Hanson Family Visits PA

At the Library of Congress

The Nationals Park

The Hanson family rolled in Monday morning after an all night car ride from Eden Prairie!  We were so excited about their visit we couldn't sleep the night before.  The plan - visit with them for a week, see the sights around town and such, head to DC for four days and then drive back to MN but leave Will behind for his week with Nani and Popi.

So, the adventure begins......

The week flew by with a flurry of activity;  we cooked a few meals, the kids cooked an anniversary dinner for Jared and Leanna for their 15th anniversary, we ordered pizza, roasted marshmallows for s'mores and played holey board, visited our favorite frozen custard shop, attempted to tour Sand Hill Berries farm (in a downpour), strolled along the Strip District and ate a Pittsburgh-style sandwich with coleslaw and fries at the original Primanti Bros, made a trip to the Italian store, rode bikes and waded in the Yough river in Ohiopyle, watched some Olympics (and them watched some more), oh and cards and Monopoly were thrown in there somewhere as well!

The original Primanti Bros in the strip district
Pittsburgh PA

Jared, Otto, Leanna and me!

Pittsburgh Style

Pittsburgh style

Pittsburgh style

Duquesne Incline

Leanna and Jared

Ohiopyle - Lulu and Gill

Here comes the gang

Jared and Leanna opted for the tandem!

The great Alleghany trail

As I said, it flew by but we enjoyed and savored every second they were here.  Friday morning saw us heading out of PA on our way to DC, after a stop at Dunkin Donuts, we were on our way for another fast and furious trip.  Leanna had it all planned out down to the tee so we could see as much as possible in our four days.  First off, we visited Georgetown, home to Georgetown Cupcakes and the star of the show "DC Cupcakes" with sisters, Sophie and Katherine.

On the road

Georgetown Cupcakes
(Shop that the show DC Cupcakes is based on)

We rode the subway, Nani, Popi and Will went to a Nationals game, we toured the Capitol, National Archives and Library of Congress, saw all the monuments on the mall, including the White House, went to a few Smithonians; Air and Space and Natural History museums, saw the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington, went to the Spy Museum, walked around Chinatown, ate some amazing food and learned to navigate the Metro pretty darn well after 4 days!

Nationals Park - Nationals vs. Marlins

Guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier(s)

Lincoln Monument

The Capitol building

Will
Hard at work in Congressman Paulson's office

The Washington Monument

The only group shot with all of us!

Whew! I almost forgot that I fit in a visit to see my friend, Mary, who is staying in Rockville MD until she is released from the NIH after her bone marrow transplant.

So much was seen, experienced and discussed on this trip.  It was a pleasure traveling with the family and getting to see the Nation's Capitol and the history behind our country.

California Fun!

Just got back from our trip to California and we were so blessed with great weather and a wonderful time spent with family and friends!

The Stuck Family - Gianna's First Birthday Party

First off, we celebrated Gianna's first birthday on Saturday.  We were there Friday to help with some of the preparations, but J and Corynn did a great job of getting most things together before the big day.  It was a picnic theme with a bouncy and several pools, a slip n' slide and a sprinkler to cool off in!  On the menu were grilled burgers and dogs, various salads, nachos and a kiddie bar with pb&j's, grape caterpillars and kid-friendly snacks!  Of course there were adult beverages as well, margaritas and brews!  Corynn's cousin, Kayla made cute watermelon cupcakes and Gianna had her own personal 'smash cake' with an ant on a piece of watermelon.  How creative Corynn!  Everything looked wonderful and tied into the theme and of course, everyone had an awesome time.  Little Gianna was so cooperative despite the fact she didn't nap at all!  She did almost fall asleep while the parents were opening her gifts, but it was her party and she could sleep if she wanted to!

Gianna's birthday celebration - the smash cake
mom and dad watching her as she 'smashed' the cake

Falling asleep while mommie opens her presents

On Sunday am we woke up early to head out to Arizona for a quick trip to hug our dear friends, Jesse and Cindy, whose son, Jesus passed away.  We were unable to extend our beach trip to attend the viewing and funeral, so we just decided on a quick turnaround at lease to give hugs and comfort to our friends.  We managed to see a few friends on this quick trip that we've missed so dearly in addition to the numerous Ortega/Jiminez family members in town for the services.

Otto and I with Cindy and Jesse at our goodbye party
last September in Arizona

We returned on Monday afternoon to pick up J, Corynn and Gianna and head to the beach for our mini-vacation!  Our room was awesome, with an ocean view if you stood up on the planter, but other than that it was perfect!  We changed and headed out to Duke's on the pier for dinner and a quick walk down the pier and to Jack's for J and Otto to purchase a sweatshirt!

Pacific Coast Highway (oh, the memories)

Our hotel - the bridge over PCH to the beach

At Duke's for dinner

Walking on the pier

The next morning we headed to the pool for the day, had nachos and enjoyed the music and sunshine. We decided to head to El Ranchito for $5 their all you can eat taco bar!  It was so yummy.  We then went back to the hotel and roasted s'mores and enjoyed a glass of wine before heading back to the room.

Splashin' with Nani

At the pool

Gianna's first s'more

We hit the beach on Wednesday only to find it much cooler and cloudier than we anticipated so retreated to the pool area for the rest of the day.  We ate at the Sunset Grille on the property that night and enjoyed some tasty fish, then walked to Main street for some Gelato!

Walkin' on the beach with Nani - looking for shells

Happy beach baby

Beach again on Thursday, check out day and breakfast at the Sugar Shack on Main St.  The weather was much nicer and we even enjoyed a dip in the ocean.  Gianna played in the sand and laughed and giggled as we dipped her into the surf!  We ended up staying at the hotel and enjoying the pool for the rest of the afternoon then headed home (in traffic) so J could play in his softball play-offs that night.

Gianna loved the water

What is this stuff?

We were blessed to be able to see the family and friends on this visit; at Gianna's birthday, a few at the beach and finally at the little get-together at Robin and Joe's on Friday night.

Stephanie, Jason, Otto and G

Happy baby - Tiger sharkin'

Mallory, Otto and goddodda

Otto, godson and me

Me and Charlene

Stephanie, Otto and Camers

Tree, me and Otto

Grandpa Sam, G and Corynn

Still crazy after all these years (37)
Karen, me and Margaret 

Thank you all for making our time in California so awesome.  We truly are blessed with such great family and friends and enjoy the time we were able to spend with all of them on this trip.  Looking forward to our next adventure!

Brothers of the Sun

Wow, wow and wow!  We had an awesome time yesterday.  We headed to Pittsburgh around 10am as we heard the crowds would be crazy and the traffic even crazier.  We parked at the casino for $45 (we got it back cuz we gambled before and after the show to wait for traffic to die down) and walked to the stadium.  To say crazy is an understatement.  There were people and cars everywhere!  The parking lots were jammed with tailgaters and the river was laden with boats, it was a very cool site to see.  The only negative I have to say about the partiers in the parking lots is, 'really Pittsburghers, are you that careless about your city?'  If I were from Pittsburgh, I'd have to say I was ashamed....  The partiers left busted chairs, broken glass and trash, trash and more trash.  Now, I admit a few and very few, bagged up their trash nicely, but for the most part it was disgraceful.  Okay, enough said.

Here are some pics from the evening.  First Jake Owen took the stage and warmed up the crowd, what there was of it, with '1972'.  He's definitely a rocker at heart!  I guess most were hard core Kenny fans as even Tim couldn't fill the stadium.  Next, Grace Potter performed - a true rocker with a beautiful voice and stage presence.  She also joined Kenny for a duet of 'You and Tequila'.

Tim came on about 6:30 and played for a good hour and a half, with a standing O.  He was awesome, 'nuff said!  He played one of my favs to start, 'Everywhere' and I even cried when he sang the lyrics.... 'Arizona, dancin' cross the desert'  It reminded me of how much I miss AZ!  He has a new song 'Truck, Yeah' which was pretty amazing live!  I loved his live version of  'Back When' and 'Where the Green Grass Grows' too.

Next Kenny took the stage and wowed us all!  He is such an entertainer and a very genuine person.  He shows such emotion when singing his songs and really is a great story-teller and it seems he truly loves his fans.  He started off with 'Beer in Mexico'  one of our favorite songs, so that really got us going then moved into 'Keg in the Closet'.   He also covered 'Blister in the Sun' and 'Girl You Really Got Me' which were both pretty darn good I have to say.  He only played one island song, 'When the Sun Goes Down' so that was kind of a bummer, but understandable since most of his fans are country I guess.

We had a great time, and would see them again in a heartbeat.  At the end of the show, Tim and Kenny sang 'Rockstar' 'Indian Outlaw' and 'She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy' and then Grace and Jake joined them for the finale, 'Runnin' on Empty'.  Very, very cool!

After the show, we walked back to the casino, grabbed something to eat, hung out, listened to the band for a bit and waited for traffic to die down before we headed home.  I was the DD and for a change, Otto slept on the way home, where we finally arrived at 1:30 am.  What a day, so fun though I had to share it with y'all!