Actually, we have one adventure from Wisconsin that I didn’t post about. On March 11th, we took the girls to The Riverside Theater in Milwaukee to see The Piano Guys in concert. These guys are 4 dads from Utah who are amazingly talented musicians (a pianist, a singer/composer, a cellist, and an all around tech and music guy). They achieved fame via YouTube posting videos where they blend classical tunes with pop and movie themes. You can watch their videos one their website, www.thepianoguys.com. The concert was a little over 2 hours, and we could have all stayed longer! It was a neat thing to do as a family, and it was a little strange to attend a concert where people were clutching books of sheet music!
On to our Pitt adventure! The girls and I left on a Sunday morning and drove to PA. We arrived in time to have a Burgatory dinner, milkshakes (Kayla had Thin Mint and Ashley had S’mores with a giant toasted marshmallow floating in it), and a trip to Barnes & Noble, where we found Kevin’s birthday gift – Star Wars A New Hope as told by Shakespeare. We also arrived in time for SNOW!!!!! Enough to put 1/4 inch of icy stuff on my car that night. On Monday, we spent some time just hanging with cousins. The girls also worked on some art for Shannon. They painted on the walls of her basement!
The boys had school and Shannon had work on Tuesday, so we did some swimming in our hotel pool. The hotel was not super classy or expensive, nothing special, but it did have a fairly nice pool! I snapped this picture one evening when we were swimming. It had a 9ft deep end!
We met up with Shannon and the boys at lunch, then went to the zoo! The weather warmed up to the 60’s, so it was a perfect day to be at the zoo. The girls and I walked to the zoo and Shannon took my car and the boys and drove over. Here are some pix from that adventure.
Having lunch one of the days.
On Wednesday, the boys and Shannon and Jon had to work all day. The girls and I spent the day at the science center and SportsWorks, then came back for dinner with the family.
The girls tried a nifty Zero-g simulator.
They climbed the rock wall.
Ashley did the bungee jump trampoline.
She also stood inside a hurricane simulator.
This is a thermal camera image. In the center of the image, you see a hot little red Ashley hand. To the right of that, you will see what looks like a bluish green outline of a hand. That’s my hand. I was inside a building, wearing a coat and long sleeves and jeans, on a day that reached 72 degrees. What does this say about me?
Kayla playing with a giant robo-hand.
Ashley played air hockey against a robot.
Both girls tried a unicycle thing.
Kayla was petting hissing cockroaches. She also spent some time chatting with two of the workers in that section about the animals and how they behave and what they do, etc….
The girls also finished their artwork. Ashley painted a landscape and then played with the stencils that Shannon bought.
Can you tell who painted this one?
We drove home on Thursday through a LOT of rain. And when we got home, we were just in time for…..MORE SNOW!!!!!! I am not sure how that worked out. Thankfully, we arrived at our destination before the snow caused any trouble, both in PA and home. The girls had a good time, Kevin spent some time with his mom for his birthday, and aside from a tired me from the driving, it was a good break.
Now starts the crazy travel time for Kevin. He leaves in two days to attend his uncle’s funeral in Minnesota. He is home for a day, then off to Virginia for several days of training. He comes home from that, then leaves 6 days later for a week in Utah. Things will settle down in May, as his work needs him to run some sessions every Wednesday that month in Chicago. Thank goodness we have a network of people who can help with things like pick ups and drop offs, and I can be home for the evening schedules like karate.
Ashley will be gone April 8th to 9th with the church for a work trip downtown. Kayla will be gone April 15th through 18th for a music competition trip in Washington DC with her school. Ashley has her birthday, then a karate tournament. Both girls have Saturday volunteer hours at Save-A-Pet. And I thought it was crazy when they were little and needed daycare!
