Heading Home!

We'll miss this view every night, but can't wait to get home.

A Wonderful Weekend in Pittsburgh

We spent the weekend in Pittsburgh so that Bob could compete in the Pittsburgh Triathlon. It's such a beautiful city, I don't know why we don't go more often.

We went to Jen and Jeff's beautiful house for dinner the night before the event.

Greta waiting for an opportunity

Bob and his dad

The morning of the Tri - Bob and his cheering section (the kids and I, his mom, his dad and Carol - Jen and Charlie even showed up later)

In the Allegheny River

Swim

Out of the river, heading to the transition area

Bike

Run

Jen, Charlie, the kids and Bob

Bob did really well!

Packing up

After the race we spent hours at Carnegie Sportsworks. 

Giant Operation game

Ben and Will on the climbing wall

Giant Air Hockey

Getting locked into the roller coaster simulator

We learned that we're not fast pitchers

Trying the acrobatic stunts

That's Ben on the unicycle. The kids all tried this. It didn't go over so well for Will.

There's a Teen in the House (or should I say, 'Cottage')!

Ben is offically a teenager! We celebrated his 13th birthday, as we seem to do each of his birthdays, with a cookout.

Me and Bob with our Teen

Ben and Nana

Dinner

My mom's cousin Helen was even here, all the way from Texas

Opening his gifts

As if Nana's angel food cake wasn't enough, we roasted marshallows (Ben's request)

These weren't regular marshallows. They were HUGE, and according to the kids a bit too much.

Big Fish from Conneaut Lake

I love this picture. Larry Sousa, Bob's grandfather, is on the left. That's Bill the Greek on the right. I've never heard him referred to as anything but that. He was a sort of security guard around the Midway Hotel, and he didn't let anything get past him. I imagine they caught this fish in the lake.

More Pictures from Ernst Trail Run

The race photographer for the Ernst Trail Run posted these photos online.

You can see us about five from the back of this photo (I'm in aqua, Kate's in pink and Ben's in grey). This is just as the race began, as we left Ernst Conservation Seeds and headed to the Ernst Trail.

Crossing the finish line

Ben was the first of the three of us to finish

Awards Ceremony

Our One and Only Trip to Sharon

I've been curious about Sharon for a few years now for a number of reasons. 1) I was flipping through a real estate magazine a few years ago and noticed a house for sale there that was offered at the shockingly low price of $8,000. 2) I keep seeing billboards advertising Reyers, "The World's Largest Shoe Store". 3) I recently found out that Sharon is also home to The Winner, the world's largest off-price women's clothing store. 4) The original Quaker Steak and Lube (yes, you read the Steak part correctly) is in Sharon - this is a theme restaurant the kids have wanted to try. And finally, 5) Daffin's Candy is billed as the World's Largest Candy Store. Not to mention the photo-ops for my mom (Sharon). All of this just a half hour away. These pictures are from our visit a few weeks ago.

Well, we can cross Sharon off of our list of places to go. Apparently there is no regulation to calling yourself "The World's Largest".

Here's my mom, about to head into The Winner, which turned out to be a loser. This picture was taken before we realized it was 75,000 square feet of ugly.

This store does offer a Men's Lounge with television and free beer and popcorn.

We couldn't stop laughing because each item was worse than the next. Basically 75,000 square feet of pageant wear. My conversation with the saleswoman:

Me:  "Who buys these things?!"

Saleswoman: "Oh, Brides, mothers of the bride..."

Me: "Well, I've been to a lot of weddings and I've never seen anything like this!"

The World's Largest Shoe store was a big improvement over The Winner. I'm still not sure about it being the world's largest though.

The World's Largest Candy Store...again, a stretch

This is Daffin's collection of large, dusty chocolate figures, aka The Candy Kingdom

Quaker Steak and Lube was a hit with the kids, so we ended the trip on a positive.

And, in case you're wondering, houses are still available for under $10,000 in Sharon.

Family Traditions

We're all exhausted after a week of non-stop fun. The kids are determined not to miss any of our yearly traditions.

Dollar Spaghetti Night at Oakland Beach Golf Course

The kids running around by the golf course pond after dinner

Badminton

Hank's Frozen Custard

Miniature Golf at Pizza Joe's