Nina, Pinta, and Pittsburgh

After Kyle, Sarah, and I took a very thorough tour of Slippery Rock University, we all set out for Pittsburgh. It was a beautiful day for a ride in the car. As we got close to the city, I pulled out the camera, very excited to take pictures of a “new” place. While looking for a place to park, this caught my eye.

We finally found a place to park near where we wanted to go. As we started walking towards the riverfront, I glanced up and just had to take a picture of Charlie Tuna smiling down on us!

This is the the reason we went to Pittsburgh in the first place…

These are replicas of the Nina and Pinta. They are really cool ships! For more information, go here.

The ships were right near Heinz Stadium and PNC Park. The views across the river were awesome. As I stood there looking across the river, I was impressed with a few things.

This is 1000 Grandview Avenue. I stood for a long time trying to figure out what the building was, then I blew up this photo trying to figure it out. Finally, I looked it up this morning and found out that it is a 62 unit condo complex. I could definitely live there! No yard, but an amazing view and no worries of anything being built to obstruct that view!

I like the building with the funky top in the back right.

I am not a football fan, but I took this from the ramp garage in which we parked and I thought it was a cool picture.

Try as I might, I was not able to convince my mother-in-law to drive through this tunnel. I abslutely love driving through tunnels. I think they are really cool. This particular tunnel also holds some fond memories for me. As a child, I went with my grandparents to visit my uncle when he was attending a school in Pittsburgh. That was the first time I had ever been to Pittsburgh as well as my first time in a tunnel. I did get a cool picture of it at least!

This is part of a Vietnam Veterans Memorial. I thought these were really neat statues.

Prime Outlets Grove City

After visiting the campus of Slippery Rock University, we went to check out the outlet mall nearby. Kyle, Sarah, and I are going to head back over to the campus this morning to get a tour, which they apparently do every morning and afternoon.

Even though this picture is lousy, with a nasty glare, I found the message amusing for a beautiful, unusually warm autumn day.

Okay, I realize the weather is odd and unseasonally warm, but a lit Christmas tree?

Sarah was pouting at me about something…

Kyle, annoyed with my picture taking, suddenly stopped on the sidewalk, while my camera was neatly tucked away inside my bag, and said demanded that I take a picture of the little birds.

After the mall, we went to a great restaurant for dinner. I took pictures of the outside because the kids said it is too embarrassing when I take pictures inside restaurants and things, but it was quite dark and they did NOT turn out well. I will snap a couple this morning as we go by and hopefully they will be better.

The big kids and I are off for a campus tour now. Then down to Pittsburgh!

Slippery Rock University

We went to check out Slippery Rock University today. It is a neat looking campus. I am super exhausted after a long day riding to PA, then checking out the campus, shopping at the Prime Outlets, and finally dinner. I will post a few pictures I shot on the campus, then I am going to sleep!

I took a few more pictrures, but I am way too tired to edit! More tomorrow.

Corbett’s Glen

I have lived in the Rochester area longer than I have lived anywhere else and only just found this gem! I dragged bribed Jeff into going with us. We all had a good time and got some good exercise.

The journey starts by passing through a tunnel into the park. It has a rather narrow road/bridge that empties into a clearing…with a private residence… It is the type of place that woud be cool to live, if it wasn’t in the midddle, literally, of a public park. At the end of the tunnel, there is a waterfall. Being a lover of moving water I took many pictures, but I’ll only share one.

The path through the park is made up of landscape fabric covered with mulch and in some places gravel. As we walked along we encountered a few people carrying fishing poles. We soon came to another waterfall.

Just below this waterfall is where the fishermen were. There was also a rope swing that went out over the water. I imagine in the spring, when the stream is flooded, there might be enough water to drop into, but it didn’t exactly look safe to me… maybe I’m just getting old!

By the time we got to the second waterfall, my family was getting annoyed with me. I kept finding cool things to photograph. Here are some of the things I found…

Yup! It really was that gorgeous (and warm) on November 7th in upstate NY.

Sarah loves the outdoors.

Erin just loves being with us.

This is a great bench.

We all tried it out. Jeff let me take his picture (choke, gasp) from across the field. Kyle was with us, but avoided getting in front of the camera. He is not fond of having his picture taken…

Erin, on the other hand, will pose for a picture anytime!

It was a gorgeous day for a walk. I think everyone had a good time. After our hike, we went to Schutt’s and got fry cakes and apple cider. That was the bribe. I told Jeff I’d take him to Schutt’s if he would go to the park with us. Truth is, I really don’t mind going to Schutt’s. There are so many fun things to look at. By the time we got home, everyone was tired.

I had to run out and do get a couple things, then it was time for dinner. We picked up an apple and cinnamon pancake mix while we were at Schutt’s so we made those for dinner. Kyle and Sarah chopped up some apples to go into them while Erin mixed the batter. Erin asked if she could cook them, so I supervised. I am fairly impressed with her willingness and ability to cook. She is not at all afraid of the stove (gas burners and all), but has a pretty healthy respect for it. I wouldn’t let her cook by herself, but supervised she does a great job. She will even put things in the oven. Hasn’t gotten quite brave enough to take anything out yet though…

Hockey

Erin decided about a year or so ago that she really wanted to be a hockey goalie. We purchased her equipment over time, making sure that she really wanted to be a goaltender. Hockey is not a cheap endeavor, and goal equipment is ridiculously expensive. She went to a camp over the summer and loved it. We signed her up for a developmental league for this year. She has practices twice a week, but no actual league games. They typically scrimmage at the end of practice. She is learning so much and I am amazed each week as I watch and see how much she learns and improves with each session.

I usually watch her from the warmth of the observation areas upstairs, but today I watched from the players bench so I could take a bunch of pictures. Mostly I wanted to take pictures so she could see what she is doing right and what she needs to work on.

Here are a couple of the best shots…

I have finally warmed back up from this adventure. Erin is so excited about playing hockey and she is really doing well!

Happy Birthday Jeffrey!

On Tuesday Jeff had a birthday. That morning I, unfortunately, had to have some allergy testing done. Having never had that done before, I wasn’t sure what to expect, and I am still getting hives from time to time where I was tested on my arm. After the testing, all I wanted to do was sleep.

I did manage to throw some corned beef into the crockpot before taking a nap though. When I awakened, I remembered that I had forgotten to get cabbage, so we ran to the store and got some. I then made Jeff’s cake. When I asked what he wanted, all he told me was pineapple. I made a white cake in two layers, and made some pineapple yummy (filling) to go between them. Oh, he also told me that he is not fond of butter cream frosting, so I found a recipe for creme fraiche frosting, so I made that instead. The whole thing was rather yummy. I had gotten the Wall-E and Eve figures ages ago and somehow managed to hide them until I finished the cake. (He really likes Wall-E)

Today I was feeling rather industrious, so I made a grape pie with the filling my mom had given me. I tried an oil based crust which turned out fabulous! We had a little left over frosting from Jeff’s cake, so we put that on top of our pieces of pie and it was delicious! I also made pumpkin muffins to try to use up some left over pumpkin I made  last week. I also used the left over crumb topping from the grape pie for the muffins. Good stuff! As I baked, Joe (aka Hoover) looked on keeping an eye on the floor in case he was needed for clean-up duty.

Once I finished baking, I made curried, pecan crusted pork sandwiches for my family. I don’t eat pork so I planned to have left-over chicken as an open faced sandwich, but I was so tired, I skipped dinner. I can’t figure out why I’m soooo exhausted! Ha Ha Ha!

Jensen Stables XC 2009

I can’t believe it has been an entire month since I last posted!

Kyle had his insane XC race today at the horse stable this morning. This is the second time he has run the 12k. Last year he got lost and was nearly the last finisher. We were just hoping he’d finish without getting lost this year, which he was in fact successful in doing. I took over 600 pictures of the event, but I will only share a few of them here, lest I bore all (5) of my readers and scare them away, lol!

Kyle, as the race began.

 

Very steep hill near the beginning of the race.

Just after the marshy, muddy mess. Notice the muddy feet?

Still smiling. Last time we saw Kyle until the end of the race...

Even though these guys weren’t in the race, I couldn’t help but snap a few photos of them. It was pretty funny to watch them running up and down the pasture as the runners went past their paddock.

Good day for a roll...

...and a good chin rub on the grass...

Feet up...

Kyle with one last obstacle before the finish line.

Just before Kyle finished the race, the kids 2k race began. Erin decided this morning that she wanted to run the kid’s race, so we signed her up when we arrived.

Erin, shortly after the start of her race.

Erin, finishing her race.

All in all, both kids enjoyed themselves, my mother-in-law and I froze, and Kyle finished without getting lost. It was a good morning!

Apple Picking

Erin and I decided to go pick apples today while Kyle and Sarah were at my in-laws. Erin kept bugging me to do something “fun” and a friend mentioned she was going apple picking, so I thought Erin might enjoy that. She was quite excited about it and when I asked if she wanted me to get Kyle and Sarah so they could go, she was adamant about wanting just the two of us to go. She is a girl who knows her mind!

The apple farm we chose is not terribly big, so we didn’t have to walk too far, or lug the 24 pounds of apples that we picked very far. We picked some Jonamacs, Ginger Gold, and Twenty Ounce. We plan to make a bunch of applsauce with the Jonamacs and the Twenty Ounce. The Ginger Gold we will just eat as they are.

While waiting for the wagon to take us to the orchard, we spotted this…

Good shady spot!

This is one of the wagons that carried people to and from the orchard.

Very bumpy ride!

As we headed down the first row of Jonamac apples, this caught my attention.

It is probably a good thing Kyle wasn’t with us. He would have run screaming from the place after his encounter on Wednesday!

A little later, Erin pointed out this huge apple on the ground. She insisted I take a picture of it, so I did. Then I decided that it was hard to tell, from the picture, how big is was. I asked her to find a “normal” sized apple from the ground to put with it. The apple on the left is an average size Jonamac. The mutant, on the right, is just plain enormous. At first I thought it was a squash of some sort.

Here are a few more pictures from our day…

I am not certain what kind of apples these are, but they weren’t ready yet. The trees were just bulging with these bright red apples!

When we finished our apple picking, we picked up a 1/2 gallon of cider and a bag of pears. We are going to add pears to some of our applesauce. I think it adds a little extra sweetness without adding (processed) sugar. We then went to a nearby Bill Grays and had some healthy yummy food before heading home.

Busy Week Running

Kyle had a rather busy week running. On Sunday we all arose at the crack of dawn to go to the Rochester MVP Healthcare Marathon and Half Marathon. It was a perfect day for running. I don’t think the temperature got much over 70 and when the races started around 7:30, it was only in the imd 60’s. I had never been to such a large running event. There were hundreds of runners, over 2300 actually!

The above picture shows just some of the many people there for the races. This was taken about 1/2 an hour before the full marathon was to begin. The 1/2 started 15 minutes after the full. There were a lot of people!

We took Kyle to Frontier Field, where the race headquarters were set up, then we walked with him to the starting line a 1/2 mile away. As we were waiting for the races to start, I glanced down at his feet and noticed he was wearing his old, very worn out shoes. He had gotten a new pair about 3 weeks earlier, but had neglected to grab them for the race. We had planned to meet him in a couple places along the course to provide Gatorade, water, and (for my sanity) to check on him to make sure he was okay. I suggested that we could run home, grab his shoes, and he could change at the first meeting point. He thought that was a good idea, so off we went.

We decided to leave before the start of the race to ensure we could stop to get the coffee I bribed promised Jeff for getting up so early, run home for Kyle’s shoes, and buy Gatorade at Walgreens by our first meeting point. Kyle made good time and we gave him his shoes and a Gatorade. The whole change took about 3 minutes. I suppose in a 13 mile race, 3 minutes isn’t too long…

After he changed and ran off again, we hopped back in the Jeep and went to the next point, a nearby park. I was impressed by the number of people along the course cheering the runners on. I am sure it was encouraging to the runners. Kyle made excellent time to the second point and only had about 4 more miles to go. We jumped into the Jeep one last time and hurried back to Frontier Field. Parking was a little nutty, but we managed to make it to the finish line with about 10 minutes to spare. His official time was 1:52:20. He had planned to finish in around 2 hours, 20 minutes, so he was quite pleased with his time! I wonder what his time would have been if he hadn’t had to change his shoes during the race…

The finish line was a flurry of activity with medical people observing the runners as they finished, the always cheerful Ellen was calling out as many names of finishers as she could, and finisher medals being handed out. I was so caught up in the commotion, I only took one picture and it was horrid…fuzzy! Oh, well! The finish chute ended in a large fenced area where they had a medic tent, massage tent, and food tent. I was very impressed by the organization and the dedication on the part of the volunteers. They all seemed to know exactly what to do and everything ran smoothly…no pun inteded!

Cool horse at Frontier Field

Now that the 1/2 Marathon is done, Kyle wants to get ready for what is probably his favorite race. Jensen Stables 12K is an insane cross country race through horse pastures, fields, woods, up steep slopes, down muddy slopes, through (or around) an icy pond, etc. Kyle ran it last year and got very lost. He finished almost last, but thoroughly enjoyed himself anyway! In an effort to prepare, I suggested that he run a couple “off road” races over the next few weeks. We found that the final race of the FF Dirt Cheap Trail Races was going to be run on Wednesday. Kyle decided to run it.

We arrived pretty early so Kyle went and ran a short warm up, then decided he was ready. Just before the start of the race, they described how the course is quite technical and a bit dangerous in a couple places…something about stairs and a steep drop… I got a little concerned, but figured he’d be okay. The course was about 4 miles, so I expected we’d see him in about 30 – 35 minutes. He finished in 37:55 and he was ANGRY as he crossed the finish line. Apparently about 5 minutes before he finished the race, he encountered a nest of angry wasps that someone ahead of him had stirred up! He had at least 4 stings by the time he finished. Kyle has never handled bee stings very well! We gave him some benadryl and hurried to my in-laws so he could shower and survey the damage. As we were driving there and asking him about the stings, he announced he had gotten stung again! Apparently one of the wasps went up his shorts, got caught in one of the folds, and when he sat and shifted just right, it stung him!

After a shower and some topicals, he was fine. I was impressed that he calmed down as quickly as he did. Normally something like that would make him very angry and he would stay that way for a long time. He was already talking about the next “off road” event he plans to run by the time he was finished treating his stings. He is definitely maturing!

Here are a few pictures of the event.

Irondequoit Bay

Race start and finish

Sarah being silly!

Registration tent

I had planned to take more pictures of the finishers, but after Kyle finished and announced he’d been stung multiple times, I thought better of staying. The finish of the race was great because they came around a bend, then up the hill. I was on the side at the top of the hill, with a great shot of the bend. It was an ideal spot for photographing the race.

Cool Train Stuff

In my last post I wrote about a visit to the New York Museum of Transportation. I decided it really needed it’s own post, so here goes!

I will, for the most part, let the pictures do the talking…

It was a gorgeous day!

Some of the cars inside the museum are set up to allow people to walk into them.

The following 3 pictures are from a 1914 car, Car 157,  with a very interesting story. I was very impressed with the beautiful mahogany trim!

The rest of the pictures were taken at Industry Depot. I just felt some of them needed to be in black and white!

These last two were taken inside the depot building. I was so impressed with the details on the seats. The entire building was finished in the same way that the corner I have shown was. I was just impressed with the attention to detail here! Definitely from another time!

This is the other track-car. I showed a picture of one in the previous post. You sit on the orange seats in the front and ride in the open air. It was quite exhilarating! I would not want to do this with small children. It is a little too open…with no seatbelts!