A few things have happened.  I browsed old photos and felt like sharing a few.  Mr. Fredrickson made an appearance for Craig's 100th day.  We also were visited by superman and a storm trooper.  Edith turned 4.  She got a bike and Craig broke his arm.  Which renders him unable to ride a bike and therefore a little bummed.  We had a fancy tea party with a couple of Edith's friends and it was crazy, yet really fun.  Little girls with lipstick and pink punch.  What's not to love.  Edith and I made a trip to the conservatory and found ourselves in flower, and butterfly, heaven.  And that's all.

The Three Rivers Regata

We decided to get the city fireworks experience this year.  Our friends willingly obliged to show us the ropes and head downtown for insane crowds, extreme humidity and lots of waiting.

After an hefty walk and a brief, heavy downpour, the skies cleared and we sat on the North Shore in the perfect spot except for the mini biting ants.  As we arrived Nascar of the boat world began.  Exciting!  I've never been to Nascar, but I must say that this was thrilling.  There was even a boat that rolled as it rounded a turn.

After a few more hours of waiting, and some human-water-skiing-pyramids, the fireworks began and it was beautiful to watch the reflection in the river and off the city buildings.

Happy Fourth of July!

5 years

My little man turned five.
I'm not sure how to feel about it.
Four was a fabulous year, full of interesting questions, monkey bars and tons of energy.

The evening before his birthday he learned how to pump on the swing and keep himself going.
I can't describe the joy on his face and the joy I felt for him in my heart.
Such wonderful moments of discovery.
What a beautiful adventure this life is.
Happy Birthday my happy little boy.

First impressions

When we moved into our apartment in Salt Lake City four years ago, everything we did, the routes we took, the feel of our house, walking down the street, carried with it a strange aura.  That may sound silly, but the way it felt when we moved in was entirely different than the way it felt when we moved out.  You could almost say that the colors were a bit shifted or something on those memories.  Every thing looked different than it does now even though it is the same.  Perhaps it's like seeing yourself on video for the first time, or hearing your voice played back to you.  It is you, but not the you you know from inside.

Salt Lake now is the voice from inside my head, and Salt Lake then is my unnatural recorded voice.  Pittsburgh is the same.  The impressions of this new place are going to be entirely different when we are all done, even in a few months, the colors will shift into something normal and the aura will fade.

Here's a few of my first ignorant and colorful first impressions of this place:

01.  The city feels a bit east coast and a bit midwest.
02.  Things feel a little rough around the edges.  The buildings are really old, the people seem down-to-earth and sturdy, the roads are bricked and bumpy, the food is heavy, meaty and greasy.  They drop the "be" forms in their language, therefore stuff "needs fixed."
03.  What you see on the map is nothing like the reality on the ground.
04.  They like kids here.  People smile and interact with my kids all the time.  There lots of kids here, and families with more than two kids.  Families are supported and there are lots of activities for them.
05.  It isn't as big as it looks.
06.  People are curious and friendly, and open.

Thoughts on moving

I always like to say that I'm an adventurer.  My motto used to be "nothing ventured, nothing gained," mainly because I used to have fear about doing things, and that mantra pushed me over the edge to actually do them.  For a while my fear seemed to go away and I felt like everything was exciting.  But there's something about getting older that brought it back, sort of.

Change suddenly became a little frightening and moving to a new place felt just a little bit daunting.  The first few days I wondered if I wanted to stay.  But doing some key things changed all that made it feel like home and surprisingly normal.

01.  We cleaned.  It's amazing just knowing that you can trust how clean the tub is, or the drawers, made everything worrisome feel okay.

02.  We left the house.  Driving around our area and finding the park, the grocery store, the church, and some important places, without the GPS was liberating.

03.  I cooked.  Cooking is an important daily function for me, and until I could cook something, I don't think our house felt okay or even livable for me. (and the oven works amazing!) 

04.  We made some friends.  Just knowing some people in the area, made us feel like we belonged. 

So here we are.  And it's going to be great!  And I mean it.   

Pittsburgh!

After three days of driving, we finally arrived in the land of bridges.

Here's a quick rundown of our trip.
Day 1
Wyoming:  a little bit of vomit from Edith, wind, sage brush.
Nebraska:  grass, wind, rain
Day 2
Iowa:  corn, hills, rain
Illinois:  Nauvoo, corn, rain
Day 3
Indiana:  rain, trees, Rudy/Notre Dame!, toll road
Ohio:  rain, toll road, trees
Pennsylvania:  rain, hills, trees

We learned that separating our children was the key to our success.

Now we are learning to avoid the bridges at 5pm and how to find our way home without the GPS.
There are lots of hills and everything seems old.
Some of the roads are bricked, and most of them are really narrow.
The city was a bit of an adjustment at first.
But it is growing on us every day.

Three

We had a small family party for Edith's birthday.  When I asked her what she wanted she said "a pink cake and a present."  It wasn't too hard to furnish those requests.  We had strawberry cake and she picked up a few presents along the way too.