Back to the 'Burgh, Part 2

Once Jacob's tournament was over, we had to pretty quickly clear out of there in order to make it to the baseball game.  We had to get back to the car (same convenient parking ramp as the evening before) and find a new ramp closer to the stadium so Jacob would be okay to walk it.  The game was starting in about a half hour from the time we left, so we were fortunate to find a close ramp across the river for only $20.  From there we just had to walk over!

We got to our seats as the anthem was playing...so not too shabby!  It was a little chilly--only in the 50s--which wouldn't have been so bad if the sun hadn't gone behind clouds for most of the game.  It still wasn't intolerable, but I really missed the sun!

Pittsburgh has embraced a funny thing this season - "Hoist the Cone".  Apparently a shirt was inadvertently made and sold that said "Hoist the Cone" instead of "Hoist the Colors", and the Pirates turned it into a whole thing.  The stadium is now filled with people lifting construction cones into the air with each big play.  Even the dugout has one!  It's pretty hilarious, and even more so when people are raising their cones (instead of their kids) during the "Simba Cam".

Not a bad view from our seats--our first time in the outfield!

These seats actually gave us way more than we bargained for!  For one, there was a home run that landed six feet from us.  Had we anticipated that other people in the vicinity wouldn't exactly launch themselves at it, Jacob (maybe minus his injury) likely could have gotten to it.  If you look on the replay you can see him taking his hat off in case he could catch it!  Then, at one point in the game, the left fielder threw a ball into the stands above us.  He threw a lot of balls into the stands, actually--one guy caught one in his cone!--but this one went high above us.  We didn't find out until later, when it went viral (!), that he was throwing to a little girl who was wearing his jersey.  Her brother caught it over the rail and immediately gave it to her, leading to the absolute sweetest sibling hug, complete with their dad cheering behind them.  It was so adorable and made it all over social media, and even the national news!  And guess what?  We were RIGHT THERE.

This is a screengrab of the beginning of the throw.  See the people in the middle, a couple rows above the blank green panel--one with their hand on their hat and another that's all bundled up in a hoodie?  Yup, that's us.  All over the media for half a second.

This was our typical view of the player who threw it.

It was fun to have a different view for a change, although I missed having a direct view of the scoreboard, which was directly behind us, and especially the gorgeous skyline.  But it was better than I thought!

Marcell Ozuna, mid-swing--so fast you can't see the bat

Rookie sensation Konnor Griffin

Power hitter Oneil Cruz, looking tough in center field

Fortunately, braving the chill was worth it because the Pirates won!  It was actually a great game, maybe the best we've ever seen in person.  Home runs, great plays...it was awesome!

Definitely a victory for us, too, after a tough weekend!

Had to try on the pierogi hat in the store on the way out...

Also, I love these pennants.

We finally got to a spot I hadn't known existed until maybe a year or two ago, and then never got a chance to go to.  This is a tiered field and walkway outside the stadium with all of the retired numbers.  

We also saw these Hall of Famer baseballs out along the river.

Such a gorgeous view from there.  Being down near the water made me want to go on another Duck Boat tour like we did when Jacob was little!

Notice the sun had come back out as soon as the game was over...figures!  We headed back across the bridge, sat in a bit of traffic getting out of the garage, and finally got on the road.  Our next goal was to make it to the Grove City Outlets before they closed.  We'd only have about 20 minutes, but Jacob wanted to check for a couple things.  We did make it, and Jacob found a couple things, but he didn't find what he really wanted.  I did manage to get a few things Carter needed, so at least it wasn't for nothing.

Back on the road, we periodically hit some rain.  Nothing bad, but it was odd to go from sun to sprinkles and back.  It got dark sometime after we crossed the border into New York, and we ended up stopping at a rest area so I could grab dinner and Jacob could get a couple snacks.  I got my beloved Panda Express!  I ate it as quickly as possible so we could get back on the road.  Once we got past Buffalo, we started running into snow.  Now, that was annoying on its own, but considering I'd been in shorts and flip flops the previous day, it was truly offensive.  Not only that, but it was really bad snow.  It wasn't sticking on the roads, so I guess that was good, but it was coming down so hard that it was doing the "Star Wars effect" and making it really had to even see the lanes.  It definitely slowed us down and made the end of the drive extra challenging.  It was such a relief to get home after that.  All things considered, we made the best of what could have been a really challenging trip.

Meanwhile, back at home, Craig and Carter had a rare weekend alone.  Carter had a scrimmage...

...and then he and Craig went to a Knighthawks viewing party, where Carter ate his weight in food and hung out with Chopper.  But why does he look so grown up?!

So now we have a couple weekends off, which is providing much needed time to get things done around the house and be a little lazy when needed.  I just wish the weather would cooperate so I could do some things outside!  Spring may be here, but it's doing its best impersonation of early April right now, and for the foreseeable future.  Grrrr.  I need to see some tulips, but it may not happen this time around.  Onward to another busy week...