Monday, September 27, 2010
Friday, September 24, 2010
Up on Mt. Washington
Nolan points and screams to anyone in earshot that a giant firetruck is rumbling down Grandview Avenue while less impressed with the spectacular view behind him. We moved to Pittsburgh in July and we didn’t make it to Mt. Washington until this week. After taking the Monongahela Incline from Station Square, we arrived at Mt. Washington and the breathtaking view of Downtown Pittsburgh was even better than advertised.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Third birthday...three cities, it makes sense. Happy Birthday Nolan!
Nolan began his 3rd birthday tour blowing out candles from his cake from Grandma & Grandpa in New York. It took him a little bit to get in the groove, but he nailed it.
He was a little more experienced by the time we got to Cleveland where Grandma Fisco had a cake for him and he nailed it again...
...and then we headed home to Pittsburgh, where he had some birthday presents to open.
I think Buzz Lightyear was a hit!
And mommy and Andrew enjoyed it just as much!
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Friday, July 16, 2010
Andrew's 5th Birthday Surprise!
Andrew turned 5 on Monday and we had a little surprise planned for him. We wanted him to choose a bike for his birthday, but didn't want to give up the suspense. So we did what any parent would do- we blindfolded him and strongly persuaded him to follow our lead.
Nolan seems a little unsure about the situation.
Uncle Steve found it a bit more humorous!
Where could we be going?
Toys R Us, Of course!!
What could it be??
Taking his first spin around the store.
Uncle Steve took a spin as well!
Nolan seems a little unsure about the situation.
Uncle Steve found it a bit more humorous!
Where could we be going?
Toys R Us, Of course!!
What could it be??
Taking his first spin around the store.
Uncle Steve took a spin as well!
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Friday, June 25, 2010
The Construction Watch
Our neighbor, Donna, has been having a ton of work done to the outside of her house lately. With that work came many construction vehicles, cement mixers and diggers. So we saw much of this during those days.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Friday, June 11, 2010
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Snack Heist
So, we've got a TON of photographs to catch up on, so why not here? Lola attempts to snag an animal crack out of Andrew's mouth. In Lola's defense, Andrew was doing a bit of teasing towards Lola with the cracker. Andrew got away just in time!
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Road Trip Finale- A Magical Day at Disney
[caption id="attachment_241" align="aligncenter" width="900" caption="Nolan, Elizabeth and Andrew have a blast while riding the monorail as it prepares to enter Space Mountain."]
[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_242" align="aligncenter" width="900" caption="Nolan gets some lovin' from Uncle Steve at Magic Kingdom."]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_243" align="aligncenter" width="900" caption="Riding one of the roller coasters at Magic Kingdom. It looks like Andrew is now hooked on them!"]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_240" align="aligncenter" width="900" caption="Disney has a way of wearing out the best of them. Andrew could barely keep his eyes open during one of the parades."]
[/caption]
[caption id="attachment_241" align="aligncenter" width="900" caption="Fireworks over the castle was the only appropriate way to end the trip!"]
[/caption]
I'm going to DisneyWorld!
Luck seemed to be going our way now. We woke up ready to tackle the crazy land of Disney. Being that the Super Bowl was the night before, we had hopes of catching a glimpse of the "I'm Going To DisneyWorld" Parade in honor of Super Bowl MVP Drew Brees. We accepted that it wasn't going to happen when we slept in after a really, really good night of sleep.
So when we entered Magic Kingdom, we heard an anticipatory excitement that we weren't expecting. Viewing all of the Saints fans, just yards away from us, hanging on the fences trying to get a good look at something, we realized in an instant that the parade was about to come right by us!
We ran up and squeezed through and as we looked up, there was the Super Bowl MVP blowing kisses in our direction! What an awesome moment!!
Now we are not celebrity worshippers by any means. I've photographed Brees a few times while he was with the Chargers and the Saints, but there was something about this that was super cool (no pun intended!).
Thursday, May 27, 2010
The Cliffhanger...
How have you been? It's been a while, hasn't it? A few months, actually. I believe the last time we saw each other, we we're in Cape Canaveral hoping for a shuttle launch. And then, all of a sudden, we were gone.
Just to update you, we needed a little break. Actually, a big one. With the business, the move to Pittsburgh, putting the house up for sale...it all became a little much to keep up with the blogging.
But we are back. With a vengeance. We do have a pretty hectic few weeks ahead of us, so I can't promise that we will be up to full speed blogging just yet, but we're going to try.
So as T.V. shows go into their cliffhangers, we start off with what can only be considered our season opener. Which begs the question...did we see it or not? Come in and find out!
We left Tennessee for Florida around 8 a.m. The ten hour drive didn't seem daunting knowing we were less than a day away from the launch. Our only issue was logistical- the launch was scheduled for 4:39 a.m. and we needed to be at the Kennedy Space Center by 10:30 p.m. before the parking lot closed. With a four and two year old, the thoughts of how they would handle those six hours, and the inevitable three hours of traffic leaving the area afterwards was a thought we just tried to ignore.
We kept on, making it to the Cape in time to meet my brother, who flew in from New York to be part of it. We arrived at the Space Center in plenty of time, the phrase "Hurry up and Wait" never seemed so appropriate. We made the rounds at the Space Center, viewing all of the rockets and shuttles that were on display. It truly is an awe inspiring place. And just miles away was the shuttle, with their crew working non stop getting the vessel ready to go. Although we must have been tired, we didn't feel it at that point and aside for a few breakdowns, the kids were holding up well. It is a strange site watching your son romping around their playground at 2 a.m.
You can't blame a 2-year-old for having a breakdown on a playground after midnight!
A 3 a.m. power nap with the Shuttle getting ready for the launch on the big screen.
Even the announcement that there was now only a 60% chance of launch because of low clouds did not dampen our spirits. by 3 a.m., we were beat. We all conked out on the floor inside, hoping we didn't sleep through the launch! By 4:30, the time had arrived. We lifted the kids onto our shoulders, trying to wake them without the drama that could come with the situation. They awoke and were so excited. We took our spot, nine minutes away when we heard a muffled voice across the loudspeaker that sounded something like "Sorry". We each looked at each other, with disbelief, as the other bewildered spectators started packing up their chairs and headed for their cars.
Making our way to our viewing spot... we had no idea what was going to happen.
It was postponed! What? All kinds of questions ran through my mind. Are you serious? Do you know what we went through to get here? Are we now supposed to come back again tomorrow, after the Super Bowl, with no sleep? But there was no time to complain, or even to walk. We had to run- if we wanted to get to our car and avoid hours of traffic. But there was no avoiding it. We wound up sleeping in our car in an insurance salesman's parking lot somewhere in Titusville.
Needless to say, with little to no sleep, after watching the Saints defeat the Colts in the Super Bowl, we stumbled out of our hotel room in Orlando on a mission. We were going to see it happen. After some advice from the locals, we scrapped going to the Space Center again and decided to watch it from a spot near the water in Titusville. As luck would have it, we pulled into the final spot available only an hour before launch. Apparently, many of the thousands of people watching Saturday couldn't make it Sunday, and the viewing areas were much more accessible.
Before we knew it, we were counting down. We all hopped onto the roof of our vehicle with cameras and videocameras ready.
Some of us screamed and some of us watched with our mouths wide open as night turned to day in an instant with the light from the shuttle's launch. In what couldn't have been more than a minute, the astronauts were just a speck in our viewfinders, on their way to the International Space Station.
And just like that it was over. With our big smiles while muttering the words unbelievable more than once, we headed back to Orlando for some well needed sleep.
Mission Accomplished.
Just to update you, we needed a little break. Actually, a big one. With the business, the move to Pittsburgh, putting the house up for sale...it all became a little much to keep up with the blogging.
But we are back. With a vengeance. We do have a pretty hectic few weeks ahead of us, so I can't promise that we will be up to full speed blogging just yet, but we're going to try.
So as T.V. shows go into their cliffhangers, we start off with what can only be considered our season opener. Which begs the question...did we see it or not? Come in and find out!
We left Tennessee for Florida around 8 a.m. The ten hour drive didn't seem daunting knowing we were less than a day away from the launch. Our only issue was logistical- the launch was scheduled for 4:39 a.m. and we needed to be at the Kennedy Space Center by 10:30 p.m. before the parking lot closed. With a four and two year old, the thoughts of how they would handle those six hours, and the inevitable three hours of traffic leaving the area afterwards was a thought we just tried to ignore.
We kept on, making it to the Cape in time to meet my brother, who flew in from New York to be part of it. We arrived at the Space Center in plenty of time, the phrase "Hurry up and Wait" never seemed so appropriate. We made the rounds at the Space Center, viewing all of the rockets and shuttles that were on display. It truly is an awe inspiring place. And just miles away was the shuttle, with their crew working non stop getting the vessel ready to go. Although we must have been tired, we didn't feel it at that point and aside for a few breakdowns, the kids were holding up well. It is a strange site watching your son romping around their playground at 2 a.m.
You can't blame a 2-year-old for having a breakdown on a playground after midnight!
A 3 a.m. power nap with the Shuttle getting ready for the launch on the big screen.
Even the announcement that there was now only a 60% chance of launch because of low clouds did not dampen our spirits. by 3 a.m., we were beat. We all conked out on the floor inside, hoping we didn't sleep through the launch! By 4:30, the time had arrived. We lifted the kids onto our shoulders, trying to wake them without the drama that could come with the situation. They awoke and were so excited. We took our spot, nine minutes away when we heard a muffled voice across the loudspeaker that sounded something like "Sorry". We each looked at each other, with disbelief, as the other bewildered spectators started packing up their chairs and headed for their cars.
Making our way to our viewing spot... we had no idea what was going to happen.
It was postponed! What? All kinds of questions ran through my mind. Are you serious? Do you know what we went through to get here? Are we now supposed to come back again tomorrow, after the Super Bowl, with no sleep? But there was no time to complain, or even to walk. We had to run- if we wanted to get to our car and avoid hours of traffic. But there was no avoiding it. We wound up sleeping in our car in an insurance salesman's parking lot somewhere in Titusville.
Needless to say, with little to no sleep, after watching the Saints defeat the Colts in the Super Bowl, we stumbled out of our hotel room in Orlando on a mission. We were going to see it happen. After some advice from the locals, we scrapped going to the Space Center again and decided to watch it from a spot near the water in Titusville. As luck would have it, we pulled into the final spot available only an hour before launch. Apparently, many of the thousands of people watching Saturday couldn't make it Sunday, and the viewing areas were much more accessible.
Before we knew it, we were counting down. We all hopped onto the roof of our vehicle with cameras and videocameras ready.
Some of us screamed and some of us watched with our mouths wide open as night turned to day in an instant with the light from the shuttle's launch. In what couldn't have been more than a minute, the astronauts were just a speck in our viewfinders, on their way to the International Space Station.
And just like that it was over. With our big smiles while muttering the words unbelievable more than once, we headed back to Orlando for some well needed sleep.
Mission Accomplished.
Monday, February 15, 2010
The Final Countdown...
So we pick up at The Space Center...it's late, we're tired, it's really dark (and our pictures are pretty crappy) but we're chugging along...waiting...
Andrew takes a picture of me and Uncle Steve as we wait in line to get in...11 p.m. and everything on schedule.
Dad and Andrew check out the inside of a space shuttle on exhibit....pretty cool...12:30 a.m...still going, four hours to liftoff!
Inside the Rocket Garden, it could have been called the Rocket Gravyard, but either way, it was sweet.
In near darkness, Elizabeth and Andrew walk across the bridge that took Neil Armstrong and his crew to their capsule and eventually to the moon...AWESOME!
Inside the capsule, we had not idea how tight it was in there. It's hard to imagine what those astronauts were going through at liftoff in that position. We're getting close, just a few short hours away...
Andrew takes a picture of me and Uncle Steve as we wait in line to get in...11 p.m. and everything on schedule.
Dad and Andrew check out the inside of a space shuttle on exhibit....pretty cool...12:30 a.m...still going, four hours to liftoff!
Inside the Rocket Garden, it could have been called the Rocket Gravyard, but either way, it was sweet.
In near darkness, Elizabeth and Andrew walk across the bridge that took Neil Armstrong and his crew to their capsule and eventually to the moon...AWESOME!
Inside the capsule, we had not idea how tight it was in there. It's hard to imagine what those astronauts were going through at liftoff in that position. We're getting close, just a few short hours away...
Just waitin on a shuttle...
So we have left Tennesee headed for Cape Canaveral where we were planning to see the Space Shuttle launch! We drove all day and made it to the Space Coast around 7 p.m. We met up with Uncle Steve, who didn't have a delay on his flight from New York. Everything has gone as planned so far. By 10:30 p.m., we have made it to The Kennedy Space Center, 6 hours to launch. It's going to be a long night but hopefully worth it!
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Pizza Car
In one of the trains at the Chattanooga Choo Choo is a Pizza Car, and if you know our children, it was a must. It was rainy night in February so we had the car all to ourselves. We had a great time and I think it shows!
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