Visiting Pittsburgh

Our trip to Pittsburgh went great. Aubrie had a great time. Mom and Dad have a great 2-story house with a large backyard that ends at a pasture with horses. Aubrie loved going down to see the horses, climb on the dirt hill, and visit her imaginary mountian lion friends. I forget at times the imagination my daughter has. She creted a family of mountian lions, all with names, and 12 steps you have to complete before they will show themselves to you. She had a great time!!!

We decided to try out the swimming pool at a local community center there. Let me just say that this was not any ordinary pool - it was top notch. The had two water slides, one for big kids and one in the toddler section, a floating lily pad game, and a section that was a little deeper for people to seim. Aubrie had a great time. The next day we took a girls day and eat at a local bakery and got pedicures and manicures. Aubrie had a blast. That evening Mom and I went to a casino and horse race, but that a story for later. OVerall Aubrie had a great time and enjoyed hanging out at Nana and Papa's. I even got to go into Pittsbugh and shop at Penn Mac, which is a grocery store that carries very good italian oil and cheeeses from all over. I had a great time too.

Niagara Falls & Kidney Stones

After arriving in Pittsburgh on Wednesday evening Mom, Dad, Aubrie, and I left Thursday evening for Niagara Falls. Coming from Texas a 4 hour trip is nothing, but to people of Pittsburgh it is almost unheard of!! We got a lot of people who thought four hours was just too long to drive - little did they know that I have to drive at least 5 hours to get to a major city.

We drove 1/2 way and stopped in Erie for the night and the made it to Niagara Falls, Canada by noon the next day. Mom had booked us a room at the Embassy Suites over looking the Horseshoe Falls and the American Falls. Check out the pictures, it was an amazing view!

After scheduling a tour for the next day Mom and I drove to Niagara-on-the-lake, which is a quaint little town 30 minutes north. While we were driving and touring wineries, Dad and Aubrie were taking in the sites and riding the tall Sky Ferris Wheel.

Saturday we started our tour at 9am with an wonderful tour guide. He kept the tour going an extra 2 hours due to rain and a broken down 4d movie. Our tour included a Journey behind the Falls, the skyline tower, view of the whirlpools, the Flower Clock, Niagara Fury 4D Movie, and The Maid of the Mist.

The Journey behind the falls allowed us to travel down and look behind the Horseshoe falls. It was pretty awesome hearing and seeing the power of the falls.

The Maid of the Mist was a boat ride that allowed us to ride by the American Falls and into the mist of the Horseshoe Falls. Let me just say that the ride was NOT a dry one! Mom and I were up front and got quite soaked while Dad and Aubrie were in back and didn't get quite as wet as we did.

However we ended up leaving Niagara at about 9pm Saturday evening because I ended up with a Kidney stone. My stomach and back had been hurting all day, but I wasn't going to ruin our trip, I than went to diner but couldn't make it through. At this point my dad, who has had a bout of kidney stones before, started asking me questions about my pain and where it was and decided I had kidney stones. On the way to the hotel I broke down and told them they could call the hotel doctor. Instead dad took me to the emergency room, not a good idea in Canada. If you think it takes a long time here, triple that amount and that is the wait for Canada. We decided not to stay and finally decided to cross the border and go to the hospital in Buffalo, New York. While waiting for the car a doctor and his wife noticed that I wasn't doing good. After discussing my symptoms the doctor agreed I had kidney stones and gave me one of his wife's Perkiset and told me it would last 4 hours. This allowed me to relaxed a little and we decided to get farther than Buffalo. In between Buffalo and Erie, PA I passed the stone in a McDonald's on a toll road, went to sleep and woke up felling great. What a way to end a great trip. Since Erie didn't have any hotel rooms available Mom drove us back to Pittsburgh and we got to their house at about 3am. What a trip!!!

Party, Family, Trips

I think its safe to say that I'm getting ready for lots of things right now. We have a 4th of July party at our house Saturday. Right now the count is up to approximately 30 people. Still have a few last minute grocery shopping to do. Luckily I'm not stressed yet, I know everything will come to gather great.

Sunday I plan on starting to pack for Pittsburgh. Yes, I said Pittsburgh. Aubrie and I leave Wednesday morning to see my parents for 2 weeks. Now you may think I am starting to pack a little early, but my sister comes in to visit Monday. She will than fly back to DFW Wednesday morning.

Aubrie has so much to be excited about right now - - party on the 4th, Aunt Becky coming in, and seeing Nana and Papa. Everyday Aubrie ask at least once, "When are we leaving for Pittsburgh? When does Aunt Becky come in?"

Gotta go plan, plan, plan.