Settlers Cabin Park Hike

 Last Thursday, Darrell and I took one last opportunity for a couple hike (as the kids were still at summer camp) and decided to conquer Settlers Cabin Park trail hike.  The hiking trail is very well marked - we followed the blue to the green and back to the blue again.  If you stick just to the blue trail, it is very family-friendly.  The green trail gets a bit tricky and I wouldn't take young children on it.  The hike is short, but the park itself has a lot of great things to do with kids.  There was one handicapped-accessible new playground with plenty of baby swings, as well as a larger playground still being built.  We also discovered that there is a wave pool, although we did not bring our swimsuits to enjoy it.  For the hike - bring bugspray...it is very wooded and damp, so the bugs abound!

While the kids are away.....

 the parents will play!  This week all three children are away at a day camp, so we continue to follow our "stay-cation" plans.  On Monday, Darrell and I went into Pittsburgh and followed the downtown historical walk from the book, 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles of Pittsburgh.  If you know anything about parking in Pittsburgh, you know that it can cost more than your lunch (which we frugal sorts pack, so it definitely is more expensive to park!)  Head across the river to Station Square and the prices go down.  It's an extra walk across the bridge, but well worth it.  The historic walk was well-written and easy to follow.  We popped in and out of historical buildings and saw murals and hidden treasures we never knew existed.  This was much easier to do without the kids, so we were glad to have had an adult-only day to do this.

 On our way out of Pittsburgh, we stopped the the Market District Giant Eagle for a treat - crepes with bananas, strawberries, and Nutella!

 Today's adventure took us to the Stavich Bike Trail, which for us starts in Lawrence County, PA and ends in a little town called Lowellville, Ohio.  It is 10 miles and we rode out and back.  It was hot, 93 degrees by early afternoon, but there was a nice breeze and some shade.  It was all paved and an easy ride.

So for you locals and potential visitors....we have a lot to do in this area with even more to discover!

Staycation summer

Summer.....what to do when you do not have travel plans?  A staycation, of course.  We love a good adventure, so when I stumbled upon the above book, I knew this would be the exact thing we should do this summer.  So we won't do 60 hikes exactly and we have already done 2 of the hikes, but we want to discover some new places in the western Pennsylvania region.  This area of Pennsylvania is beautiful, with a state park right in our backyard, which we use often......

 so on Wednesday, with book on Kindle, off we went to discover a couple areas we had not been to.  We combined two hikes into one day, which was very doable.  The first was Beechwood Farms Nature Reserve, in the borough of Fox Chapel.  The store and education center were interesting (don't miss the toilets in the Education Center!) and the hike was easy and well worth the time.

 Using a pump.....interesting for city kids!

 A natural play area.....

 complete with tree house.....

 and fun things to climb on.

 The pond held our attention for awhile....

 and the black raspberries we found along the trail

 complemented our packed lunch nicely.

 We recommend this hike because it was a loop, with other trails looping off of it, so it was easy and there was no risk of getting lost.  It was mainly shaded, so even on a hot day, we think the hike would be cool.

 Next we went to Hartwood Mansion, which was not very far from Beechwood Farms Nature Reserve.

 We did not call ahead to get a mansion tour, so we ambled around the outside and found...

 a payphone!  Really interesting to our kids!

 There are a lot of sculptures on the grounds to keep the kids happy.....

 and trees to climb for kids and kids-at-heart.....

We did not follow the hike suggested in the book, because it was confusing, but it was fun to roam around the grounds of the mansion.  We are looking forward to our next adventure in the western PA area!

May and early June madness

 What's been going on around here? Well, more teeth gone for Alec....

 Visiting friends in Maryland for Memorial Day.....

 Staining the deck......

 Darlington Days parade.....

 Ann-Marie performing with her gymnastics club for Darlington Days.....

 Alec happy, Evan bored.....

 Fancy gymnastics partner trick.....partner back bends.....

 and one try on the bucking bronco!

We're ready here for summer!  Four more days of school left!

Mother's Day 2012

 Darrell surprised me by taking a picture of the kids this morning before church without me knowing it.  I like both of these...they turned out well!

Plants and Pillars Homeschool Coop - Final Day of School Year

 Today was our last day of the school year with our homeschool group.  The kids studied Physics this year and spent the last semester using their knowledge to design and create skateboard parks.  They also took a speech class, so for their presentations they had to use their speech and physics knowledge to present their skateboard parks to "investors" (the moms).  They all worked hard and did a fantastic job!  Here are Evan and Ann-Marie's groups.....

 After the presentations, they participated in Passport Day.  There were three speakers....one spoke about Isreal, another about Haiti, and the final speaker told about what Child Evangelism Fellowship does.  The speakers were all very interesting and the kids and adults that participated learned a lot.

 Lunch was an international potluck with dishes from places such as India and Italy.  We finished the day with award certificates and arts and crafts from the countries they learned about.

Thank you to everyone who worked so hard to make this day come together!  We have a wonderful group of parents and a supportive community, which we are thankful.

Another school year almost complete.  We are ready for summer and are counting the days!