Visit from Mom!

My mom came last week and it was so wonderful.  She flew in late Tuesday night and then left a little after noon on Saturday to go on to Philadelphia to see my sister.  We had a great visit with her!  It was so nice to have her come see Pittsburgh.  Unfortunately the boys were (and still are) getting over illnesses and I managed to get an ear infection while she was here, but we still had a good time!

On Wednesday we took it easy in the morning since she was adjusting to the 3 hour time change.  Then we decided to go on a little hike at our favorite park.  It was an absolutely GORGEOUS walk and I was so glad we did it!  I carried Connor in the front pack and my mom pushed Eli in the stroller.  It was all downhill going so we had a good workout coming back. :)  Then we ate lunch and let Eli play at the playground.  When it was time to go I realized I didn't have my keys....so I ran/walked the entire hike again looking for them because I thought I had them in my pocket.  Well, after realizing they were probably just in the car, we called AAA (thank you Mom for having that!), waited around for awhile and finally got in the car!  Although it was a real bummer to be so lame-brained and lock my keys in the car, I thought it was just about the best scenario to do so - my mom kept me company, the weather was beautiful, and we were at the park!  So the kids were happy.  (Oh, we tried calling Jeremy too, but he didn't have his keys).

(and I forgot my camera so these are phone pictures)

So after that 3 hour excursion we went home to give the boys naps and spent the rest of the day talking, eating, and playing at home.  On Thursday Eli had a 2.5yr checkup (weird that they do that here) so my mom stayed with Connor.  I'm blanking on what else we did that day, but that night she took us out to dinner at this yummy Indian restaurant.  Fun!

Then Friday Jeremy took me to the doctor while my mom watched the kids since my ear was in very bad shape.  It was mucho hurting and plugged and I was dizzy, so Jeremy was nice enough to drive me.  I got on some medication and started to feel a bit better, so that afternoon we did some Christmas shopping and then went to Jeremy's school for dinner that evening.  Every Friday they have "B**Rs" (aka beers) they call it where, yep, they have several kegs of beer and dinner for the MBA students and their families.  Luckily the beer is outside and the food is inside so we just get to enjoy a free dinner every week!  It's a nice way to check off another week and visit with some friends.  We weren't planning on going but we went to pick Jeremy up since we were out and about and then just decided to go ahead and go!  My mom was a good sport :) and she got to see the school which was fun.  Turns out they had Indian food again but it was good!

Then that night my mom gave us the best gift ever - she babysat so we could go on a date!  It was our first night out sans kids since moving to Pittsburgh 3.5 months ago!  Let's just say it was long overdue.  We had a wonderful time getting dressed up and going out all by ourselves! :)  We got Connor to bed and then left Eli to my mom and took off!

When trying to decide what to do for our date, Jeremy had a great idea to go on the "Duquesne Incline".  It's this trolley kind of thing that is right on the river bottom and it goes up the cliff to lots of restaurants and shops.  I read a bit about it and found out that it was originally opened in 1877 and then redone in 1964.  It goes up 400 feet in just under 800 feet of track.  It had a great view of the city right where the 2 rivers converge.  It was very romantic of course. :)

We walked a bit and went to this really nice restaurant and split some fried calamari and the amazing decadent chocolate cake.  All the restaurants up there have amazing views with windows everywhere and it was very fun!  It was quiet and slow-moving and it was so nice just to talk and take our time.  THANK YOU MOM!!

At the top of the incline:

 Yummy!  It was pretty dark and I didn't want to turn on my flash, so not the best picture, but oh my was it good!

 View from inside the restaurant.  Stunning!

 We did a little more shopping on Saturday morning and then took my mom to the airport around noon.  We had a great time and were so glad she came.  Seeing family made us excited to spend Thanksgiving with my sister Wendy and then Christmas with both families!