4th of July Fun!

We're back from a little getaway. Hubby and I drove home to Pittsburgh for the 4th of July week. That's a little haul from Kansas, the roads were super busy, everyone was on the go!

!st time we left our little Daisy and as you can see she was not too happy for us to leave!

My beautiful home town! My heart always pitter patters when we burst through a tunnel and see this beautiful city on the rivers! 

A lot was going on during the 4th of July weekend, the Boat Regatta,

and Furries were everywhere downtown for the Furry convention.

We stayed with my brother and sister in law, they spoil us rotten and make sure we get all our favorite Pittsburgh foods and activities crammed into 1 short week! While the boys golfed, Julie and I went to visit the Sarris Candy store and factory in Cannonsburg Pa. I order this chocolate on line for holidays and have it shipped, so I was in chocolate heaven! This carousel is made out of chocolate, it is so large I could not get an entire picture of it.

A close up of it's chocolate cuteness!

After leaving Sarris we drove around Cannonsburg looking for a lunch spot. I had to take a picture of this house all decked to for the 4th. Streets were lined with chairs for the parade 2 days early. Cannonsburg has the 2nd largest parade in Pennsylvania.

We drove around downtown Pittsburgh doing some sightseeing and shopping. One of our stops was the fish market Wholey's in the strip district. Clams and other goodies were purchased for the big picnic. Lots and lots of eye candy in this store, so fun!

We ran in to Mancini's Bakery next door. Now... I just freak out over a real bakery!! We don't have that here, and Pittsburgh Italian bread is to die for! I had several loaves wrapped to bring home with me, they were so nice in there.

Our trip was made extra special getting to spend time with our nieces and nephew, babies and their dogs lol! 

I also spent an afternoon with my Daddy who turns 97 in 2 weeks! He had us so busy running all over   town I did not get a picture this trip. He took us to his favorite restaurant for dinner to end our day.

Hubby and I went kayaking with our brother in law and niece at North Park lake. Neither Hubby or I had kayaked before, it was so fun!! I think we may have found a new interest. The hardest part though is getting in and out of the kayak, believe me, that was not a pretty picture on my part lol!

And now after this wonderful trip full of family and fun we are home again. Daisy was so very excited to see us, she still is a baby after all. 

I introduced a new pattern this week: "An Apple A Day" If you love apples this runner is fast and fun to make!

Still catching up on laundry and all that comes with being away. 

Also writing instructions for the next pattern which should be ready soon, best hurry, Santa will be here before you know it!

Vacation Fun!

Warning... this post is picture and labor intensive. But so was our vacation! Jerry and I were gone 16 days, the most time we have ever spent away from home. Hubby and I drove 1/2 way across the country to visit family and friends in 2 different states. 

Our 1st stop was Pittsburgh Pa, my home town, where we stayed with Jerry's Sister and Hubby 4th of July week. 4th of July morning we started the day off  with breakfast at this neat little country diner.

Julie and I wearing our red white and blue! I have to tell you and interesting fact about the two of us, we both were pregnant at the same time and delivered our boys on the same day!

Our yummy breakfast has arrived. My favorite part is the Italian bread! Pittsburgh has the best Italian bread ever, I could eat a loaf all by my self.

Julies life this year has been filled with babies! Our Niece had twins who we were so excited to meet. Here are 3 months old Ben and Sam. They were just the best babies and adorable as you can see. Here's Hubby enjoying some baby time.

Also present was our cute as can be Great Nephew James, now 2. He was just so funny! James took to Hubby right off the bat but not me. Whenever I said anything to him he gave me the exorcist look LOL! We finally made friends by the end of our stay though and I got a hug and kiss so all is good :)

They kept us busy. The boys golfed. We girls shopped and lunched. We went downtown several times. 

A view of Pittsburgh at night from Mount Washington, a breathtaking view full of sightseers on a beautiful evening.

Hofbrauhaus, German beer hall and garden on the river. Fun downtown spot with a great view.

A very special part of this trip was to visit my Dad who turns 96 this week. He is an amazing man still living on his own. We had dinner out at his favorite place- The Outback. 

Well, we have been coddled and pampered, time to move on before we wear out our welcome. 

Next stop... my Sis in Warsaw New York. 

Me , Sis and my Niece Amber who drove in from New Jersey to see us! Oh, and also Maggie the dog LOL. Spending time with my Sister is always a treat. Once again people just think we want to eat. Lordy, lordy, you should have seen the massive amounts of food Darlene and her Hubby fixed for us! They made sure we had all of our NY favorites and then some! Super nice relaxing visit here, happy to also spend time with our nephew who will be deployed overseas this fall. 

The morning we were leaving Warsaw Darlene and her Hubby took us to a local Amish store/diner for breakfast. What a treat, the best breakfast ever. They also sold a lot of bulk foods such as all these tubs of cake decorating sprinkles (there were rows and rows more on the other side). I could love to shop here for Christmas baking!

Bye bye Sis, time to move on down the road, two more stops to make to see our friends Patty and Kathy and Wink. Patty took us to Art Park to see the Doobie Brothers concert. An open air venue on the Niagara River and a pretty night, who could ask for more, very fun! 

A day spent in Canada at Niagara On The Lake. What a beautiful town, the boys golfed and we girls had lunch and shopped. So lush, pretty and green here, the hydrangeas and flowers were at their peak.

On our way back to Buffalo Wink let Jerry and I out to run take a look at the falls. If you have ever been to the falls you no doubt know this spectacular spot on the Canadian side, right at the edge where you can almost touch the water pouring over. Mesmerizing, scary and beautiful all at the same time.  I hope my video shows up!

A pretty shot of the Maid Of The Mist.

We toured the Darwin Martin complex, a Frank Lloyd Wright house in Buffalo built in 1905.

Great tour with lots of interesting information and the house is just beyond amazing.

As you can guess, much of this trip leaned towards food. You gotta eat right? After living in Buffalo many years ago we still miss and dream of our favorite foods and that list is longer than your arm! Our wonderful friends and family made sure our dreams were fulfilled.

Teds charcoal broiled hot dogs. 

Roast Beef On Weck, to die for.. my personal favorite!

Duffs Wings!!

And a cod fish fry to name just a few.

So when Jerry and I rolled out of Buffalo heading home, we just looked at each other and said...
I'm never going to eat again LOL!