The Breuers: July 4th in Pittsburgh

We hadn't been to Pittsburgh since Christmas, so we decided to take advantage of the 3-day weekend (and extend it to a 4-day weekend) and fly up for July 4. We flew up the morning of Friday, July 4. Lola did pretty well on the plane, although it was during her naptime and she maybe got 10 minutes of sleep. She's definitely more of a handful now than the last time we flew. She wants to move around and see everyone. Coincidentally, we sat across the aisle from my friend Beth's sister and her family. I recognized her from Beth's wedding, but it took me a while to figure out who she was. We chatted a little, and her twins were adorable.

My parents picked us up at the airport, and we stopped for lunch at Eat 'N Park. Talk about a blast from the past - I hadn't been there in years! Then we went home, hoping Lola would take a good long nap, but she didn't. Since she was awake pretty early from her nap, we headed downtown to the Regatta. It's an annual festival with boat races, music, and lots of other fun stuff, down at Point State Park. It was a beautiful day, although unfortunately a bit windy, so the boat race we had hoped to see was delayed. But we enjoyed walking around the park and playing in the fountain. Friday night my dad made us pierogies (a Pittsburgh staple), and we had a lovely dinner on the back patio.

Saturday we had a relaxing morning at home. Joseph and I went out to get pedicures, but failed - we tried three different places, and two had a long wait and one was closed. In the afternoon, we drove out to my Aunt Maggie's for a family picnic. Growing up, Aunt Maggie and Uncle Barry would always host a huge July 4th picnic with games, food, and fireworks. It was such a fun event. This year was a little smaller, but still a lot of fun. We got to meet Tyler, the new son of my cousin Charlie and his wife Kristen. He is so cute! He was only 10 weeks old, so I'm looking forward to our next visit when he'll be able to play with Lola. It was great catching up with the rest of the family too.

Sunday morning Joseph and I successfully got pedicures - yay! Then we met up with my friend Sarah and her two-year-old daughter Evia at a local park in the afternoon. It rained off and on, but we still had fun and were able to use the playground a little bit. Sunday evening Joseph and I met my friend Erin and her boyfriend Chris for dinner. It was nice to go out to eat child-free. We tried a new restaurant downtown called Sienna Mercato. It's all meatballs, served different ways - very interesting, and pretty tasty. We called it an early night this time and were home by 10.

Monday was our last day, and we didn't do much. We played at home in the morning and went out to lunch at DiPietros. Then we were off to the airport to fly home.

It was a nice, relaxing trip, and I'm glad we were able to see so many friends and family. It was fun seeing Lola at my parents' house now that she's mobile. She loved playing with all the toys my mom bought and climbing up and down the stair in the sunroom (and climbing the whole way up the massive staircase to upstairs). Trips like this make me really miss Pittsburgh and living near my family. Luckily we will be back in October for the Georgia Tech/Pitt football game!