July 4th Weekend, Part 1

Usually our July 4th weekend is pretty low key with some kind of family cookout and then Doug has taken Koen to the fireworks the past two years.  Well, this year we had BIG PLANS!  A few weeks ago Doug and his brother, Scott, made plans that Scott and his wife and family would come visit this weekend.  We were thrilled and quickly started brainstorming some good ideas on how to spend the weekend showing off the Burgh and spending quality time with family.  

Scott, Jen, Katelyn and Casey arrived in town this morning and we had them meet us at the Gateway Clipper on the SouthSide.  We found out just recently that on July 4th kids tickets are $1.  Doug and I have had a gift card to use on the Gateway Clipper for almost 4 years, so this seemed like the perfect opportunity.  We boarded at 11am, but while we waited we checked out the pests hanging out at the dock.  The carp are disgustingly huge and come right to the surface.  The geese are so mean they nip the carp to keep them away from their feet.  Weird!

On the way down to the dock, Doug caught this amazing picture of Penn with General Washington and General Forbes.  Could he be any more patriotic on this, America's birthday?

When we boarded for our 55 minute cruise, we went straight up to the top deck.  We weren't really sure what the cruise would entail, but we were all very happy to learn that it would be narrated.  We all learned so much!  Scott and Jen loved learning all about Pittsburgh and Doug and I picked up a plethora of new factoids (be prepared visiting friends, we are armed and ready with random facts now!).  A few favorites...  Did you know that Pittsburgh has the most bridges of any other city in the world?  It even outdoes Venice by 3!  Did you know that a B52 bomber crashed in the Monongahela River and there is no exact recorded history regarding its remains?  Did you know that Pittsburgh is the second largest inland port after New Orleans?  Did you also know that you can sail any where in the world from Pittsburgh?  Just go up the Ohio and take a left at the Mississippi and you will get to the Gulf and on to wherever destination you desire.  Pretty cool, huh?  Yeah, there's lots more, but I'll spare you for now.  I'm not sure how many of the facts the boys picked up, but they certainly loved the river cruise with tons of motorboats, jet skis, police boats, trains and T's crossing our path along the way.  Penn was so delighted!  We even got a really close look at a news helicopter that must have found our tour as some good footage for the noon-time news.

Here are some pics of the boys enjoying the ride.

After our fantastic time on the Gateway Clipper (highly recommend it...what a fun way to see and learn about the city!), we headed to have our picnic.  Originally we intended to eat down at the Point where there were a lot of Regatta activities happening, but it was pretty packed and the boys were already quite hungry and would definitely need a nap on time after the fun morning, so we shot over to Schenley Plaza and picnicked under the sycamore trees in front of Carnegie library.  It was lovely.  I've forgotten to mention how amazing the weather is this 4th of July.  It's spectacular.  Amazingly beautiful.  Mid-70's, breezy and sunny.  We couldn't dream of a better day.  At the picnic the boys really got acclimated with Uncle Scott, Aunt Jen and cousins, Casey and Katelyn.  Penn especially took a really sweet liking to Aunt Jen.  As our picnic came to a close, the kids all went with Aunt Jen to see Dippy the dinosaur a few yards away.  Look how cute that they are all trooping off together and Penn hand in hand with Casey and Aunt Jen!

After the picnic, Doug dropped the little guys and I off at home and then he and Koen took Scott, Jen, C & K down to the Point to check out the BMX races, pogo stick jumping competition and the motorboat races.  They returned worn out around 3:45pm and hung out for some restful time until dinner.  Koen and Casey palled around and watched soccer, played Legos and spent some time in the backyard kicking around the soccer ball.  Koen absolutely loved the one-on-one cousin time.  He is such a social, relationship-oriented kid.  He has been talking about this visit for weeks, mainly because he was anticipating seeing his beloved cousins.  

Being that it is 4th of July, we just had to grill out an All-American meal.  We ate around 6pm and hung out until 7pm, then Doug took Koen and Tavin (for the first time!) to the fireworks with Scott, Jen, C & K.  Tavin was so excited!  Here they are destinated at a good spot on the North Shore to see the fireworks shoot off the barge moored at the Point!

I stayed at home with Penn, but have been "enjoying" the raucous 4th celebrations happening around our neighborhood...spraklers, fireworks, yelling, what have you.  Classic!  I did watch some of the downtown display on the news on TV so I could feel like I was with my boys.  

It was beautiful with the lit-up city in the background and they really know fireworks, so the show is non-stop!  

Stay tuned for more of our fun 4th of July weekend with Scott, Jen, Casey and Katelyn!