Adventures in Pittsburgh and Avery's Driving!!

A couple of weeks ago Dustin had a work conference in Pittsburgh and I tagged along.  At first I was reluctant to go with him, but I'm glad I did.  Pittsburgh is a fun city!  We had a red eye on Sunday night, and got to the the hotel around 11:00.  Dustin's Conference didn't start until 1:00, so we took a couple of hours to wander the city.  There is a lot of pretty architecture and old churches to explore in downtown Pittsburgh.

This castle-like building is their County Courthouse, and it used to be the jail.  It was huge and filled up the whole block, and went across to the next block.

The courtyard of the same building.

There are little plazas and courtyards all around.  This one had some interesting benches...

I went back to the hotel and took a long nap, and Dustin attended some classes and then that night we had tickets to see a Pittsburgh Pirates game.  We found a local pizza joint to eat at before the game, and it had awesome pizza, but no air conditioning and it was disgustingly hot!  It was 95 degrees outside, with 95% humidity, and it felt better outside than in this restaurant!

We walked and walked and walked before the game started (we're getting ready for Pioneer Trek next month, so we practiced).  Pittsburgh has 3 rivers that all meet up, and so there are tons of bridges to be crossed.  It's very pretty.

Our free hats that we then gave to our boys when we got home (yay for free souveniers!).

There are padlocks all over their bridges.  Apparently it is a tradition for the college students to do this.

The next day Dustin went to conferences all day, and I worked hard on my photo book, while I watched Fixer Upper.  It was a lovely relaxing day!  We did meet up for lunch in the cute little Market Square, and then I explored the city a little bit more and found an old church and its graveyard.

I met this man, who is standing by the grave of his great great great (maybe one more great) grandparents.  We talked for about an hour in the graveyard and I learned a lot about him.  He was a funny man.

That night Dustin and I rode the two Inclines in the city.  The trams are pulled up the steep mountainside by cables.  It was kind of like a really slow, really scary amusement ride.

We had Pierogi's that night for dinner, "Pittsburgh's Comfort Food" and were entertained by the fireflies flying around us.  Fireflies are very exciting to people from the West.

The next day brought more walking and exploring the city while Dustin learned a lot.  During lunch we tried to take a tour of the County Building/Castle, but had no luck and instead just walked around it for a bit.  We also looked at a few more old churches.

And then, after I left Dustin and the umbrella, the heavens opened and dumped right on top of me.  I thought I might get struck by lightning, but I made it safely back to the hotel, albeit a little wet...

When Dustin was done with his conference (and I had dried off sufficiently), we found a yummy rolled ice cream shop and had our dessert before dinner.

It rained off and on (mostly on) the rest of the night.  Luckily, we had two umbrellas and a rental car, so we were able to enjoy our last night in Pittsburgh.  We explored the city a little further from downtown, found a fun neighborhood called Squirrel Hill, and walked around a Botanic Garden and Schenley Park.  It was beautiful!  We were grateful for our rental car, because at times it was raining incredibly hard.

The next morning we got up bright and early, checked out of our hotel and drove a couple of hours to see Falling Waters-a house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.  It was a house built in the 1930's, right over the waterfall and it's pretty cool to see how he designed the house to be built right into the landscape.

We found a really pretty hike called Bear Run, and thankfully, we didn't see any bears.  We ate a delicious lunch at a local cafe' and then hurried to the airport and home to our kids, who were waiting up for us when we pulled in at midnight.  It was such a fun trip!

The next day was Avery's 15th birthday!  We started off the day by heading to the DMV so that she could get her learner's permit.  It is official.  Avery can legally drive (with me or Dustin and only family members in the car).

We had her little party that night, and then the boys hurried off to the Father Son Campout, and the girls and I went to dinner at Texas Roadhouse, followed by giving ourselves pedicures and watching a movie, our traditional Father Son Campout party.

 She requested cinnamon roll cake.

The boys rode up to Father Son Campout with a friend from the ward, who also took them out on the lake the next day. 

 At Texas Roadhouse, Avery was a good sport about sitting on the saddle, and the people at the table next to us even gave her some birthday money, so it was worth the embarrassment.

It is hard to believe that our oldest is 15!  She is such a responsible, hard working, happy member of our family.  She has a positive attitude and rivals me in her love of all things Christmas.  She has become a dedicated cross country runner, she plays the piano and violin beautifully (but seems to prefer the piano) and is an excellent student.  She loves to play games and spend time as a family.  We love her so much!