Lake Erie Wine Trail

Continuing our Mother-Daughter extended weekend, Mom and I left this past Thursday for Erie, PA.  We decided to choose Erie because of the wineries, the lake, and the shopping.

We stayed at a La Quinta hotel.  It was a very nice place to stay.  The hotel was offering $7 in free slot play per day at the local casino.  Of course, we took advantage.  We went to the casino Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings.  Between the two of us, we came out ahead $5.  I know it's not much, but we didn't pay a penny!

Thursday evening, we just wanted to relax because of our New York trip the day before.  We left my car at Grove City, and checked into the hotel around 5:00PM.  We were hungry by the time we arrived, so we got our $7 casino voucher and headed over there for the all-you-can-eat buffet.

This hotel had a complimentary hot breakfast, so we enjoyed that perk Friday morning.  We then headed to Peach Street to a few shops that we knew would not take too long.  Then it was off to the Lake Erie Wine Trial.  The wine trail is an area north of Erie and extends into New York.  It consists of twenty-one different wineries.  I found a trip planner a few weeks ago, and we planned to visit seven different wineries.  I chose the ones that had the most variety of wines.  Mom usually prefers reds, and I take to the whites.  We came back to the hotel after several tastings, a nice lunch at a winery cafe, and eight bottles of wine.  I collected five bottles, and Mom took home three.

Friday evening, we hit the department stores like Target and Kohl's.  We ate at a Mexican restaurant called Torero's for dinner, then headed back to the casino for about an hour.

Saturday, we woke up and spent the morning and afternoon on the beaches of Lake Erie.  It was cloudy in the morning, but it turned into a pretty nice day.  Mom took a nap, and read my Kindle.  It was very relaxing.  We came back to hotel to shower and clean-up.  Then we hit the mall.  It was Max & Erma's for dinner, back to the casino, then bed.

Although we were very busy people on our extended weekend, it was a great time.  It was nice to spend so much time with my mom.

A "Wicked" New York City

This year for Mother's Day and Mom's birthday, I purchased tickets for a bus trip to NYC to see "Wicked."  I had purchased the tickets back in early April (before I knew that the show was coming to Pittsburgh.)  Mom asked me at Easter if I would be interested in getting tickets for the Pittsburgh show, so I had to tell her about the trip to New York a little early.

The bus picked us up at Walmart in Clearfield at 4:00AM.  We traveled to State College, switched buses, and we were on our way!  There was a quick breakfast stop at The Cracker Barrel in Bloomsburg, and we were seeing city skyline by 11:00AM.

Our first glimpse of the advertisement right beside the theater!

The entrance to the Gershwin Theater to see "Wicked"

Here we are!  Just about ready to go in!

The show was absolutely AMAZING!  The time flew by.  It was funny, and the show really kept your attention.  I don't say this very often, but the play was sooooo much better than the book.  I had a very hard time reading the book.  It took me a while to get through.  The play definitely gives you more of a visual, and I was blown away.

Before and after the show Mom and I were able to wander around the city and do as we pleased.  We started by seeing Rockefeller center and St. Patrick's Cathedral.  Then we wandered up to Trump Tower and of course, Tiffany's Jewelry Store.  After the show, we went to Times Square, where we spent some time in M&M World and Toys R Us.

The statue at Rockefeller Plaza.

"Top of the Rock" - This building offers the only 360-degree panoramic view of New York City.

St. Patrick's Cathedral from across the street.

Inside the cathedral.

One of the many stained-glass windows.

I was amazed at the art and sculpture inside the building.  I probably could have spent hours just looking at it and hearing how it was made or what inspired it.

The Lego store!  The dragon and skyscrapers are all made of Lego's.  I was so impressed by the talent it took to put this together.  We were able to view it closer, and between the buildings are Lego-people walking on the street.

I call this the Wall of Lego's.  This was only a portion of it.

We went into Tiffany's Jewelry store to scope out all the jewelry we cannot afford.  We came across this beautiful yellow diamond.  This is the largest diamond in the world, totaling 184 carats.  It has the highest clarity rating as well.  Before the diamond was cut and polished, it weighed in at over 250 carats.  My sister, Adrienne, has added this to her Christmas list for the year.

Mom and I had a great day together.  We grabbed some pizza as a quick dinner before heading back to catch our bus.  Traffic was HORRENDOUS to get out of the city, but what do you expect?  It took up an hour and forty-five minutes to get through the Lincoln Tunnel back into New Jersey.  We had a small pit-stop on the way home at a rest area.  I slept most of the way home.

Because there were three buses that traveled to NYC, we all reconvened in State College.  Our bus arrived first.  It took eighty minutes for the second bus to arrive, and about twenty minutes after that, the third.  The third bus had a small breakdown somewhere on Interstate-80 on the way home.  We boarded the bus at 7:00PM and arrived at Walmart in Clearfield at 3:00AM.  It was just about a 24-hour day.  Mom and I went home, and we went straight to bed.

Hines Ward DWTS Rally

I know it has been awhile, but I have been busy.  The summer has definitely begun.  There have been house renovations, family vacations, and working events happening all over the place.
I am dedicating this post to two little dudes in Springfield, Missouri.  My cousins, Elliott (5 years) and Zachary (4 years) are HUGE Steeler fans!  I happen to work right downtown, so when a Pittsburgh team happens to win a championship, I have a front row seat of the parade.
A few months ago, Hines Ward won Dancing With Stars with his partner Kym.  Yesterday, the City of Pittsburgh honored him with a rally at the City County Building (the one right next to mine).  Amber, a co-worker and good friend, and I went out at lunchtime to check out the scene.

There were TONS of people out to seen Hines.  He was introduced, and he ran on stage with his mirrored ball trophy.  Hines thanked the fans for the support, gave a little speech, and that was about it.  Kym became an honorary citizen of Pittsburgh.

I didn't have my camera, so I stole the following pics from Amber.  These are for you E and Z!

Hines waiting to be called on stage.

Close up of the DWTS trophy!

Thanking the fans.

 

Hines and Kym

Of course there was some dancing!

Racchini History

The past couple weekends, Aunt Vonda, Carol, and Mom have been cleaning out my great-uncle's house in Brookville.  Uncle Ardy is currently in an assisted living facility.  He will most likely not return home.  He, like Grandpa, has lived a long life.  He turned 96 in January.

The house that Uncle Ardy has lived in is the house that the he and my grandpa grew up in.  There is a lot of history to the house, and the ladies found some very interesting documents.

This a picture of my great-grandfather, Guiseppe (Joseph) Racchini.  He came to America for the first time in 1883.  He was able to establish himself and find a home.  He, then, went back to Italy to get his wife, Madelina and bring her back to America.  I have seen this photo before, and this is the photo that was used as his passport photo.

These are my great-grandfather's American passport and his Italian passport.  In his Italian passport, there was a list of his children and their birthdays.  Aunt Vonda and I found that very interesting.

I know that it hard to see, but the below picture was one that fascinated me the most.  The larger piece of paper is my great-grandfather Record of Immunization.  He was vaccinated twice, although it does not say what type of vaccination.  The white card at the bottom of the picture is my great-grandmother's Alien Registration Card.  It holds her fingerprint, her signature, and the signature of a witness.  My great-grandmother did not know how to write, so her signature, or her mark, was an "X."  The smaller card in the center of the picture is the punched-hole ticket that my great-grandfather was issued for his boat trip back to Italy to get Madelina.  It has been saved all these years.

While in America, my great-grandfather received several letters from Italy.  This is just a picture of some of the letters and envelopes he received.  The paper is thicker, and they look like they were written with a quill pen.  Aunt Vonda knows a lady who is fluent in Italian, so she plans to get some of the letters translated.  It will be interesting to find out the information they contain.

The sheet of paper on the right is a vocational Civics and American Government exam that Grandpa Cookie took in the 1930s.  The test had questions about Abraham Lincoln, the Cotton Gin, Henry Clay, and the Civil War.  The pieces of paper of the left are the exam forms where Grandpa wrote his answers.

Finally, this Pirates ticket was from May 12, 1957.  I just thought it was something cool.  The cost of this ticket was $2.40.  That included $0.20 Federal Tax and $0.20 City Tax.

"Unbroken"

I just finished reading "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand.  This is one of the best books that I have ever read.  I just had to share. 

The book takes place during World War II, and is completely a true story.  It follows the life of a young man, Louie Zamperini, during his life.  He was a great runner, going to the Olympics only once before the war broke out.

He was drafted into the Air Force, and into battle he went.  The bulk of the story is about his survival.  His plane crashed during one mission.  He floated in the ocean for over forty-days before he was rescued by the Japanese.  He then became a POW, and the story focuses on the brutality and hard times he and his fellow POWs went through.

I won't give away too much of the story, as I don't want to be a spoiler.  It is really worth the read.  A friend of mine from work lent the book to me.  I was unsure at first, but I could not put the book down. 

Because this was about World War II, I read the whole book thinking about my Pappy Wood.  He was a WWII veteran.  Pappy was an army cook stationed in Germany.  He may not have had the "glamorous" job in the army, but I'm sure his life was at risk at times.  I think about what his daily life must have been like, the friends he made, and how much he missed home.  Pap passed two days before my 6th birthday.  I was too young to really get to know him.  The memories I have are fantastic, although they are few.

I hear stories about Pap all the time, and I cherish every one of them.  I wish I could have gotten the chance to ask him all my questions and get his perspective.  There are so many things I would have loved to hear about.

Baby-sitting Evan

Last night I had the pleasure of watching my nephew Evan while my brother-in-law and sister went to a surprise birthday party for a friend.  I arrived just after Evan had his dinner and was getting a new diaper.  The schedule for the evening was the same for any baby - eat, sleep, and poop.  We had a great time!

Evan and I played with his play-mat that sang songs and had different colored lights.  He loves to look at the lights!  He also enjoyed looking at himself in the mirrors that were connected to his mat.

After we played, the little guy took a snooze.  He slept for about an hour before he let me know that he was hungry.  There is absolutely no messing around when it comes to his bottle!  I must say, Evan has a good set of lungs on him.  He chugged down his bottle, and he wasn't too happy when Aunt Megan had to take breaks for a burp or two.  He was very alert after his feeding.  He even left me a nice surprise in his diaper!  Evan got a fresh diaper, and we settled in for another snooze.

Here is Evan getting ready to fall asleep.  He was fighting it a little bit, but he eventually gave in.  He was sound asleep when Mommy and Daddy came back from their party.  Evan is such a sweet little boy.  He is very content (unless he is hungry), and I looooooved the time I spend with him.  I am collecting quite a few "firsts" in the little guys life.  I was the first to hold him at the hospital, his first outing was to Aunt Megan's, and I was his first baby-sitter!

A Visit to Aunt Megan's

A few weeks ago, Jenn, Jack and Duke made the trip to Pittsburgh to visit and meet Evan for the first time.  They stayed at Adrienne and Doug, but everyone (all six) came to my house for lunch.  It was a nice afternoon with homemade chicken stuffed shells and relaxing.

Duke ran wild through the house, but what do you expect from a toddler.  I think we tired him out pretty good. 

I must point out that Duke did show up in his little Nike track suit.  I see Pappy has had some influence!

He really enjoyed the red floor chair.  He could rock, and tip all the way over of course.  He also had to make sure that his "snack, snacks" were close.

Duke is learning his manners as he say his version of "Thank You" all the time.  He was very interested why Evan go to hang out on the dining room table.  Our dining room table turned into Evan's changing table for the day.

The trip to our house was Evan's first outing.  He slept most of the time, but so did Doug and Jack!  It was a great day to spend with my sisters, my nephews, and my brother-in-laws!