The Bucs & Idlewild

Brady and Ella can officially say they have experienced a Pittsburgh Pirates winning season first-hand. The whole fam (minus Terri who was sick), headed to PNC Park to watch the Bucs come back from a 4-run deficit to beat the...hmmmm...I don't remember who we played. Eh, who cares? The kids behaved very well AND they had fun.

And they ate.

Zoltan...sorta :)

It was a Sunday, which is kids' day, but we didn't make it to the street festivities. Instead, we tailgated with food and beverages and taught Brady and Ella the ways of cornhole. Ella much preferred to sit on the board, blocking the game, but Brady was pretty into learning how to play. To end the day, they got to run the bases! My brother carried Ella around (mostly because HE wanted to run them, but what baseball player doesn't?!) and Zach and Brady trotted around while I played photographer:

It was a beautiful day, complete with cool breezes and sunshine, and despite the 1.5 hour wait in line to run those dang bases (Ella napped, Brady played in the playground--it was all good!), we look forward to taking them back to the Park.

Someone was excited for the Olive Garden after the game!

The weekend after the Pirates game, we took advantage of discounted Idlewild tickets, pretended Brady was still 2, and captured just one more day of summer family fun for under $50! This time, no one was sick and contagious, so the kids got to visit The Soak Zone and the infamous ball pit for the first time. We were very lucky to yet again have perfect weather, and the day was awesome.

We started out in Storybook Forest and Brady redeemed his "pig shot." The last time we went, a few little kids were in his picture and he was none too happy. I'm impressed by his memory and worried by his vanity.

After Storybook Forest, Brady's dreams came true: he was big enough for The Scrambler and the roller coaster. I went on The Scrambler with him, held in my vomit, and listened as he laughed like a maniac the entire ride. I was NOT prepared for the intensity of that "kiddie" ride. Zach said the same about the roller coaster, which makes me think we're old. Very, very old.

We spent so much time in The Soak Zone that didn't visit a lot the places we did the first time. That was perfectly fine with the kids, though! They were so happy to splash around in the water and talk to the other kids. Ella, Miss Manners, actually sauntered over to a grandma, removed a giant pool toy from the old woman's hands, and tried to walk away with it. She's either a girl who knows what she wants or a kleptomaniac. Only time will tell.

Once we were all dried and ready to roll (literally, we took a stroller and wagon to hold all our crap), we headed over the Jumpin' Jungle. The kids were tentative of the ball pit at first, but once they realized they wouldn't sink and disappear, they had a blast. And I had some great photo opps:

It was a bittersweet trip because we knew it was the last hurrah before school starts again. The first day Zach goes back is going to be an absolute disaster here at home: the kids LOVE having Dad here every day, and they are not prepared to give him up. When Ella wakes in the morning, she yells, "DAD!!" now instead of Mom. That should probably make me sad, but it's about damn time she latches onto someone else :). This afternoon, Zach is at his fantasy football draft and the second he walked out of the door, Brady's split personality reared its ugly head and he morphed into a lunatic. He's refusing to nap (for the fourth day in a row) and he's not listening to ANYTHING I say. It's safe to assume that I will be auctioning off both kids by the end of September.