Pittsburgh Visit

Jacob and I have returned from our visit to my family in New Kensington.  We went up there on Wednesday and came back Sunday -- so we had 3 and a half days to do all kinds of things.

Wednesday
The drive up wasn't too bad, with the exception of Jacob fussing from a little after Breezewood to my parents' house, which was about 2 hours.  It wasn't a constant crying -- he cheered up whenever he saw a truck or a bus pass by -- but it was exhausting.  We arrived around lunch time and spent the afternoon relaxing.  My mom made taco pizza for dinner, which is one of my favorites.

Thursday
We started off the day with a trip down to Memorial Park for a walk and some play time at the playground.  It was HOT and very humid, but Jacob loved it.  He was super-excited to see the airplace.  His "daaaaaaaaa!" was so loud and enthusiastic.  And he kept pointing to it.

Me, my mom, and Jacob on the walking path

"DAAAAAAAAA!"  Which I think translates to "AIRPLANE!"

A stop along our walk

The playgrounds

Jacob loved the slides -- of course.  And he couldn't get enough of them.  He needed to have someone at the bottom to catch him, because for some reason, the equipment was set kind of high off the ground...

Babcia and Uncle Jonathan make the catch



After some milk snack and a little rest, we went down to the fire department so that Uncle Jonathan could show him the fire trucks.  When we walked around the corner and Jacob saw the trucks sitting in the bay, his exclamation was even more powerful than that for the airplane...

"DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!"  Which I'm pretty sure translates to "OMG FIRE TRUCKS!!!!!!!"

Uncle Jonathan brings Jacob in to see the trucks

So excited to see these trucks

Loved ringing the bell

Checking out the gear in the lockers

While Jacob loved walking around to the trucks and checking out all the stuff, he was not too keen on sitting inside the trucks.  After lunch and a nap at home, Jacob was happy to go outside and play with the water table and a sandbox/slide combo.

Friday
We went to Harrison Hills Park for this morning's adventure.  Jacob again LOVED slides -- this time, his absolute favorite was the highest slide -- and fastest -- in the park.  I wouldn't let him go down that one alone.

That smile never left his face.

By the end of the visit, Jacob was walking across this bouncing bridge all by himself.

I went bridesmaid dress shopping with my sister in the afternoon, and we found the dress!  It's a really cute style, and I'd post a picture, but I don't want to spoil the surprise of it at her wedding.  Sorry.  I was able to meet up with my friends Vera and Erin a little later for some dinner.  I wish I could see them more often, because they really are my best friends.

Saturday
Today was the annual Woytek family get-together at my aunt's uncle's house in Erie.  Erik and I haven't been able to attend for the last two years because our vacation was a conflict.  But this year I was able to make it up, and it was the first time that a lot of that side of the family got to meet Jacob.  We had a lot of fun, and Jacob seemed to enjoy playing with the toys, splashing in the little pool, and eating melon.

And then Sunday, we came home.  Jacob was so excited to see his dad (and I know his dad was pretty excited to see him).  He had a huge smile on his face when he saw Erik, and then took him by the hand and walked around the house with him, pointing at everything.  He barely left Erik's side for the rest of the day.  And it is good to be home again.  I was sad to leave my parents, but especially sad to leave my Babcia.  She loves seeing Jacob and I don't feel like I get him up there often enough for her to see him.  Hopefully I'll be able to get up there again soon.



This week is going to go by quickly.  We leave for our vacation on Thursday, so if you thought blog posts were infrequent as it is, you've got another thing coming.  We're headed out to Rocky Mountain National Park and Mt. Rushmore for about a week.  I've started pulling my clothes for packing.  i need to get to work on Jacob's.  My goal is to have suitcases packed and everything ready by Wednesday evening.  We'll see how that goes...