Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Pittsburgh



The final full day of our trip we spend in Pittsburgh. We decided to take the kids to the Carnegie Natural History Museum to see the dinosaur fossils. We weren't quite sure how it was going to go because the kids are kind of leery of large creatures at times. They loved it! One of the things the museum has is an area where the kids can "dig" for bones and fossils themselves. The kids had such a good time that there was a bit of a meltdown when we told them it was time to continue on.




In this picture the scientist is letting us touch an actual dino fossil!

After the museum we took the kids to the Duquesne Incline. It's kind of a family tradition to stop there and ride it whenever we're in town. We also took a ride past an old family house in McKees Rocks to show the kids where my Grandma lived a long time ago. By the time we got back to the hotel all we wanted to do was take a dip in the pool and go to bed.
Top of the Incline overlooking downtown Pittsburgh



We got home Saturday evening completely exhausted but happy we had such a great trip. Yesterday was Grandpa Huddas's birthday so Happy 62nd Birthday Grandpa!

Hershey's Chocolate World



After Sesame Place we decided to spend a day in Hershey, PA. We went to Chocolate World and took a trolley tour of some of the sites around the town. By the time we left the kids were completely exhausted and full of chocolate.


Riding on the Trolley


On the ride in Chocolate World

Sesame Place


This past week we took a family trip to Sesame Place in Pennsylvania. Becca and her family went too. There are no words to describe what a great time all of us had, but especially the kids. We actually stayed in a hotel in New Jersey, where we had a 2 bedroom suite. That was really nice because the trio could go to bed in one room and Pat and I could actually stay up without keeping them awake. On day 1 we walked around just to get a feel of the park and take some pictures with some of the characters.



Katie with Aunt Carrie


We also got a chance to ride some of the rides at the park before going and seeing one of the shows. The one we saw the first day was a version of Elmo's World with live characters.



Day 2 was mostly us going on water rides so we don't have any pictures of that.
Day 3 we went on rides again and had lunch with some of the Sesame Street characters. We also got a group picture taken with Elmo by the photographers there.








Day 4 just our family went to the park to pick up some souvenirs, take a few more pictures, and go on a final ride or two.







This final picture is on our way out. You can tell by the looks on their faces that that kids did NOT want to go! It's hard to believe it went so fast.

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Pick'in and U2

This past week has been a fun one for us. We are fully unpacked from our trip to Yogi Bear and we are starting to relax and enjoy our time off work. Last weekend we took the kids strawberry and cherry picking. They had a great time! The toughest part was getting anything into the container to buy and take home. Somehow everything that came off the plants and trees ended up in the trio's mouth! One Sunday Aunt Becca come over with the boys to babysit so Pat and I could got to Spartan Stadium and see U2 in concert. It was AWESOME! We spent the night in East Lansing and came home Monday afternoon. Yesterday the kids ended up covered head to toe in sand. They had just made a delivery of a load of sand at our sub's lake and the kids took full advantage of the giant pile of sand. The even got to play with the granddaughter of one of our neighbor's for a while. Today we're off to pick up a junior set of golf clubs for the kids from a friend of mine at work. Now that should be interesting...


Katie with a strawberry


Seamus picking cherries


Helena with a strawberry


Pat and I at Spartan Stadium with U2's stage in the background.

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Yogi Bear and the Great Monsoon of '11



The first Friday of Summer Vacation, we all went on a camping trip to Jelly Stone in Indian River. We went with Grandpa and Grandma Huddas, Uncle Steve, uncle Mike, Aunt Kim, Aunt Becca, Uncle John, Clay and Drew. Uncle John's Nephews Chris and Ben were also with us the first 3 days. On Friday we walked around, looked for Yogi at "Yogi's House" and played at the Playground. On Friday night Aunt Christi and Uncle Wayne got to the campsite. On Saturday all of us went to Fort Michilimackinac to walk around some history. The kids had the most fun at the playground, but also went into the buildings to look at some of the artifacts. We also watched the cannon get fired, and even got to hold and touch a cannon ball. Sunday was Father's Day, and Uncle Mike took Grandpa, Steve, John and I on a Fishing Charter. We all caught a fish, but Mike was the only one to catch a keeper. After the Charter we met up with everyone else at Petoskey State Park where all the kids got to play in the water and look for Petoskey Stones before going out to lunch. After lunch Christi, Wayne, Becca John and his Nephews went home. Clay and Drew stayed with us for the remainder of the week. On Monday we all went on the ferry ride to Mackinac Island. We went for a walk after lunch around the Island and decided to got to Fort Mackinac. The first thing we saw was the rifle fire before checking out all of the buildings and cannons. The kids seemed to enjoy this fort quite a bit, and Seamus eve sat through a movie about the history of the Island. They were all very good, even though Helena had a few instances where she forgot how to listen and just lay down. After the Fort the kids ran around the hill right underneath the fort. After that they were all pretty tuckered out and we went back soon after. We stopped on the way back to get pasties for diner. Mary made the mistake to say we were taking the food "home." All of the kids then said they wanted to got to Yogi. Mary told them she said home on accident. Al three of them asked Mary "Why did you say the wrong word?" for about ten minutes. After dinner, the kids were playing and Seamus was getting whiny. So Grandpa, Steve and Mary took him fishing. Seamus was amazed by the truck driving through the small path to the lake. I was told that Seamus caught three fish by himself. On Monday night, the rain started. Tuesday it rained pretty much all day. We tried to got the beach, but we ended up just going to Cabella's with everyone else before lunch then heading back to the campsite to watch Tangled. It rained for the rest of the night. On Wednesday we went to Cross Village to have lunch at Legs. After lunch we looked out at the water behind the restaurant, we even saw a deer eating some grass right off the side of the road. The time we spend in the car and in the restaurant was one of the only time it did not rain. There was a span of about 45 minutes it was dry, and all of us went fishing and every kid caught a fish (with some help from Mary). It rained the rest of the day. On Thursday, Mary, Grandma, the kids and I went to go walk around Mackinac city, but it rained. We ended up having lunch and shopping at one store. We drove around after the trip to Mackinac because the kids all fell asleep. When we got back, the kids all decided to watch Tangled (again). When the rain finally let up Steve, Melanie (who showed up Wednesday night) Mary and grandpa went fishing. They actually caught some keepers while Grandma, all the children and I went for a walk and to play for a bit. When the fishers got back we cleaned the fish and cooked them up to have with dinner. Unfortunately that night Grandma got sick and Steve and Melanie took her to the Hospital. They were gone until 1:00 in the morning, but she was okay. On Friday the weather was nice, and Becca and John got back at lunchtime. After lunch we left for home. On the way home we stopped at a Rest stop that had a field of Yellow flowers the kids took a few minutes to run through. We stopped at Birch Run to get the kids some shoes and get dinner before we got home. It was a fun trip, even though it rained for most of it, but it was nice to be back at home. In two weeks we do it all again when we head out to Sesame Place.


Drew and Seamus with Yogi


Boo Boo-Katie


Cindy-Helena


Christi, Seamus and I at Fort Michilimackinac


Christi and Katie at Fort Michilimackinac


Helena at at Fort Michilimackinac


Seamus at the Beach


Katie and Helena at the Beach


On the Ferry to Mackinac Island


The Family at the Fort


Katie and Uncle Steve at the fort


Helena and Seamus with the cannons


Katie and Drew with the cannons


Helena's fish


Seamus' fish


Katie's fish

Katie in the flowers


Helena in the flowers


Seamus in the flowers