Pittsburgh Trip

Once I knew we were doing a family reunion in Virginia Beach, there was no question that I would take the kids up to Pittsburgh after for a visit. If I am already on the east coast it only makes sense to add a trip home since flying with my kiddos is not the cheapest thing. It's hard that John usually can't come with us, but I love getting to spend time with my family and seeing my kids with their cousins. This trip had a little twist when my sister Meghan had to stay in Virginia with her newborn Timothy who was having some breathing problems and we brought her 20 month old Lucy back to Pittsburgh with us. Both my parents work so my sister Katie and I were on babysitting duty. Katie was there with her 5 month old Noah and no husband as well. We were more then happy to do it for Meghan, but it definitely made for some crazy days. We were out numbered for sure and had to call on my nieces a lot to come help keep the kids from burning down the house. 

EZ was very anxious for Timmy to come home. He really wanted to be able to see that little baby and I am hoping he is still that excited when our new one arrives. When we got the call the Meghan was officially on her way home we decided to make a welcome home sign. EZ was very very excited about this. Here he is with the sign. He was on an Olympics kick this week and you can't really see it, but the poster is signed "From U.S.A."

Once Timothy was here EZ had to make sure and get to hold him. I love how he is being so careful with his little head. 

A Pittsburgh trip would not be complete without a day at Kennywood. Luckily for me we found out about an unadvertised cheaper pregnancy rate since I really couldn't ride much. The kids were all in heaven. King and Netta are both as fearless as ever and EZ actually only hesitated once before getting on a ride. Here are the kids on the motorcycles in Kiddieland. 

 All of the kids loved the Whip and rode it multiple times. It was a favorite last year as well and it always makes for the best pictures. You can click to enlarge the pictures and see their awesome expressions. 

 The one ride EZ kind of hesitated on was one that took you up in the air and kind of dropped you and you bounced up and down. King and Netta ran straight on with Grandpa. 

 Of course after they went and EZ saw that they survived, he wanted in on the action. He is so funny, because he was afraid to ride this ride, but then insisted on riding the Jack Rabbit, which is a full blown rollercoaster. He actually rode in a car all by himself and my dad rode behind him next to Netta. For once in my life I was actually willing to pay the ridiculous amount they wanted for a picture of EZ on the rollercoaster, but then his never came up on the screen. Go figure.

 I figured I was safe riding a ride or 2 in Kiddieland, but after just 2 rides I had a pounding headache and I felt like I was going to throw up. I was kind of in shock. I didn't realize how much pregnancy would mess with me. 

The rest of the trip was spent making sure we ate at all the places we wanted to like Eat'n Park, Primanti Brothers and Sheetz. I also got to go to water aerobics with my parents at the Y, which was really nice. Water aerobics tends to attract on older crowd and then on top of it this one was specifically for arthritis, so it's safe to say that I was the youngest person by a long shot, but really it is my favorite way to work out at the end of my pregnancies. Of course we also spent lots of time hanging with our cousins and having sleep overs involving ridiculous amounts of pillows and blankets. 

 I almost forgot, because I failed to get any pictures, but we had a baby shower for Meghan and my grandpa and my Aunt Nancy and Uncle Tom were able to come down from New York. I am so grateful that they were willing to make the trip down since it was going to be near impossible for me to make the trip up there. Hurray for more family!