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| On our way to da 'Burgh! |
Josh's business took him to Argentina in April, right around the time of the boys' spring break. Van, Wes and I thought it'd be a great time to fly back to Pennsylvania to visit Nana, PopPop and try to do some fishin'.
We arrived in Pittsburgh and were met by big hugs from Nana & PopPop. They'd reserved a couple hotel rooms for us near the Carnegie Museum, which we'd visit the following morning - score! The boys and Nana enjoyed a dip in the hotel pool and we had a yummy Italian dinner in Bloomfield (a neighborhood in Pgh I'd never been to!).
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| Li'l pool time with Nana. |
The next morning we headed to the Carnegie Museum of Natural History! I hadn't been in ages, and it was the boys' first time - so exciting! We started off going thru the Bird dioramas (which I was a little surprised the boys really liked) and to a special Butterfly exhibit... that was a little lame, to be honest. But the butterflies made our move up to the Dinosaur rooms that much more exciting! It was so much bigger than Denver's dinosaur exhibits - I think they were a little overwhelmed. We stopped for a snack after that. After a little rejuvination we made our way through one of Josh's favorite exhibits when he was young, the Hall of Minerals & Gems. Van was pretty siked for this as he's been studying rocks and minerals in his class, and has a small collection of geodes at home.
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| Carnegie Museum of Natural History |
We'd made our way through lots of science & history then migrated up a level to the Van Gough exhibit. I thought Van and Wes would be wiped out after so much stimulation, but they rallied for a few good paintings. Wes thought the Monet pieces were pretty cool, but Van found Place des Lices, St Tropez by Seurat and was fascinated. The Van Gogh pieces they had were lovely, but these guys found their favorites in the room.
On our way north that evening we stopped in Cranberry Twp to have a late lunch at Hines Ward's new restaurant, Table 86. Hines wasn't around, but Grandpa Gary and Wendy joined us! We were so happy they could come out to see us. The boys love seeing them and telling them all the news that is new (usually involving video games and lego creations).
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| Visiting with Grampa Gary & Wendy |
First thing they wanted to do upon getting back to Titusville was... get in the hot tub! I think they were in there at least once a day during our visit.
PopPop had fishing poles waiting for each of the kiddos. Nana had a great idea to help them learn how to cast - large bowls in the yard and weighted, plastic fish on the line. Get the fish in the bowl! They loved it, and did quite well at it! Next step... a hook, a worm and some actual water!
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| Fishing at Two Mile Run |
We packed up and drove out to Two Mile Run to do some shore fishing. It was colder than we'd thought (given how sunny it was). The fish knew it was cold though! They stayed too deep for us to snag even a nibble from them. The boys were a little bummed but still had a fantastic time! We'd try throwing a line or two out again throughout the week, but it was just too chilly.
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| Easter eggs! |
In the mean time we kept busy at home - we hiked with PopPop, dyed Easter eggs, Van worked his way through a box of Bertie Bots Every Flavor Beans (which was hilarious as most of the flavors are rather gross), made cookies with Nana and Gramma Jack, played with Nana's
real magic wand, and watched Harry Potter movies snuggled on the couch.
We did get to see some of the Irwin clan while we were there, too! Pat & Sue had us up to visit and Raegin & Lyrik came down, and Sarah and Kate came by, as well as Rita! I was just in heaven sitting around a big table talking with my family.
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| Hiking with PopPop |
It was a really great week. Low key, which was good because Mom was pretty sick and miserable for the majority of it! Wes caught the bug about half way through - terrible cough, fever and just tired and feelin' awful. We're always so sad to leave, but look forward to heading back to Colorado as well. And we're SO so appreciative to Nana & PopPop for all they do for us while we were there! Can't wait to visit again.
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| Hot tubbin |
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| cookies with Gramma Jack & Nana |
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| Harry Potter time!! |
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