The Cromies: A Good Catholic Family

The real reason we traveled all this way: Mama Judy’s family reunion. The kind of reunion where you’re meeting relatives for the very first time and need name tags that state your name plus who you belong to. Mama's parents passed long before W was ever born so the siblings are who carry on the reunion, which happens every other year. They are, in birth order: Patrica, Jeanne, Jim, Althea, Bob, Albert, Rosemary {who passed eleven years ago from Down Syndrome complications}, and Mama Judy.

Here are the siblings who were present at the reunion L-R: Bob, Jeanne, Judy, Jim, Pat{rica}, and Al. Althea, unfortunately, was just recently placed in the hospital for heart troubles so although that part of the family was planning on coming, they did not.

Jeanne and Judy...twinsies separated by 11 years!

Six of those kids went on to reproduce…one of which had two and the rest had four or more. Judy is the leader with seven. So this means, her parents had close to 30 grandkids. Like I said in the title: the Cromies were a very good Catholic family. Uncle Jim and Mama are the ones who moved away the farthest, to the West coast. The other four siblings are located either in town, southern Pennsylvania, New York or Ohio.

I missed Bob and his offspring's photo, but here are Jeanne and her's:

Judy's and those who came from California to represent...so funny that she's really got the biggest portion when we have the smallest amount:

Pat and her's:

And Al and his:

So I got to meet W’s aunts, uncles, cousins, and 2nd cousins all in one place. We talked, ate, played games, and survived the humidity somehow.

So fun to be thrown in with a bunch of strangers and then try to figure out what you have in common. And I thought keeping W's immediate family all in order was difficult in the beginning, this was a whole new ball game. Everyone was so sweet and so interested in getting to know us. Not only did we come away with some new potential vacation locations, but some new friends as well!

A Taste of Smokey City's History

So I've been on the fence about whether I like this city or not. It used to be called the Smokey City because it was grossly polluted by the steel mills and coal mines. Apparently, the buildings were just covered in soot and there were serious health issues for anyone who lived here. Now, steel is no longer made here and they’ve cleaned up much of the building faces. But it definitely still has a dirty ol’ feel to it. W says I’m just a girl who likes her aesthetics. And I think he’s right. Seattle, Milwaukee, and Chicago are all clean, have beautiful buildings, and have lots of greenery and flowers scattered throughout the downtown areas. This place, not so much. Or at least what little I've seen.

BUT I will say that I love all the random history I’ve learned about Pittsburgh—W isn’t the only history nerd in this family. And random history it is! I learned a ton when we went to the Heinz History Center on day two. Pittsburgh definitely takes pride in all its accomplishments and accolades. It was the birthplace for…

Mister Roger’s Neighborhood--yup, that homemade-knit-sweater wearing guy of the early 70s.

The invention of the Big Mac

Andy Worhol, the pop culture artist

Rachel Carson—the first notable environmentalist who did a lot to clean up this city

The great Lewis and Clark Expedition…seriously, they started from Pittsburgh.

Andrew Carnegie’s great success as a steelmaker and contributor to the city’s cultural development

The Polio Vaccine

Heinz Food Company

And Rosie the Riveter 

Okay, so probably more than you EVER wanted to know about Pittsburgh, but I was quite impressed by its resume. We then headed to the Strip to grab a bite to eat and check out the bizarre. Like the Alter Bar which is located in a church…

And The Wholely Market—full of chaos and weird smells.

We grabbed some yummy pizza at a hole in the wall place before heading back home for the day. That evening, W’s sister Dof and Ashaya flew in. Just in time for the Cromie Reunion!

Overview of Pittsburgh

For our first day in the city, we decided to do a Just Ducky tour to get a ‘forest view’ of Pittsburgh. 

Before our trip, E and W hung around a fountain that was tuned to music {at that time it was Disney movie soundtracks} in Station Square. If you stood close enough, you could get a refreshing shower of mist. And it was uncomfortably warm when we went.

Mama Judy and her oldest brother {#3 out of 8}, Uncle Jim, joined in the ducky fun. They both grew up in this city.

My handsome and wet boys.

We were quickly introduced to the city and its history. 

PNC park where the Pirates play.

PPG plaza made out of black glass…I guess the Inspector Gadget filmed used this for Dr. Claw’s evil lair. It definitely stood out against all the old gothic architecture of the city.

The last bit of the tour was in the water. Pittsburgh is surrounded by three rivers {even though the two merge into one, the Ohio} and has over 400 bridges to cross them.  The city’s south side also has Mount Washington and requires these long tunnels to get into the heart of the city.

During the boat portion, kids got a chance to drive. After E woke up from a nap, he took to the wheel…hence the dazed expression on his face. 

We saw the Heinz Field where the Steelers play. And let me tell you, these people out here—they are dead serious about their sports. Maybe because they don’t have multiple choices because there is black and yellow every.where. Mama Judy says it’s because they were serious steel and coal miners so they needed something fun to ‘get away’. 

On our way home, we stopped at the top of Mount Washington for a bird’s eye view of the city. It has a great skyline with all the water and bridges surrounding it.

We also stopped at St. Mary’s of the Mount church with its beautiful architecture. 

A great day to get better acquainted with the {formally known as} Smokey City!!

Traveling Across the Country

Not as challenging as we had worried about leading up to the day. Surprisingly, we were packed by Monday and had most details taken care of in advance of our early Wednesday morning departure. Here’s our loot {minus a car seat, lunch pail and stroller}… more carry on weight than our checked luggage, I’m sure. ;)

E loved seeing all the big airplanes. It was fun that we just went to the Airplane Museum so he already knew what they were.

We lucked out the first leg and got a whole row to ourselves. E loved putting his feet up.

We sure asked a great deal of E on our travel day: waking up at 4:30, and a loooong day of travel. This included one 4 hr flight and a 3 hr flight. Although, there was very little sleep that day, he did amazing. We read, snacked on yummy treats, colored, made pipe-cleaner bracelets, stuck stickers everywhere, and played with kind neighbors.  He even let us watch the in-flight movie on the last leg—which was Unstoppable, a movie about Pennsylvania and filmed in Pittsburgh. 

And he loved blowing off some steam by way of the 'moving walk'. We went on that thing again and again and again and...while waiting for Mama Judy to land.

We arrived in the early evening at W’s Aunt Pat and Uncle Jim’s place in southern Pittsburgh. Aunt Pat is Mama Judy’s oldest sibling. Mama is the youngest of 8! I am really looking forward to meeting some of W’s extended family for the first time—as he was too since the one and only time he’s seen them was when he was three!

{I'm hijacking some internet so while I hope I can continue to post while here, no promises!}

Cha-Cha-Changes

 I did it! The long hair is officially no more.

Verdict: I love the style and the color, but it’s much shorter than I was hoping for. I still wanted to have a ponytail, so I like it and figure I will really love it in a few months. J  But it is fabulous having an instant change and less hair to look after!

                                                    

Work & Play at the Fair

The Work: The current elective that my tutor student is taking is photography. I must admit that I selfishly wanted him to sign up for this after we finished culinary, because I wanted to learn more about it. Since he's on an independent program, I do all the teaching so I've been learning lots as I try to develop some curriculum. 

Anyway, after getting some free fair tickets from our neighbor, I thought it would be a great assignment {after learning about composition} to head to the fair for some shots. We borrowed my mom's Nikon and went to town for a good hour. Truly, a rough work life!

Here's a few shots he got that I thought were pretty darn good! 

I played with the camera as well. 

The Play: And what do you know, the whole family came along for the fun too. ;)

Ezra's 2nd year to the fair: SO much fun as a toddler! He went on his very first ride: the Carousel. He totally loved it and did not want to get off!

We also hung around the animals and petting zoo. A great chance to put all those animal noises and reading about animals to practice! 

And the fair experience is never complete without the funnel cake!

YES!

All Hands Day

I should have mentioned in my post about the hard week last week that we got another bit of good news. W's new firm has placed him in their local office which is potentially saving him a few hours a day on his commute. However, the very nature of his position as auditor will have him driving around on a daily basis so much of his work with be out of the office during the day. But we are so excited nonetheless!! 

Obligatory photos in front of the door before leaving.

On Friday, W got to meet much of the staff during a volunteer day at the YWCA in San Jose. 

It was a full day of a staff meeting, exercise and then manual labor. He got to meet three of the six other new associates. In fact, another one of them, Keith, has been placed here because he also lives in town. He and W drove down together that day.

After E's afternoon nap, W had us come and join them since he wasn't sure when he'd be home. E and I met up with W just as things were wrapping up. A large group headed over to a restaurant for beer and apps. 

It was great getting to meet some of the staff and who W will be working with. Everyone seemed super chill and down to earth. I had a great conversation with a new associate who's from Utah, we got to hear about another staffer's son who was born 4 days before E, and W found a few more gun enthusiasts to go to the range with. After we got home and E was down for the night, Keith came over for some more beer, a board game, and more getting-to-know-you.

It was a great evening and while talking in bed before falling asleep, shared how we both felt encouraged about our next stage in life!