telling you, every bite I took, it spread a warm happy feeling in my mouth and then I could feel it travel down to my soul and spread throughout the universe. Every bite was a prayer. The fish was a gift from God. Every bite, I would swallow...and wait...and then sigh a contented sigh as peace flooded through all. It was amazing. And then, if the fish brought peace, the strawberry cobbler brought joy. I took one bite and literally dropped my fork. Strawberries don't taste like this unless they've been touched by the hand of God. I mean, layer upon layer of flavor unfolding in your mouth like a taste kaleidoscope...all in a microsecond.

If you're ever here on Hilton Head, and you have a lot of money to throw around, make a reservation at Charlie's Etoile Verte.

I had planned to bring the camera and take pics from Charlie's but forgot. Sorry. Just have to use your imagination.

Anyway, gotta go. Keep checking in - more pics will be taken today.

Matt

Day 1 at the Beach

Good day today!

Hannah and Robby are very happy to play in the sand. Robby is still kind of difficult at the pool - randomly gets freaked out and then suddenly he's fine. Anyway, Faith and Mari had a good day too and we spent a LOT of time outside today. No complaints. Not much else to say, either. Just enjoying the time we have. Some pics:

Hannah and Mari plotting trouble:


Robby and Hannah (and if you look close, you can see Faith and Mari...and a wave hitting Steph in the background)


Surf's up...sort of:


There aren't enough pics of Steph on this blog:


We actually saw a lot of sealife today, which is unusual:

a quick clip - Cincy to HHI

This is a short clip of Hannah when we went through a tunnel in North Carolina:

PICS - Cincy to HHI

A few pics from the day - main post below.

Mari getting ready for our picnic:


Faith hanging out:


Hannah getting ready to slide:


Robby being grumpy:

Waiting for the other boot to fall...

Okay, that was freaky.

We spent all day yesterday getting ready for our insanely early departure. I got up at 3am, already with a headache from lack of sleep. At 4am we woke the kids up, piled them into the car, and took off, armed and ready for a 12-hour journey.

This is called tempting fate. The potential disasters were beyond our ability to count.

Are you ready for this?

Everything went remarkably well.

Now. No one went back to sleep like we had hoped. Hannah and Robby were kind of difficult and whiny. But that was it.

We managed to drive straight to the I-75 Tennessee welcome center where we stopped for an in-car breakfast - pancakes and waffles we had nuked and toasted up before we left home. No incidents. We then managed to drive past Knoxville, stopped for gas, still no incidents. Drove to Flectcher Community Park in Fletcher, NC, which I had scouted out for a good place to stop for a picnic and a chance to let the kids run around. Turned out to be a very nice park. Nice playground equipment - fairly new, pretty clean, mulch and not dirt. Kids had a good time. AND, for as long as we were there, the sun stayed behind the clouds and we had a good breeze. Park had a nice covered picnic pavilion and the kids ate their meal happily. Spent over an hour there. And then, managed to make the entire rest of the journey, about 4 and a half hours, without a stop.

And are you ready for this? The whole trip, without using the in-car DVD player AT ALL. Not a single movie. Nothing. The whole time just music and self-entertainment.

YES! WE ROCK!

But things don't go that well without a corresponding disaster lurking around the corner. Stay tuned. The s**t is going to hit the fan for sure.

We'll post some pics here ASAP - check back often.

Matt

VBS

VBS is done. The last hurdle between us and the beach is past.

Excepting of course the insane day of packing tomorrow. Especially since the seat belt in the middle row of the Chevy somehow got wrapped around the recline handle and is completely jammed and stuck. If the dealer can't fix it, that annoying little problem is going to really mess up our travel plans. Ugh.

Back to VBS. Last year the president of Augsburg Fortress left a comment on the blog after some random comments I made about the quality of the VBS songs. In case she stops by again, here is my opinion on the Baobab Blast:

Thanks for the guitar-friendly keys. That helped a lot - and I really got better and better at my B-minor this year. The only issue then became that a few of the songs were written a little low for the voice ranges of kids. But mostly, not bad at all. Overall, there were not as many duds as I thought there were last year. That said, none of the songs really jumped out at me as WOW! Very much straight down the middle. I would say this: The theme song last year was quite complicated in spots - and that's okay - we have a whole week to learn it - it's GOOD to have that song be a little bit more involved and require some more work. At first I was annoyed by how difficult "Discovery Canyon" was to put together, but it was worth the work. This year's theme song was, on the other extreme, too easy. We had it learned the first day and had nowhere to go with it. Make the big theme song the toughest, most musical thing. I heard from somewhere that a lot of other people were whining that the music wasn't authentic African. Whatever. I like the effort to provide a mix of styles. Keep up the good work, Augsburg Fortress. Not bad at all.

Anyway, back to our lives. Tomorrow is the insane day of packing for a week at the beach with 4 kids 6 and under. The real insanity starts Sunday at...around 3am when we all get up to pull an all-day drive to HHI. No hotel this year, no stops inbetween. A straight shot all the way down there. Hopefully they sleep the first couple hours, then breakfast in the car. Gonna stop at a random park in Fletcher, NC for an extended picnic lunch, hope it's not raining and not ungodly hot, let the kids run around, then finish the deal. God help us we must be out of our MINDS!

Check back Monday morning to hear how the adventure went. After that, check back for beach pics!

Hope everyone's summer is going well. God bless!

Matt