Monday in Pittsburgh

After such a busy (but great) weekend, we all had a hard time waking up on Monday morning. I slept in later than I have in years. When Bud woke up, he looked over at Coleman's bed and was surprised to see Coleman not in it. Bud looked down and saw Coleman's legs, his body was completely underneath the bed, head first! Bud pulled him out and helped him back into bed. Then they both went back to sleep.

After finally getting ready to go, we drove to Grove City to shop. (We love to shop!) Among other things, we bought Bud a belt and a white shirt. Grammy bought him 2 very nice ties and now Bud is ready to pass the Sacrament! After shopping, we ate lunch at Tavern On the Square which is in an old house. Years and years ago, the house was a stop on the Underground Railway System for runaway slaves. Then, we drove through Amish country, which is always very interesting and picturesque.

Nearby, was a small zoo that I read about on the internet and wanted to visit. It is an interactive experience, you can feed almost all of the animal, either by hand or through a tube that goes in to the animal enclosure. To feed the monkeys, you put food into a bucket on a pulley and the monkey pulls the bucket to him and eats the food. It was so fun and we all loved it! Some of the interesting animals were brown bears, two 3 week old lion cubs, a white tiger, baby yaks, reindeer, pot-belly pigs, a baby bison, and water buffalo.

After walking though the animal enclosures, we took a wagon ride pulled by two perschorn horses, retired from an Amish farm. The driver took us into an area where animals roamed free and came right up to the wagon. He warned us about the ostriches, one of whom bit a woman earlier in the day and drew blood. We stood up in the middle of the wagon every time it stopped to avoid sharp teeth! We learned that this place is owned by a local family who lives on site and sells the animal babies. If you are in the market for a lion cub or alligator hatchlings, we know who to call!

Coleman fell right to sleep when we got back in the car, something he hasn't done in years. But, our day was far from over! Grampy dropped Jono, Bud, Rosie and I off at PNC Park so we could watch the Pirates play the Reds. Coleman was asleep when we got out of the car, but we he woke up he didn't mind that we left him behind, because he got drive through the long Fort Pitt tunnel. He also loved having Grammy and Grampy all to himself, and spent the evening talking and talking and talking.

We had so much fun at the game. Rosie cheered loudly and Jono reunited with a man he sat by last summer when we went to the Pirate's game. We didn't stay for the whole game, and headed for the train after the 5th inning.

It was very interesting walking to the train station, we passed benches of homeless men ,which is something you don't see everyday. We then got to walk over one of the "three sister" bridges, adjacent to the cars and far above the Allegany River. Jono didn't like looking down! On the other side we discovered the station was closed for construction. We had to walk several more blocks to another station, and it was not a nice part of town. The kids' eyes were as wide as saucers! We finally got on the underground train, but had to get off several stops later to change trains. By now, the train was above ground and this station was scary. We were happy when the train came and we could get on. Grampy picked us up at the end of the line, and we finally made it home. It was another fun (and very long) day!