Vacation back to Ohio and the Burgh!

Well we decided to take some time to visit some people up in Ohio and Pittsburgh without any reason (wedding, baby, shower, holiday...) and just be able to set our own schedule and enjoy it.

We started off flying into Columbus, OH to visit Steph's Grandparent's and Dad. We started off going by her Grandparent's house and spending the night there. That was a lot of fun as we got to eat some good food and Jaden and Brynna got to spend some time with their Great Grandparents. Great Grandpa Brown even took Jaden out to his workshop and made him something! Jaden was so excited to show us the piece of wood that Great Grandpa Brown cut in half for him! We brought it home in his suitcase of course. Both kids tried their hardest to get in to trouble by touching every breakable thing they could find. We had to move many things out of their way. One special treat they got was an ice cream cone made special by Grandpa. After that we drove over to Steph's Dad's house. Of course, with every trip we make we always forget pictures somewhere and we didn't take any with Great Grandma and Grandpa!! :(

We played out in his big back yard most of the time. Jaden got to ride around on a motorized tractor. We could not get him off of it, he rode it until the batteries died and then would ask Grandpa to charge the batteries on "his tractor." The tractor was a little tough to maneuver at first so it's a good thing Grandpa was so forgiving because Jaden crashed right into his truck! I think we have to get him one for the new house...thanks Grandpa! Brynna ran around the backyard having so much fun. She chased Jaden around a little on the tractor (and had to take a ride too). She especially loved the swing and slide and would scream weeeeee! when she went down the slide. Any time she wanted so swing she would run over to the big tree and yell "wing wing." A highlight at Grandpa's was the apple tree in the backyard! Jaden got to pick a few apples and Grandpa sliced them up for both kids to eat. Of course, Brynna chewed up her bites and then we found random pieces of apple all over the kitchen. Grandpa also had a suprise for Jaden. He made him a little John Deere barn and had a couple of little tractors to go with it! Jaden loves to play with that barn. Now, so does Brynna. It caused a bit of a fight tonight and we might have to ask Grandpa to make a purple and pink barn for Brynna. The two days in Ohio were a lot of fun as we had no schedules and just got to spend some quality time with family.

After those two days we headed to my hometown, Pittsburgh! Jaden was extremely excited, he would keep asking when are we going to "Pixburghs," will they have "Burgher music there," and can we see "Polomalu." The kids slept for most of the 3 hour drive. We were staying with one of my best friends Fred, but made a detour on the way to pick up our favorite pizza, Ferreri's.

So we got to Fred's house with Pizza in hand and about 20 minutes in Jaden broke a glass elephant statue...not the start we were looking for. It was a little stressful with that, the kids were also couped up in the car and wanted to run, but Fred has 3 big dogs (Daisy, Deegan and Bearen) so it took some getting use to. By the end of the three days the dogs and kids were getting along well. Jaden would tell us he loved Daisy, but he didn't like Deegan because he licks.

The next day we headed to Peterswoods Park to the playground for a few hours to let them run and then went to my favorite wing place (you will see food was a big motivator in the time spent in Pittsburgh), Burgh's Pizza and Wings. After gorging ourselves we went to Sarris (Ice Cream Parlor and Chocolate Maker) to get huge sundaes. Jaden said this was like Willy Wonka, and he ended up getting a stuffed animal alligator as well. (Sarris always has tons of stuffed animals for purchase, and of course he picks the alligator when we are in Pittsburgh).

The next day was the big day in the city. We headed downtown bright and early and got to see Heinz Field, the Igloo and the new Hockey Arena being built. We then headed to ride the Incline. Jaden, Brynna and Steph (she had never been on) loved it. We went up to Mount Washington, got some photos and headed back down. We then headed to the Point. I don't remember it being so long of a walk out to the Point, but we got there and took in the sights of the city and got some more pictures.

We then had to walk over to PNC Park. We parked right outside of the Roberto Clemente Brigde and walked over. The Sunday games have a great family atmosphere with Bounce Houses and balloon animals and all sorts of things. We could not enjoy this however, as Jaden had to pee and Brynna was hungry. We went into the game, got some food and found our seats. It took all of 1 inning before Brynna started to melt down and we had to leave after the 2nd inning. It was a good try, we just tried to cram too much into that morning. We took them back to Fred's for a nap and then went to dinner and back to Sarris for ice cream...we can't get enough of that place.

The day we had to leave back to Tampa, we got to go by my old neighborhood and visit some family friend's, the Connelley's and Rhen's. It was great to see them and show the kids the street I grew up on...boy has everything changed in the past 7 to 10 years!

So we headed to the airport hoping for an easy flight home, and it was for the most part outside of the 1 hour delay and the schizophrenic sitting in the isle next to us, but that is for another time.

We are still exhausted from the trip, but it was a lot of fun visiting everyone in Ohio and Pittsburgh!