First week of October - Another little road trip!

Pittsburgh is admittedly not always my favorite place to live (at least when compared to the West coast), but I have to admit. This place has some amazing sunsets. Kind of a lot of them, actually. The camera never quite captures the beauty of them, but this one was close. I swear though, it looked even better than this photo. 

We don't let Amelia watch much TV. Kind of at all. She sees it on of course, but she doesn't pay a ton of attention (unless there is music that catches her attention for a minute, or an animal to point at), and we don't ever turn on stuff intended for her to watch. She just seems happy enough to be playing without watching it, so we don't bother turning on kid shows or movies. I have been collecting some Disney movies for her though, and she'll watch them at some point. 

But, one day she was all over the place, and I really needed to get some stuff done in the kitchen without her undoing everything I accomplish. She loves to pull dirty dishes out of the dishwasher while I'm trying to load it, empty the cupboards while I'm trying to clean, etc. Usually I really don't mind, but I really wanted to just get it done a little quicker that day. We have a CD of kid's songs about science, and it came with a DVD of videos that go with all the songs. She loves the CD, so I decided to try playing the DVD to see if it would distract her for a bit. 

It totally worked. So well that she actually sat down, and stayed still, and watched it. I've literally never seen her do that before, and I thought the momentous occasion warranted some documentation. Here she is learning all about the Periodic Table. She sat there for close to twenty minutes, which was plenty of time to get some things done without interruption. I'm still only bringing out the kid shows for emergencies, but at least I know that it might work if I need her to be distracted and in one place for a bit. 

On Thursday evening, after Tom got off work, we headed over to Harrisburg. There was a big car show/swap meet there that Tom wanted to go to. He's looking for a T Bucket, or parts for his Harley. Harrisburg also ended up being the location for a test he needed to take, and it all fell on the same weekend. So we made a short little trip of it. 

While Tom was taking his test, Amelia and I met up with a couple friends and their babies for some lunch and park time. Amelia definitely had a good time hanging out with some other kids her age, and it was a gorgeous day to be outside. 

We tried to arrange them on the table for a picture, and of course Amelia was the only one who refused to sit, and kept standing up and walking around. 

Someday, she'll want to stay in one place, right? Until then, I'll just admire her energy and enthusiasm. 

The hotel we stayed at had a ridiculous number of pillows on the bed. Which, admittedly, I kind of appreciate as a pregnant lady. They also ended up being a lot of fun to pile up and throw our toddler into. Which is what we did for awhile before going to dinner. 

We really were tossing her into them, and she really was loving it. 

Settling down after the good times. 

After going to dinner, we headed to a nearby mall to keep her awake and entertained. It was too late to start a second nap, so we chose to skip it, but we knew the hotel could only provide so much entertainment. We found a toy store for her to run around in, and she found this giant tiger to say hello to. 

She also loved the wall of dog calendars. She spent awhile pointing and making the excited sound she always makes when she sees an animal and wants us to know about it. 

Then we found a group of those little ride in toys that move when you put money in. We have yet to put any money in these things, but Amelia is thoroughly entertained by them every time. 

The next morning, Tom went to his car thing, and Amelia and I slept in and hung out at the hotel. 

I woke up not feeling super great, just sort of easily winded and uncomfortable, even though I wasn't actually doing anything to get winded. I guess Oliver was squishing my lungs. Either that, or breakfast with Amelia in the hotel lobby was just too much to handle. ;)

As I tried to relax on the couch after breakfast, Amelia quickly found all kinds of things to get into. 

Like the wipes. 

And the kitchen cupboards. 

Where she found this amazing contraption to run around with. 

She was wearing two socks when the day started, I promise. 

After much innocent fun in the hotel, Tom came back, we checked out, and headed home. He didn't find what he was looking for at the car show, but he seemed to enjoy it and we'll likely go back again in the future. It's a semi annual thing, so it will happen again in the Spring. And here's hoping he did well on his test!!