Pennsylvania Trip 2015

On Friday July 10th, we loaded up the car and left just before 6 am for our first road trip to Pennsylvania. The kids were extremely excited and well-stocked for the car ride. I had high-hopes for an "old-fashioned" trip with books, activities, and scenery to occupy their time. I'm very proud to say that they made it 11.5 hours and 600+ miles without a screen of any kind and they really enjoyed the trip. 

On Saturday, Randy wanted to take the kids to Shorty's for a hot dog lunch. Our waitress had so much fun with us and couldn't believe the number of hotdogs that our table ate...I think the final number was around 16. 

 On Sunday morning, the kids took their usual jog and then relaxed by Grammy and Grandpa's fish pond.

 The backyard swing was a highlight per usual. Adelina loved to spend time there reading.

 On Sunday afternoon, cousin Oliver arrived!!! Caleb quickly gave him a piano lesson.

 The kiddos were treated to bubble baths just about every night...a stark contrast to their nightly navy showers at home.

 We enjoyed a trip to the Carnegie Science Center on Tuesday. I think everyone's favorite part was the exhibit about water.

 The kids also enjoyed the exhibit about the International Space Station. Adelina got to see what a bathroom in outer space looks like.

 The other highlight was the robotics exhibit. Levi adored this basketball playing robot. He could have stayed their all day.

 This robot could replicate any drawing that the kids made.

 After the museum, we headed to Primanti's for lunch....

 ...and shopped around the Strip.

 Levi watching Uncle Matt fix Grammy's computer.

 On Wednesday, Lina and Cal came for a brief visit. Adelina spent much of her time in the sewing room with Grammy and Aunt Linda.

 Later in the afternoon, we went to Mingo Creek to play in the water. Per usual, we all worked together to build a dam across part of the creek. Grandpa also impressed the kids with his rock-skipping skills.

 Pre-bedtime snuggles.

 On Thursday morning, the kids and I headed for Syracuse, NY where we spent the night. We stopped at a park along Lake Erie to have lunch and stretch our legs a bit.

 On Friday morning, we began the final leg of our journey. We stopped in the Berkshires so that we could hike on the Appalachian Trail, which everyone enjoyed.

It was a wonderful trip and I know we all made wonderful memories!

Oscar's Ordeal

After our summer got off to a great start with the backyard campout, things took a turn for the worse the following week with more than our fair share of drama. The morning after our campout, we noticed that our refrigerator wasn't keeping cool. After doing some research, we decided it was probably time to replace our refrigerator and ended up with a delivery scheduled for Monday morning. Early Monday, Caleb woke up with the stomach bug and struggled with that for most of the day. As it turns out, most of the neighborhood had contracted the stomach bug at a birthday party everyone attended on Saturday. While Caleb was recovering, Oscar started getting really sick. At first I thought he had a hairball, but it became clear pretty quickly that something was really wrong with him. Randy worked from home on Tuesday so that he could take Oscar to the vet. After doing X-rays, the vet discovered that Oscar had a blockage of some kind and would need surgery in order to live. During the surgery, the vet was shocked to find dozens of hair ties tangled in Oscar's stomach. Looking back, we think Oscar has been eating Lina's hair ties for months. We were very happy that Oscar was able to come home that evening and that he recuperated very nicely. Poor kitty had to wear a collar for two weeks and was pretty woozy for the first couple of days. The kids did a wonderful job being gentle with him and Adelina, in particular, read him lots of books. The hair on his belly is growing back and he's back to rambunctious self now!