I spent my week in Pittsburgh for a work conference...and have a few things things to report back on. I must first start by saying, publicly, thank you to Chad for taking on all of the weeks events without skipping a beat. Both Chad and the kids enjoyed the change of pace and enjoying their time together, without me getting in the way, but I am sure Chad's business will be glad to have him back at 100%!
(and yes, I have noticed the clean dishes, kept up laundry, clean house, as well as happy and fed kids...very thankful and lucky Chad and now everyone else knows too!)
I had a few unforgettable moments in PA. The top of the list was when we were on lock-down in our hotel because a man took a person hostage at gunpoint (later found out to be a knife) and threatened his life with a bomb. We were literally next door to the building. In fact, a girl I traveled with was trying to walk into that very building to get us coffee when a sniper pointed his gun at her (from the bushes) and instructed her to return to her original location immediately. This got interesting around 8:24am that day. We look outside and see multiple trucks labeled "BOMB SQUAD" and "SWAT" as well as two helicopters, firetrucks, ambulance, cop cars, undercover unmarked cars, men in ninja suits, men in business suits, and a lot of helmets, masks, and bullet proof vests. We were no lock-down for several hours...about six hours. There was a break in security at the front entrance so we took off for a bit and headed in the opposite direction. We were under the impression that it was over so we headed back...when we quickly learned we were wrong and that the alert was elevated and we were stuck in our conference room! They cleared out portions of our hotel for the snipers and we were not allowed by windows or doors. It was a (I pray to God) once in a lifetime event! The 22 year old man surrendered and our lives got to go back to normal!
it felt wrong taking pictures of all of the chaos, but when we were walking across the park (away from the building!) we say this man among many vans and police vehicles. I guess he automatically gave away his "undercover car" with his SWAT uniform!
One a less eventful night we enjoyed a Pittsburgh Pirates game, which was located in a beautiful stadium! One of the leads for our conference got to throw out the first pitch!
Pittsburgh has a beautiful skyline, this was the view from the top the downtown area where we stayed.
Thursday night we went to watch the Broadway Show "Jersey Boys", which was a fun show to experience in PA. After the show we ate at a trendy spot downtown...when who else by Mark Wahlberg walks by to enter a private party one door down! The picture isn't great on my phone, but is etched in my mind pretty well!
this is another beautiful view from the top of the city!
I got into NE late Friday night, so Saturday was a struggle to keep my eyes open! After soccer I knew that the afternoon would need to keep moving to keep me awake! We went for a nice hike by the river and played in and around the water. We had no idea we lived so close to some beautiful sites! Chad took the kids down here one night while was gone and they saw several deer just behind them on the river. This weekend we saw a baby in the trees, which the kids loved!
This site may be highly different from what I saw in PA, but equally as beautiful!
while at the farm Sunday night I caught Charli out singing to the pumpkin patch! She takes this garden area very seriously!! She explained the importance to me, and she sang with love!
This was my favorite text to get while out of town!
a little out of order, but a picture after Charli's soccer game! She played a great game, and even scored!! (she scored for the OTHER team, but she was equally excited!!) Charli was attempting to kick to her teammate in an effort to help her be able to pick it up in the goal box...but it had too much momentum and it went in! It was a cool soccer morning, but a fun one to watch all the same!
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