A Labor Day Trip to Kennywood

Sorry that I haven’t updated you on my food budget challenge.  I hope to do that in the next few days.  I’ve been ill since last Wednesday, nothing too serious, just a little painful.

Instead, I’ve decided to write about our recent trip to Kennywood Park, in West Mifflin, PA, which is just outside of Pittsburgh.  I grew up going to Kennywood all the time because my parents’ home was less than 5 minutes from the park.  I had such fond memories of it that John and I actually used it as the setting for the majority of our wedding pictures.

So, we were excited that we were going to be able to take Charlie there for the first time over Labor Day weekend.  Thankfully, we were able to go along with my cousin, her husband, and four children (whom Charlie absolutely adores) which made it much more fun.  Charlie was able to ride everything in Kiddieland with her cousins and John was able to ride some roller coasters with my cousins’ oldest daughter.  For some reason I just wasn’t in the mood to ride the coasters (Actually, I really wanted to ride them, I was just in no mood to stand in line!)

Here are a bunch of pictures from our trip.  Charlie had an absolute blast!  The smiles on her face will speak for themselves.

We started out the day on the baby turtles.  I rode along for fun.

 

 

My cousin took Charlie on a Tilt-a-Whirl style ride (I knew my stomach wouldn’t make it.  I have problems with rides that go in circles anymore).

Then, Charlie got to ride on her very first ROLLER COASTER!!  She just kept saying, “MORE! MORE!  ‘GIN! ‘GIN!”  I think she liked it!

Charlie and her cousin rode on the baby Whip.  You can see the progression of fun she was having.  A woman was standing next to me watching and said, “Look at how much fun that little one is having!”  (Charlie was the smallest on the ride).  I said, “I know!  That’s my kid!”

She also rode on the baby swings and the motorcycles with her cousins.

Soon, it was time for lunch, then nap time.  By then, things were getting crowded in the park.  Lines were getting a little long, especially for a 20 month old with no patience.  So, John and Charlie rode the roller coaster one more time, then we headed to the carousel before we left.

We couldn’t get her to look at John. She was too busy watching the merry-go-round. But, it’s a fabulous picture of me!

We can’t wait to go back next year!  By then, she might be tall enough to ride one of the bigger roller coasters.  She kept calling them “Vroom Trains” and was so upset when we’d take her away from watching them.

Holidays

The holidays are over for another year.  Thank goodness!  There is always so much stress and it’s always so busy.  For Christmas we traveled to Pittsburgh.  We had a nice time celebrating on Christmas Eve with our godson, our cousins, my aunt and uncle, and my parents.  Our pictures are now up on our picture site.

On Christmas Day, we did absolutely nothing.  My parents’ TV in their upstairs living room (where John and I were hanging out) died, so we ended up spending the day without watching much TV.  Instead, I managed to read 4 books on my Kindle while John watched a bunch of movies on Hulu.  I guess we’re getting to the point where TV isn’t the main source of our entertainment.

We drove back to Philly on Sunday (after buying new TVs for my parents on Saturday).  Toby was so good on both the drive out and the drive in.  We were so happy with the way he behaved.  He was also really good with our godson, Eric (unlike Sophie who wouldn’t stop hissing and trying to scratch and claw him).

We celebrated Toni’s birthday on the 30th by going out to dinner at Longhorn, then back to John’s parents’ house for cake.

For New Year’s, we made reservations at Parc, Stephen Starr’s French Bistro on Rittenhouse Square.  It was quite good.  John had escargot, duck, and chocolate mousse.  I had onion soup, trout, and profiteroles.  Everything was really yummy.  We came home, John played Assassin’s Creed II, and I promptly fell asleep.  I don’t remember the last time I was up at midnight on New Year’s.