Trip to Michigan

My mom, Brooke and I took a trip to Michigan to visit my mom's family. We left on Wednesday July 6th. The drive took about 5 and a half hours. Brooke did really well on her first longer road trip. We rigged up a portable DVD player for her in the back. Our neighbors loaned us some Barney and Nick Jr DVD's.
We stayed with my mom's sister Shirley, at her house in Sterling Heights. Her oldest son Jim was also visiting. He came with his girlfriend Lisa from Georgia. Brooke loved meeting everyone. My Aunt Shirley had gone to Toys R Us and bought the cutest toys for Brooke.
We had a really nice cookout at my cousin John's house on Thursday. They have a great outdoor setup and a nice salt water pool. We had tons of fun swimming and being outside. My cousin Jim made a best ribs. He worked on them all day. It was really nice to see everyone. I had not been to visit in almost 5 years.
On Friday we drove about an hour to see my cousin Paul's daughter Rachel in her softball tournament. I had a lot of fun experimenting with my camera zoom lens. I'm sure I looked like a paparazzi stalking her in the outfield.
After the game we met Michelle at Panera Bread. Michelle's husband Ryan went to Med school with Keith in Chicago. Michelle and Ryan are living in Canton, MI while he is doing his residency. I was especially excited to see her because she was due with her first baby in 1 week. (She had the baby three days after we saw her) It was so nice to visit with her.
We ate a ton of great food while we were there. My aunt fixed her amazing potato salad. I think I ate a pound of it. She also got a honey baked ham. What a treat!! We really enjoyed our little trip to Michigan. We drove back on Saturday morning so we could get home for dinner with Keith. I wish he could have come with us; definitely on the next visit.

4th of July lunch at Burgatory

We had a wonderful lunch at a new burger place in Pittsburgh on the 4th of July. THe restaurant had amazing burgers, shakes and truffle fries; yum!! They had a create your own burger option. There were so many choices, between rubs, toppings, and bread. I think of got carried away with my order. My burger was a bit overwhelming. NExt time I will get one of their standard burgers on the menu. We had the waitress take our picture. I was suprised at how great it came out. Everyone is looking, even Brooke.
Ryan and Kelly headed back to DC after lunch. We were so glad to spend the whole weekend with them.

4th of July party with the Podiatry families

Pete and Lindsey hosted a 4th of July cookout at their house on Sunday the 3rd. Almost all of the podiatry residents and their families were there. Lindsey bought a fun blow up pool for the kids to swim. I think they would have stayed in there the whole time. Brooke was fearless in the pool. She did go under twice and we had to pull her out. This was a good lesson for me to never turn my eyes away from her in a pool.
We enjoyed being outside; it even sprinkled on us a little bit. The food and company were great. My mom asked Jess if she would take a family picture for us at the party. The ones she took turned out great.

Block Party for the 4th Weekend

We love our neighbors! They decided to throw a block party on Saturday July 2nd. I was so nice to make food and then walk it right out our front door. We had quite a spread of appetizers, hamburgers/hot dogs, and desserts. Everyone brought their lawn chairs and set them up in the street. We enjoyed hours of visiting, playing with the kids and eating. Ryan, Kelly and had a great time playing the bean bag game. Ryan and Kelly were so patient with all the little kids. They taught them how to baseball with a huge plastic bat and wiffle ball. Brooke could not have been happier. She loved being outside with all the big kids. She was definitely worn out by 8 o'clock. We could put her down for bed and bring the monitor back out to the party. Our montior works in the street; so we could keep visiting and relaxing outside.
The kids finished the night be lighting sparklers and some small fireworks. What a great 4th of July party.

First Settlers Win

I had to document Ryan's first time of winning the game Settlers. We have been playing this game for over 3 years and this was his first time to win. It was a HUGE deal.

Red Sox game with Ryan and Kelly

We went to a Saturday night baseball game in Pittsburgh with Ryan and Kelly on June 25t. Pittsburgh was playing Ryan's favorite team, the Boston Red Sox. Ryan required that all of us wear Boston clothing. Of course, none of us own Boston clothing, so he brought extras.
This was the first time I've ever seen the Pirates ballpark with a full house. There were no empty seats. We enjoyed the game and some great food. What other ballpark has buffalo wings and Primanti sandwiches. Mmmmm.......

VBS

I was so excited to help out with the VBS at our church this year. We wanted to be involved last year; but Brooke was born one week before VBS. Anyway, I signed up to help in the 4's class. I had a blast. The theme for the week for God's big top and they decorated everything like the circus. On the last night, they had a big carnival for all the kids and their parents. My mom worked the snow cone booth and I ran a carnival fishing game. It is amazing to me how much work our little church puts into VBS. I think everyone was a volunteer in some way. I wish there was a picture or video or the performances on the last night. Each class sang a song and did choreography. My group wore hippo masks and sang the Hip Hip Hip Hippopotamus song. It was too cute. Yay for a great Holiday Park VBS>

The infected thumb

Brooke has been sucking her thumb since she was in the womb. When she is teething; she bite on that same thumb. A few weeks ago; her thumb turned very red and puffed up. We watched to see if it would get better, but it stayed swollen and red. We took her to the pediatrician to see what was going on. He said it was an infection. He took that thumb and squeezed so hard. A bunch of icky stuff came out and she had a bruise under the skin. I'm sure it felt much better after the pressure was released. I tried to take a picture after we came home from the dr. It is a bit fuzzy, but you get the idea. The Dr. also put her on an antibiotic for 2 weeks; just so the infection would not spread.

Storybook Forest

We took a road trip to Storybook Forest with Lindsey and Jess. I cannot tell you how much we enjoyed this place. It was kind of like taking a journey back 30 years before there were so many rules. They let you bring in your own food and drink. Everyone rode the rides, even the babies. There were no lines and everything was included with your admission ticket. Needless to say, we enjoyed our day at Storybook Forest. We stayed at the park for almost 6 hours and I think Chase and Tally would have stayed all night. It was the perfect place for them. Here are quite a few pictures from our day.