FOMO Fourth

I always feel like I get a terrible case of FOMO for summer holidays like Memorial Day or the 4th of July.  We don't really have built-in picnic setups here.  Our families are in Buffalo and we don't really have get-together sorts of friendships here.  Sometimes there's a Buffalo invite, but those have been fewer and farther between as the extended family has grown, since more people choose to hang out in smaller groups.  When those weekends come around I tend to see a lot of pictures of fun get-togethers on social media, whether it's food and fireworks at someone's house, or time at the beach, or even someone's amazing little weekend getaway, and I feel like our weekends are so boring and even lonely in comparison.  But then again, when we have crazy weekends like that, I get jealous of people who have a lazy weekend by the pool.  I can't win, clearly.

Our 4th of July weekend this year was no exception, but I feel like we did what we could to get a good balance.  As I mentioned in my last post, I took off most of the week.  I worked a full day Monday, a half day Tuesday, and unfortunately worked a couple hours on Wednesday when I wasn't planning on it because things were being asked of my big boss that she didn't have access to.  But after that, I was able to enjoy the weekend.  I can't say we did much during the days.  I was held back a little bit by my lingering COVID congestion.  It was just enough to make me not want to do things for a few hours at a time, until guilt got the best of me.  The boys hit a lot of baseballs, but that meant we didn't go in the pool nearly as much as we should have considering it was warm.  I was a little frustrated because the weather was so hot that it meant I couldn't really touch some of my to-do list items like trimming bushes along our back patio or sawing off the trees in our way back that the utility company tree cutters left a mess last month.  I did get to those things later in the weekend, finally taking a cooler evening to tackle that stuff and cross it off the list.  I also ran a couple errands and finally got myself on a couple bike rides, which were important to me to do while I had free time.  I also puttered around the yard a bit trying to keep up with weeds, pick the early arrivals in my garden (mostly snap peas and a couple beans, along with some lettuce), and keep everything watered in the heat.  All of the coffee grounds I dumped on my hydrangea seem to be boosting the blue blossoms.  I know the pics below look purple, but you can see on the bottom picture what purple really looks like and how blue the others are in comparison.  The other side has some pink, but I like the mix.  Blue has always been my favorite because it was in my bridal bouquet, so that's always a goal!  Not as as many blossoms as I'd like this year, but I think the late frost got them a bit and there's a whole new section that grew over the last year, so it's possible that part is still ramping up a bit.

Some of the flowers I grew from seed are just starting to bloom--a couple zinnias, some daisies, and bachelor buttons.  It's fun to watch, although this week we got hit by hurricane remnants (luckily just rain and not tornadoes like Buffalo) so this is probably the start of some fungus issues, as usually happens around this time of year.  The Japanese beetles are decimating my bean plant leaves, but luckily that's mostly just cosmetic.  Speaking of the hurricane, I'm glad we were in the Dominican when we were and not a few weeks later.  I don't think the area we were in got hit badly, but it probably got some good rain.

The Fourth itself we tried to spice up with a steak dinner, s'mores, and some driveway viewing of our neighbor's ridiculous fireworks.

There were actually a couple other neighbors shooting them off, but the ones on the next street were insane.  They were so big and so loud, like public-display-worthy.

Friday morning I got up and pushed myself to take a long bike ride.  It was a little hot but not intolerable since the breeze always helps.  I rode all the way to Spencerport.  Unfortunately there were no boats to see, but it was a beautiful day.

I stopped for a few minutes and enjoyed the view.

The flowers were so pretty.

We decided that night would be the perfect night to finally get back to the drive-in in Perry.  We hadn't been there since 2015, which is crazy.  Carter was only two!  Every time we think about going there, either our timeline is too tight to make the drive and enjoy everything there before the movie, or we have things happening the next day that would make the late arrival home less than ideal.  But this time, we still had the full weekend ahead of us, our only thing on Saturday wasn't until noon, and we didn't have work or anything that would prevent us from getting there early enough.  We wanted to see Despicable Me 4.  We stopped at Livingston County Pizza to get Jacob and Craig some food, and then drove the additional half hour to the place.  Of course, despite the weather having looked fine earlier in the day, it started raining.  Sigh.

Once we got our parking spot, Carter and I went to get our food.  There are so many good options there, but we opted to get pizza.  It's so good.  While we were waiting, it started raining harder.  Instead of going out to look at the mini golf course, we looked at the fun diorama of a old western scene.

We got our food and tried to eat under cover of the minivan's rear hatch.  The rain let up, so we headed back to the main area.  There was this fun fountain along the way, filled with pretend animals like otters!  It's a little hard to see, but it was cute.

We also got a picture of Carter with the giant minion!

There were a few photo ops, including this cowboy...

...and this horse.

The skies were getting quite pretty off in the distance.  This doesn't do the color or the clouds justice, but it was pretty.

We ended up having a lot of fun on the course.  I didn't have my best day, but we were actually all pretty even for most of the match.  I had a couple bad holes and that was enough to come in last (although I didn't get a mulligan like the boys each did), but I'm especially proud of Carter for hanging in there and doing well.

It's a fun western-themed course.  The greens aren't the most predictable, but the holes are all pretty doable and we had a good time. 

At the end is a hole with a rotating wheel and a couple circle cut outs.  It's almost like moving skee-ball, and if you get your ball in a hole, you get a free game.  My ball looked like it went in but must have just ricocheted out.  Boo.  I needed that bragging right.  But as the woman in the booth was confirming she didn't get notified one went in, she asked if she could ask Jacob a favor.  When we paid to get in, she was such a sweet lady, talking about being from Wales and complimenting my earrings, which I had made.  She had Jacob and Craig help take down umbrellas on the nearby deck, and gave them free passes for helping...so I guess we'll have to go back!  In the meantime I was taking more flower pics.

Wish I could get zinnias this pretty!

The movie was enjoyable, although it kept trying to rain again.  It chased Craig uncomfortably into the van for a while and then took another break, but right at the end as the credits were rolling it really started to come down.  We awkwardly packed up and tried to figure out how to make sure our lights were all back on properly and get into seats without getting soaked.  Eventually Jacob took one for the team and took his shirt off to run around to the front seat.  The parking area was nearly flooding by the time we left.  It was a bit of a rainy drive for the first half, and it's a lot of dark country roads, so we were very happy to get home and go to bed!  

Saturday Jacob had a playoff game with his baseball team.  As we were driving there I noticed a giant black cloud.  I checked the radar and it appeared it was going to stay northwest of us and go toward the lake, but it sure looked threatening--and even had some pink on the radar.  Strangely we didn't hear thunder and I never really saw much about it going elsewhere, though we watched the cloud move the whole way across and past us.  We only got a couple sprinkles then as we were right on the edge, plus a few more under mostly blue sky later, but the breeze definitely picked up as everything came through. 

They won the game and played again on Monday, but sadly Jacob was feeling a bit under the weather that day (maybe food poisoning or glutening or maybe just a quick virus passing through) so he missed it, but they made a great comeback.  The next game got rained out so hopefully Monday will be the day.

The other big event of the weekend was going to North Tonawanda to see my aunt and uncle who live in North Carolina.  They're the same ones my mom and I visited almost six years ago.  I can't believe it's been that long, actually.  They don't make it north much so it was really good to see them.  We had fun talking about "resort life" since they go to an all-inclusive in Cancun almost every year.  My aunt and I also compared notes on Coco Bongo, as my aunt took my cousin one time.  The picnic was at my cousin Doug's house, and it was good to see him too.  Not only was it his birthday, but he's recovering from cancer, so it was nice to see him for the first time in a while and see that he's doing well.  The bonus was that a bunch of my mom's cousins made it as well.  I haven't seen most of them in years, since our family reunions on that side died off around when the last of the older generation passed away and it's been a while since any family funerals.  It was really fun to see everyone again and realize how much things had evolved since those reunions, between them getting older and the kids growing up.  My mom's one cousin is almost 80, which absolutely blows my mind.  He definitely doesn't look it, and with the way he beat his body up over the years with everything from skydiving and losing a leg in a motorcycle accident to a cozy relationship with beer, it boggled my mind to think he's that old now. Time really flies.  The boys didn't have quite as much fun as me, so they did take a break in the middle to go hit baseballs and grab Jacob some food.  Hopefully no one took it personally.  I had a great time, though.  And hopefully my mom and I will take another trip down to North Carolina soon since Chihuly is back at Biltmore this year!

So, as a whole, our weekend had a little of everything that a summer holiday weekend should--some fun food, some fireworks, some pool time, some yard work, a picnic, a fun family activity, and some relaxing--both the active and inactive kind.  Not too shabby.  I still had my moments looking at other posts and wondering what we should have done better, but all things considered, it was pretty darn good.

Pittsburgh - The Museum Part and The Aftermath

On Sunday we woke up at our leisure and once again made it down just in time for breakfast.  Our only plans for the day were to go to Wahlburger's for lunch at the mall nearby and drive home.  But we also wanted to eat a good breakfast and that meant we didn't want to eat lunch immediately after, so we started talking about other plans.  Deep down I wanted to go to the Museum of Illusions because it looks very much up Carter's and my alley and would probably be fun for everyone to see, but in the end we were leaning toward the Heinz History Center.  You may recall it from our trip to Pittsburgh when Jacob was two.  With the sports museum contained in it, we figured Craig's parents would enjoy it.  Carter had never been there, and Jacob obviously didn't remember much, if anything.  A lot looked familiar, but there were new parts, too.  It was a little crazy to think that the last time we were there, Jacob was this tiny little nugget and this time he was literally old enough to drive the bus.

Carter looking on with concern at the thought of Jacob driving

My favorite photo buddy helping me get the shot.

It is the Heinz History Center after all, so of course there is a lot of Heinz memorabilia.  Such a cool old wagon.  I liked that it listed a bunch of items from their product line right on it.

It felt extra appropriate to take a picture of Carter in this old train from the Racer at Kennywood.

There was an entire exhibit on impressive women - "A Woman's Place".  A lot of it was local women doing interesting things, from suffrage stuff to TV stars to athletes.  The boys were checking out this exhibit of a couple women basketball players.

It was around this point, as we weaved around the exhibit and appropriately passed a pierogy maker display, that Craig got a text from someone who had been on the trip: one couple had tested positive for COVID.  Well, crap.  As a reminder, Craig had been stuffed up since the prior day.  Out of curiosity I put my hand up to his forehead, and sure enough, he felt a little hot.  Hmmmm.  Well...not much we could do at that point since we'd been sleeping in the same room, riding in the same van, and spending a lot of time together, so we figured we were just going to push through and he'd mask for the ride home.  I guess this really interesting piece of artwork was perfectly timed for my mood...sigh.

This was spotted in a giant picture outside the exhibit showing a soap box derby race that a successful girl driver had participated in.  Frank Budwey was a famous grocer from my hometown.  I mostly remember his store as a Bells, but it's entirely possible it was a Super Duper before that.  It mentions Western New York, so it's definitely linked.  I just thought it was cool to see.
 

In the sports museum, there was a McCutchen sighting.

Their historical artifacts from the Pirates were quite interesting...

This entire baseball room was neat, from the Forbes Field mural to the statues to the mini model of Three Rivers Stadium.  

Upstairs was one of the activities we remembered from last time.  Jacob was a little better at this one than he was 14 years ago.

This hockey section was new.  I think they had a couple things last time, but this was a full-on Penguins section.  I'm guessing maybe the Penguins' Stanley Cup-winning years around the 2010s brought on enough new memorabilia to make it needed and much more interesting.  They even had a replica of the Stanley Cup.  

Of course I snapped a picture of this Les Binkley card, because I've always wondered if we're related.

All the pucks in this shot (gathered around a Mario Lemieux statue) represent his goals.  The white ones near the front are playoff goals.

They also had bubble hockey, and if you've been here a while, you know that my family cannot pass up a good bubble hockey machine.

We were getting hungry by this point so we tried to wrap up the rest of the museum relatively quickly.  We checked out this bear...

...and then the boys realized they were in the line of fire.

After going through some of the war history stuff, everyone else was ready to go.  But my favorite floor still hadn't been visited, so I quickly dragged Carter to the Heinz exhibit.

A giant bottle made out of bottles!

There's also a glass exhibit on that floor and I remembered that one of the coolest artsy pictures I ever took (debatable but it definitely held the title for a bit) was taken there.

I just could not get over the cracked glass at the time, and it's still in my wallpaper rotation.

I decided it needed an update...

I probably would have done a few different variations but we were in a rush.  There were still a lot of my same favorites--some that I remembered and some that I didn't.  I didn't remember this chunk of scrap glass (but I do have a picture from last time), but isn't it pretty?

The Mister Rogers section is always cool, but maybe even more so after recently watching the Mr. Dressup documentary (the Mister Rogers of Canada, for anyone who didn't grow up along the border) that explained the close ties between the two.  The castle and the tree bring back so many memories.

Pretty sure I never caught as a kid that it was King Friday XIII (the 13th)!

In another section, Carter saw this instrument and instantly knew it was a viola.  For a kid who sometimes seems a little dazed and distracted, sometimes he just amazes me with what he picks up on.  

We wrapped up our quick run through that entire floor and joined everyone else in the gift shop.  They had a lot of cool stuff, including the coolest artistic print of the pierogy race.  Maybe someday.  

Outside, I had to get a picture of one of the coolest new additions to the museum, this giant ketchup bottle that came from the former Heinz Field where the Steelers play (that changed its name and no longer needed this one--they kept another for a separate Heinz sponsorship).  It's huge!

We headed back to the area where our hotel was because the mall nearby had a Wahlburger's.  After getting shut out in Toronto with the one that recently closed, this needed to happen.  It was in a slowly dying mall--the mall wasn't bad but is clearly on the decline with some empty spaces.  It was oddly comforting to be seated at a table on a patio-type area that was out in the mall food court--felt less closed in, which was better given Craig's situation.  It was a pretty low-key meal, to be honest, but we were all probably just tired, a little worried, and hungry.  The food was good--I think everyone was pretty happy with their choice.  I had a really good chicken sandwich with a side of my ideal onion strings, and Jacob loved his burger.  I snapped a picture of the boys outside the restaurant (you should see the outtakes) and then we made a pitstop at the sports store for more Pirates stuff, and finally headed out.

We got on the road much later than planned, but it was fine.  We did run into some pretty hard rain and generally sketchy weather.  A tornado warning came on the radio over the Pirates game, in fact, but it was far to the south of us by then.  Craig drove until just before Erie when we stopped for a bathroom break and snacks (yay for Sheetz having a Wawa-style soft pretzel), and then I took over for the rest of the trip.  It honestly wasn't that bad, all things considered.  Normally I'd hate a three-plus hour drive, but we had a stop to drop Craig's parents and I think the urgency to just get home was motivating.  We didn't have any COVID tests at home so Craig was able to snag one from his parents.  He tested the moment we got home, and sure enough...positive.  Darn it.  So down to the basement he went.  I immediately ran to Wegmans and got more tests.  Carter and his cold were negative.  Jacob and I were going to wait.

I obviously decided to work from home early in the week.  It was the end of my fiscal year at work and I was hoping to go in for some festivities Wednesday, but it seemed wise to stay home for now, test Wednesday regardless, and see how things went.  We found out late Sunday night that Carter had a playoff baseball game Monday (which I think I mentioned the injustices of a few posts ago), so Jacob and I went and kept Craig posted. I thought I might be having a COVID headache that night so I took Zicam and felt better Tuesday.  I probably had a little extra congestion, but nothing worse than an iffy allergy day.  That made me hopeful I might make it through, that maybe I was exposed but my body was fighting it off.  The boys seemed okay, too, although Jacob was a little grumpy and extra lazy, so I think we tested him Tuesday, but he was fine.  Wednesday morning I woke up and tested myself before my shower, in preparation for hoping to go into work for the day.  Imagine my surprise when a faint positive showed up.  It wasn't as faint as, say, my super faint one that needed good lighting to see the day before we left for Disney last year, but it was light.  UGH.  I was hoping that maybe I just had a mild case, but as the day went on I was definitely feeling it more.  I had masked all day trying to get through my workday, but eventually retreated to my room when my big monitor was no longer needed for the tasks I had left.  I was able to do most of my work from my room for the rest of the week, though by Thursday afternoon I had to quit and take a nap.  The worst had come on by then--bad congestion, lots of pressure, low fever, and just general blahs.  By Friday I had turned the corner, and on Sunday (which I was counting as my Day 5), I tested negative and felt pretty decent.  By around Tuesday I started feeling a little cruddy again--mostly just a bunch of mucus stuck in my problematic right sinus.  I finally managed to blow some thick stuff out and felt better, but the last couple days I've still been dealing with a little more congestion than I'd like.  I'm hoping it clears soon.

I don't recommend having two parents down for the count at the same time, and in fact this marked the first time we'd had in-house transmission, as all of our previous six COVID cases had been singles.  It was a little extra awkward given that we were still managing both kids' medical mysteries.  Carter finished his antibiotics on Wednesday, and I swore by Friday or so that his face was swelled back up again.  It hadn't actually gone down fully, but it looked worse again.  But Craig was really just getting out of his isolation (he tested negative Thursday, I think), and I hated to have either of us taking the kids anywhere so soon so we checked in with the doctor and agreed to wait on it and watch.  It was pretty frustrating.  It has gone down a bit again since, not to my full liking, but I think it's better.  Jacob had a dentist appointment on Monday, and I figured I'd take Carter in case the dentist was curious how he'd progressed.  Sure enough, after Jacob's checkout he came out to see us and took a couple looks again.  He seemed content with the wait-and-see method at this point, but reinforced that if we needed anything, to not hesitate to call.  His insistence was really nice and very much appreciated given how wacky this has been.  Both boys have well visits (Carter's is way overdue, oops) next Friday, so I unless something gets crazy between now and then, we'll let the doctor have another look then and determine if more antibiotics are due.

I mostly kept my distance during my five days, though I did cook most days (except Thursday when I was so extra congested).  I once again watched a lot of TV.  I worked my way through a couple documentaries I'd been wanting to watch, watched an oldie but a goodie, Some Kind of Wonderful, which led me to track down Benny and Joon, which took on a whole new meaning in a modern world of autism.  Joon was considered "mentally ill" back in the early 90s when it came out, and while she did probably have schizophrenia, PTSD, and some sort of sensory processing disorder, she definitely seemed to be on the higher functioning autism spectrum.  I have a feeling Sam, Johnny Depp's character, probably was as well, along with maybe a learning disability since he has literacy issues.  It was all so vague back then, wondering what was wrong with them, but now it's like, oh yeah, her food texture issues are sensory processing, her preference for schedules and hyperfocus on painting are probably the autism, her meltdowns were a mix of both, and her complete wackadoodle stuff was probably the schizophrenia and maybe some PTSD thrown in.   We just didn't have names for a lot of it back then, and what we did know of autism was more in line with Rain Man--the halting speech, social awkwardness, and mind-boggling brain abilities.  This felt different, but it totally makes sense amid the media portrayals, a friend's experience with her son, and oodles of reading I've done since, in many cases sizing up my own kids.  Remember when Jacob's Kindergarten teacher and counselor thought he had Asperger's?  Good times. 

Eventually I moved on to my main mission: catching up on Young Sheldon.  The series ended this spring, and I felt almost completely out of the loop since I stopped watching it amidst the pandemic, although social media did drop some spoilers along the way.  Something happened during the pandemic--my TV habits changed completely, and remain changed pretty much to this day.  I guess it was because we were all stuck in the house all the time and it made it hard to use our main TV with the DVR where I had episodes saved.  I guess we just didn't have post-kid-bedtime TV time anymore, for whatever reason, and I just sort of stopped watching my own stuff.  I think there was some degree of overstimulation, too, from being in the house with people all the time.  My phone felt easier.  Then TV seasons got messed up by COVID precautions, and everything just felt messy for a while.  My old habits never really returned because Jacob stays up as late as we do now.  And then I think in the midst of it I had to turn in our DVR for a new one and lost all of those episodes anyway, and I never got back around to figuring out if one of our streaming services had all the older episodes.  So, now was the time.  I figured out approximately where I left off back in Season 3, picked it up there (with probably an episode or three overlap, as it turned out) and as of now I'm moving well through Season 6.  Just a season and a bit left.  It's a great show and I really do want to see it all because it's a great show on its own, but also an important story if you were ever a fan of The Big Bang Theory, which we were, because it explains a lot about why Sheldon is as he is.  There's also going to be a Young Sheldon spin-off about the older brother, so I guess it makes sense to be prepared if I want to watch that at some point.  Maybe next isolation I will finally finish off This is Us, which suffered the same pandemic fate, but that takes a lot more mental energy to binge watch than I think I will ever have.  So that might have to go in smaller bites.  

 

I filled the rest of my time with finally catching up on all of these blogs, getting some fresh air in the yard and on a couple walks, and making some earrings with the cheap but effective earring-making supplies I bought in my Amazon order before our trip.  Sometimes it's nice to have forced relaxation when you're a mom.  It's hard to do self-care, and even then it tends to be a lot of "busy" stuff, so pretty much having no choice but to lay in bed and "Netflix and chill" is good, forced rest.  It's also, to some degree, a forced break from the mental load because you can't really do all of those tasks when you're not spending significant time out in the house and can't drive anyone anywhere.  You can try to contribute, but you really have to rely on someone else to do most of the heavy lifting for a couple days.  Even still, it was definitely a relief to test negative and get back to normal life.  That came just in time to do a couple days of work this week--but after vacation and a few days of reduced capacity due to my illness, the day and a half I did was fine and pretty low-key.  I was hoping to do more but the files I needed didn't come through, but then I did have to hop on for a couple hours Wednesday because my big boss was being asked for a couple things and needed my help.  I am taking some significant vacation time this holiday week since it's the one week I can usually do it without guilt or getting myself behind since we're waiting for our books to close.  Apparently not even this week is safe now, though.  Ugh.  I tried to create a to-do list for the extra-long weekend so I could stay on task and not get overwhelmed or too lazy, but between my extra congestion, the unexpected work time, and extra hot weather, my first two days got pretty badly derailed.  I didn't even get dressed until dinner time Wednesday, but made a decent recovery that night with dinner and a bike ride.  I'm hoping today will be better, and maybe some cooler weather over the weekend will let me get to my outside work and more bike riding.

So, as I think about the past few weeks, it's all a lot to process.  It's hard to believe we went from craziness to paradise to fun to COVID and back in the span of less than three weeks.  I can't believe it's been almost three weeks since we left, for that matter.  It stinks that I couldn't bask in the glow of a tropical getaway a bit more.  I felt so good when I came home (aside from the crappy travel stuff) and I would have liked to be able to go to work, all tan and happy with my refreshed pre-trip haircut (which I still love), and tell everyone about the trip.  I loved being able to come back and go right into the fun of Pittsburgh, but obviously that crapped out, too.  It's like I can't have a fun trip without some kind of bummer attached.  First Cedar Point and Disney, and now this.  I guess it could go back to the hurricane trip to Asheville, our first family Disney trip, or even our honeymoon when we got stuck in Chicago.  Like our honeymoon, I really wanted to transfer the lovey-dovey fun time to a more pleasant existence at home, but this time we ended up not sleeping in the same bed for more than a week, and by then the de-stressing had definitely faded.  It's just a bummer, but I'm still so thankful for the tropical getaway experience.  It was so beautiful and really fun to have that time.  Now I'm hoping this extra holiday break is a good reset button to get back on track before a very busy few months at work (even if it's slow now because everyone's out, and I still have a summer bucket list to work on so more time off is coming).  I'm a little worried about residual COVID stuff because I never seem to make it through without some brain fog and headaches, and I definitely do not have time for that right now.  But suddenly we have been launched into the thick of summer--and in fact, today is the unofficial peak, the 4th of July--so I'm hoping we can settle back into a reasonable, enjoyable, uncrazy stretch for now.

Pittsburgh - The Game Part

After all the craziness at home, it was good to get on the road and head toward a fun weekend in Pittsburgh.  We left in the early afternoon, as soon as Carter's last-minute dentist visit and a quick lunch would allow.  We noticed somewhere between the morning and the trip that Carter was a little stuffy, but he felt fine and it just seemed like a mild cold at worst.  We drove to Buffalo and picked up Craig's parents, which put me back in my cozy spot with my favorite travel buddy.

We were definitely going to the Saturday game from the get-go because there was a bobblehead giveaway of Jacob's favorite player, Andrew McCutcheon.  We had decided to go to the Friday game as well, instead of the Sunday game because the Sunday weather looked sketchier and we preferred to get home sooner than a Sunday game might have allowed.  Friday also had a giveaway for all of us, whereas Sunday was just for Carter.  Of course, Sunday had Pittsburgh's best pitcher, but oh well.  We weren't sure if the timing of our arrival would allow us to get the Friday giveaway, but we were going to try.  As usual we stopped at Chick-fil-A in Erie for a bathroom break and snack.  I only got a peach shake because that sounded really good at the moment, but I probably should have eaten more.  Still, the shake was really good.  

We made it in reasonable time despite some traffic, found a place to park, and walked to the stadium.  Much to our surprise, they still had shirts!  We all got a Bryan Reynolds shirt, which was good timing since he was in the midst of a long hit streak.  We went to the store briefly to look around since it was right there.  I decided it was time I get a shirt, and Jacob was looking for a jersey, which was going to be his big birthday gift.  We looked for a bit but it was getting close to game time, so we headed out and to our seats.

I'm not sure we've ever sat in this particular area of the ballpark, but they were good seats.  Being under the cover was key because it was so stinkin' hot, and every bit of shade was helpful.  But it was still very sweaty and uncomfortable.  We sort of realized after the fact how the heat influenced our activities in the ballpark.  We barely walked around, never made it to the outfield walkway, and the variety of the pictures I took was a lot less than usual.  I think I was just too hot and sweaty to move!

  

As the evening progressed, the coloring out in the outfield turned golden.

The camera could barely handle it.  The yellow blob on the one building was the sun reflecting off the windows. 

Overall the game was pretty uneventful.  Carter and I shared Chickie & Pete's chicken fingers and a giant tub of crab fries.  The pierogy race was a good one, won by Potato Pete.

I tried to get Jacob to take a selfie with me, but this was the best I got--lucky I got a smile because he was trying to be serious and broke just as I took the picture.

We did a lot of weekend selfies with the Pirate Parrot.

Carter tried to make his hand invisible for some of them and he liked this one where I looked concerned that I was being attacked by the Parrot.

Partway through the game they showed a view from behind the stadium of a glowing sunset.  I realized we were actually pretty close to where I could get up and see it for myself, so I took a little walk.  It wasn't super bright once I got out there, but it was pretty and peaceful.

While I was wandering, it started to rain.  Again, the cover came in very handy.  It rained for a while, and while I'm sure it wasn't pleasant to sit out in, with the heat I'm sure it could have been worse.  It was neat seeing the city light up in the background--it had been a while since we'd been to a night game.  The Roberto Clemente Bridge was looking extra snazzy after the construction it underwent, which left it closed when we were there last year.

The game itself wasn't very good.  Bryan Reynolds extended his streak with a home run, but that was about as exciting as it got and they lost 10-3.  Jacob was really disappointed.  

Then he ended up more disappointed because he wanted to go back to the store, but I think the feeling was that Craig's parents were tired and ready to go.  So his jersey would have to wait a bit longer.  We headed out and luckily the parking ramp was empty by then, which made for an easy escape.  We were staying a little outside the city in a suburb near a mall and a bunch of restaurants.  It was pretty late by the time we got there, so we pretty much checked in, grabbed some water from the drinking fountain (or from the one vending machine that worked) and headed to bed.

The next morning we slept in a bit.  Craig woke up stuffy but we assumed he either caught Carter's cold or was allergic to the pillows, which happens in hotels.  We woke up just in time to grab my beloved Holiday Inn Express breakfast.  The cinnamon rolls are the best, but it's really a good breakfast in general.  This one didn't have yogurt, which was a little annoying since that's a Jacob staple, but they did have eggs for him and in the end we all ate enough.  The plan was to kill time until about noon and then head into the city, grab lunch, and wait in whatever line was needed to get the McCutcheon bobblehead.  We headed to a place called Burgatory down the road from the stadium that had good gluten-free reviews.  I have to say, my burger was amazing.  Of course, Jacob and I wolfed ours down because the plan was for us to go ahead and scout out the bobblehead line.  We walked down the road, did a really quick stop at a store along the way so I could look for a shirt for myself (to see if anything beat out one I found at the stadium), and then continued on.  We got to the stadium and tried to find the end of the line.  It took a couple tries because we came across a ticket line and a VIP-type line first.  I finally found the end of the line around the corner and we got in it.  

We weren't entirely sure when gates were opening, but it turned out we had a lengthy wait.  It was a very hot wait.  Even half shaded with clouds it was so hot.  I almost got a little off-kilter but pulled out one of my Florida neck fans and it took the edge off.  We probably waited out there for close to an hour, but in the end we got our bobbleheads just fine, much to Jacob's delight.

We went to the store, which ended up being much more of a debacle than anticipated for a lot of reasons.  We were hot, it was busy, and we had our hands full with the bobbleheads.  We had six people to wrangle and it ended up pretty chaotic.  So chaotic we realized later we lost a bobblehead.  At least we had three more.  Jacob had to special order his jersey so it took a while, and the line was really long to pay for my shirt and socks for Jacob.

We finally made it out into the stadium and back to our seats.  We were once again mercifully under the upper deck, which was extra important since it was 95 degrees at game time.  There were two big plays of the game - Andrew McCutcheon got a triple, and Oneil Cruz hit a home run into the Allegheny River.  It was good to get a couple moments after the bad game the previous day.

Of course, the pierogy race was a delight as usual, complete with a massive comeback by Jalapeno Hannah, purse and all.

This is Craig's picture, but I loved it.  Jacob had picked up his jersey mid-game, but he realized once we were home that they forgot the front numbers, so apparently we'll need to go back through Pittsburgh one of these days for that to get fixed.

Halfway through the game it was time for the Bucco Billboard, and look what Craig had done:

His parents were thrilled!  It was pretty cool to see.  He would have done Jacob's birthday but he didn't want him to.  

 

Fortunately, despite a late rally by the Rays, the Pirates held on and won.  Raise the Jolly Roger!

We took some pictures before we headed out.

It had been a long, hot day.  Looking back I'm a little disappointed in my photos and wished I would have had the energy to pull out my real camera and take a few better, zoomed pictures, including of the Pirate Parrot, the players, the Pierogies, and maybe more of the skyline.  I think the heat and haze didn't help the pictures I did take, but I think the heat just had me lazy and distracted.  It was like low-level survival mode, and the less I had to move, the better.  Doesn't make for a great game experience, but I'm glad we still had a good time. 

 

When we got back to the hotel, we were hoping to swim in the pool back at our hotel (there was a really pretty courtyard our room overlooked, where the pool was), but it ended up being super busy thanks to a girls softball team (who, by the way, said hi to Carter when we walked through...ha!).  We really needed to grab some dinner by the time we got back, and we settled on Chipotle for us and Firehouse for Craig's parents--they were in the same plaza, thankfully.  We picked up everyone's food and dropped off Craig's parents' food before settling in ourselves.  I think we were all pretty spent, but it had been a good day.

Sixteen (sorry, a bit belated)

Dear Jacob,

I apologize for the belatedness of this letter.  Usually I post this right on your birthday, but let's just say your birthday was surrounded by a whole lot of chaos and this definitely got lost in the shuffle.  I guess it's pretty on brand for this year because your birthday got a bit overshadowed by a handful of other things, and for that I'm sorry.  You deserve better, and I hope you felt plenty loved and showered with gifts over our Pittsburgh weekend.  We'll do what we can to make the rest up to you later.

It's been another interesting, up-and-down, confusing year.  What else is new?  I know it was hard because of all the injuries.  Your body just hasn't been cooperating and it stinks.  You've been through so much (and continue to be) and it's just freaking unfair.  It breaks my heart every time you're struggling.  We're doing what we can to get you through, and I hope one of these times it works, for real and for good.  But you still did some amazing things this year and we're so proud of you. We know training was a struggle for both physical and mental reasons, but you really pushed through and came into your own as a player this season.  I wish your team could have made more of a run, but it was fun to watch while it lasted.  It's been weird not having basketball most of this spring, but I also think the break is probably much needed, mentally and physically.  I worry about how much it will set you back on the basketball court once things get going again, but hopefully that will be offset by a renewed mindset that will drive you in a different way.

The baseball evolution has been an interesting plot twist.  I think it says a lot about you just wanting a pressure-free sports experience for a change.  It's been fun to hear you get excited about something and have a challenge that feels like a "good" one, instead of one that's happening out of spite or obligation.  Most importantly, baseball has given you something in common with your brother, which quite frankly feels a little miraculous.  It's taken 11 years for you two to have anything in common, and while this brings its fair share of arguments itself, it's given you something to talk about, cheer about, and do together.  We haven't had anything like that all these years, and it's helping mend your relationship.  Yes, you are really critical of him when you're practicing and you accidentally injure each other periodically, but I'd say for the most part, it's done so much more for your relationship than anything else, and the good far exceeds any damage those arguments do.  It's nice and it's brought some harmony to the house for a change.  At least everyone can watch baseball together in peace...as long as the Pirates are winning, anyway.  It's been fun to enjoy games together again as a family, since that's something we did for years, and I think we really missed that common bond for a while.  It gives us a family focus and might even give us some vacation fodder other than Disney for a change.  We'll see.  Speaking of Disney, we did it better last year and I look forward to when we can do it again.  I promise, I do love it--I just love doing other things sometimes too.  But it will always be special to us because it's special to you.

It's been bizarre and breathtaking watching you continue to grow and mature.  I mean, the height is crazy, you're definitely looking more manly these days, and sometimes even your behavior impresses me.  Having a big kid can actually be fun sometimes.  It absolutely blows my mind that we're at this point, two years from official adulthood, because it doesn't seem like that long ago that you were a little kid.  I look at Carter, who's rapidly approaching the age you were when the pandemic began, and that doesn't compute in my brain.  It's gone so fast with so many changes, and I worry not only that it will go fast with him too (I'll miss my little buddy) but also because it means that when he's the age you are now, you'll be a full-blown adult on the back end of your college career.  Like, what?  This parenthood thing is weird.  The days are long but the years are short, and I feel like all of the stuff we've gone through with you has twisted that timeline even stranger.  But I have an appreciation for it, even if I wish it would have been easier and more enjoyable.  You have taught me more than I could have ever imagined, and I think there's merit in that too, even if I wish it (and I) was more joyful.  I still feel on the hook for making you into a good human, and I take that seriously.  Maybe too seriously.  Sometimes that manifests in more nagging than I'd like, but someday we'll find a balance, right?

You pushed through a challenging school year and somehow you're at the top of your class.  Maybe not the same as it would be at a "normal" school, but it's still pretty impressive that you've done well despite some sub-par teachers, lots of distractions, and your allergy to homework.  It looks like we might make it through a year without a school change, but I guess nothing would surprise me anymore.  If you can find a loophole and a fit, we'll be there right beside you...again.  We want to support you and keep you on whatever path you need to succeed, so keep working on it.  We know it has to be your master plan (we will always chime in, but we know how that goes), so we'll be there when you figure it out.

The 16th birthday usually means getting your permit and getting a job, and you don't seem too eager for either of those things yet.  I'm not upset about the permit, although I also know we can't wait too long because we don't want it to become a "thing".  The longer you wait, the more its mystique will grow, so we just need to find a happy medium to make sure you're not one of those 20-year-olds who can't drive themselves anywhere.  With the job, I think you'll be on board sooner rather than later, but we need to find the right fit.  You like money and some jobs could have other benefits, so if we can make both those things happen, I think we'll get that on track soon.  Lord knows it would be nice to give you more purpose this summer.  I miss camps.

So...here we are.  Sixteen.  We've made it through another year.  I'm tired, I'm impressed, I'm fascinated, and I'm excited.  We're proud of you, we love you, and we can't wait to see what the future holds.  Happy (Belated) Birthday, Jacob!

Love,
Mom