An excuse for a Vacation!

Brian had a conference in Pittsburgh, PA this weekend, and since he had to drive down and stay in a hotel we decided to make a vacation out of it and tag along with him! We left on Friday around noon and got to Pittsburgh around 7pm. The kids were so excited to stay in a hotel, although it didn't have a pool (long story short: we used priceline to book our hotel and didn't know they could "upgrade" you... so we were "upgraded" to a hotel without a pool or a continental breakfast. Grrr.) Friday night we went out to eat at Max & Erma's, which is one of my favorite places out here. I loooove their cheesy tortilla soup. So yummy. Saturday Brian had to do a presentation at the conference, so the kids and I drove him downtown Pittsburgh to the Conference center and I was reminded that I am a Small Town Girl. I hate city driving! But we survived and got back out of the busy city and I took the kids to a park, McDonald's and then to Toys 'R Us. We decided against doing a zoo or a museum and just let the kids each pick something out at the toy store. It was fun to watch them choose. Sophie chose a stuffed kitty that she thought looked very curious and named her Bun Bun. Nora chose an Ariel jewelry set that came with clip on earrings, a bracelet and a singing shell necklace. And Miles chose out a hotwheels Monster Truck (a small one). All together they were less than $16.00! Then we went back to pick Brian up and went to the Duquesne Incline. Which basically is a cable car that runs up and down a mountain and used to hoist coal up and down (I think...) Brian's friend/co-student from MSU who was also at the conference came with us and we all had fun. The high for the kids was the huge turkey we saw on the mountain and the low was when Nora lost her brand new flip flop off the edge of the look-out. Oh, well. At least they were cheap! We grabbed some pizza on the way back to our hotel and all watched Barbie & the 3 Musketeers together. The goal was to have Nora and Miles fall asleep during the movie but it didn't happen... so at 11:14 we all went to bed. Sunday Brian had to go back to the conference for an awards brunch on the presentations that were done - and he won first place and $400! I'm quite proud of him, he works very hard and it's so great to see him accomplish something when I know how hard he works. The kids and I again dropped Brian off at the conference center and then drove about 10 minutes away to attend the last hour of church. It was nice to at least do something to remind the kids that it was still Sunday even though we weren't at home. Although on the way Sophie said, "I'm just a little nervous to go because I'm not sure they are going to be teaching the right things at this church." It was cute and I had to explain that even though it wasn't our church house it was still our church and they believe and teach all the same things we do. After church we picked Brian up and headed north towards Kirtland, Ohio. On the way Miles puked on Sophie's lap twice so that caused for some drama on the drive. We stayed somewhere along the way and had some more drama with the hotel when we went to check in and the pool was CLOSED. We had been telling the kids all along we'd be able to swim at the second hotel since the first one didn't work out. Luckily after Brian did some haggling we were able to cancel and went across the street to a hotel that had a pool and a continental breakfast. We let the kids swim as long as they wanted and they had a great time. That night Miles started running a fever and got so hot - I didn't have a thermometer but I would guess it was near 104 - Brian went to Wal-Mart and bought a thermometer and some Motrin and although it was a long night Miles was feeling much better by morning.. although he had a fever all the next day. Monday we went to the John Johnson farm that is about 45 minutes outside of Kirtland. It was neat to be there (It was my second time - I went with the Youth two summers ago for Youth Conference). The couple missionaries that were there were so great with the kids and since it was a rainy day we were the only ones there so we got a great tour! Afterward we drove up to Kirtland and went by the temple - sadly it wasn't opened for tours - and then headed to the LDS Kirtland Visitors Center and toured the Newel K. Whitney store and home (along with some other buildings we didn't see). A fun surprise when we got there was one of the Sister Missionaries was the little sister of one of my best friends from High School! It was so fun to see her, she has only been there about a month. Next we drove up to the temple quarry site to see where the Saints brought the limestone from the temple. This was the place Nora was the most excited about. Then we had some lunch and headed home. We had a great time spending so much time together as a family.

The pics:

Sophie enjoying lounging around at the hotel in her jammies
Nora and Miles giving morning kisses

This was a picture I took while we were in a traffic jam on the freeway, it made me laugh. Looks like a pretty dangerous overlook. It's obviously not supposed to be used, but wouldn't you think they would just take down the whole thing?Here's us going down the Duquesne Incline.

The kids all loved this!
Pittsburgh...
Walking to the overlook.
Moments before Nora lost her shoe.
Miles loved the cable car ride. He kept saying, "Like. Thomas. Like. Thomas!"
Looking at the city

Playing computer games at the hotel
Heading down to the swimming pool - finally!
The summer kitchen at the John Johnson farm.
The Missionary letting the kids get a closer look at the winter kitchen at the Johnson farm.

The girls in the bedroom that Joseph and Emma used while staying at the Johnson farm from September 1831-September 1832. The room Joseph was pulled from the night he and Emma's adopted twins were sick with the measles, that night he was tarred and feathered with Sidney Rigdon outside the home, but still preached the Sunday sermon the next day.
Their 10 month old son died 5 days later.

The steps of the Johnson home... where Joseph preached on Sundays.
In the back of the house.
Here we are at Kirtland in the Newel K. Whitney store - Sister Connie Owen is on the right!

Up at the Quarry. Those long marks in the rock were made by the workers who would pound stakes into the rock to bring pieces to the temple.

And if you stuck it out to the end of this extra long post here is a picture to make it worth your while! He will never smile normally for a picture (when it's just a picture of him) - and I even warned him it was going on the blog!