Tom's 35th Birthday

We celebrated Tom's birthday a couple times this month.

On his actual birthday (July 10th), we signed the papers to refinance our house and then went to Vallozzi's for dinner and drinks (and of course dessert). When we got home Tom opened his presents - 2 new golf hats & golf balls. I also wanted to get him a speaker thing to plug his phone into, but he needs to pick that out.

His favorite - cheesecake (with a side of chocolate for me)

On Friday, Christine, Eddie and the kids came over for dinner and brought an ice cream dessert. The kids played outside most of the evening and the adults watched the Pirate game - okay - I didn't really watch much.

Saturday, Tom got to play golf in the morning (dang - he sure does get to carry this birthday thing on for a while) and I took the kids to Idlewild.

Riding the teacups - surprise, surprise

Tommy likes to ride by himself...

Where's Grace?

I'd say he had a good birthday weekend! Happy Birthday Tom!

Texas Visitors

The Thursday we got back from Disney World, some of our friends from TX came to stay with us for a couple days.

Chris & Chuck (and Charlie and Isabella) got to our house around 10:00 that night. The kids had fun hugging and playing together for a little bit before we put them to bed around 11:00. Tommy and Charlie were excited to share Tommy's room.

Friday, Tom stayed home for a little while before taking Tommy & Grace to daycare and then heading out to play golf. I made dinner and we played outside (and inside).

Tommy & Charlie playing with legos

Isabella was supervising

Saturday was the active day. We left earlier in the morning and headed to Pittsburgh to go on the Good Ship Lollipop and then ride the incline. We took a few pictures at the top of Mount Washington and then headed over to Primanti's for their yummy sandwiches.

What a beautiful pirate

Aargh!

The kids at the top of Mount Washington

My sweet angel wanted a picture with me.

Chris & Chuck left right after lunch to head to Washington DC. We had a fun, but short visit with them.

Disney World, Part 3

Monday was a day we all spent at Downtown Disney and then Magic Kingdom.

We went to Downtown Disney first, because I made reservations at T-Rex, which it rated one of the top restaurants for kids in Disney. Yeah - our kids really didn't care. Oh well! They did go into a toy store and each picked out a new toy - so they were pretty excited about that.

Mr. Potato Head was giving me a massage

After lunch, we went back to the hotel for naps and then made our way to Magic Kingdom.

We did get to ride a few rides (thank you fast pass) and Tommy received a lot of birthday wishes from everyone since he had his "birthday" shirt on. The kids really liked the "Small World" and Peter Pan ride.

Grace made us ride the tea cups EVERY DAY

We took a boat ride back to the hotel, had dinner in the cafe and then went back to our room for cupcakes. After eating the dessert, we headed out to the boat dock to watch the fireworks at Magic Kingdom.

Happy Birthday Bud!

Tuesday was pretty much the same thing, except Tom and Tim played golf, so Diana and I took the kids to Magic Kingdom again. We rode a few rides before taking the train to the front of the park to have lunch at Tony's Restaurant (Lady & the Tramp). It was a little pricey, but very good.

Tommy & Grace were so cute riding together

Riding the tea cups with Grammy

Dumbo was the favorite for both kids - it had an inside play area while you waited

Tinkerbell was right next door, so I took the kids over to get her autograph since the wait was only 15-20 minutes. Tommy was a big boy and posed for a couple pictures with her (Grace was scared).

That night, we took a bus with the group over to Epcot for dessert/drinks and to watch the IllumiNations show. It was very interesting, although a little loud for the kids.

Grace was pumped for the ice cream

Pap-pap took them to see trains

I want to say that we got back to the hotel close to 11:00 and Diana and I went back over to Magic Kingdom to ride Space Mountain (40 minute wait) and the new Dwarf Mine Train ride (60 minute wait). It was nice (and A LOT cooler) going at night. We got back to the hotel around 1:00 in the morning.

Wednesday morning, Tim & Diana left and Tom and I took the kids back to Magic Kingdom for our last day. We did get quite a few rides again and Tom got a chance to ride Space Mountain. We had lunch and bought a few toys and a shirt for the kids with all the gift cards Tom won playing golf the day before. Woo-hoo!

Riding the carousel

Tom and Tommy were very competitive during the Buzz Lightyear Ride (which Tommy made us ride every day)

Tommy even rode a roller coaster with Tom (The Barnstormer)

Grace and I went to see Donald & Goofy

Wednesday night, we attended the big dinner the PICPA put on. It was really nice - they had a lot of kid activities and DJ and some yummy food. The kids had a blast dancing around.

Grace personalized her name tag

Thursday morning, we had a nice breakfast and then got on the bus to head back home.

Disney World, Part 2

Sunday was a more laid back day AND Tommy's actual birthday. We spent most of the morning/afternoon at the pool.

We ate breakfast in our room and then headed to the cabana right when it opened at 10:00 and stayed until about 4:30. They did close the pool for about 45 minutes in the afternoon because of inclement weather, but it wasn't that big of a deal.

The kids pretty much stayed in the pool the entire time which was surprising to us. At the beach last year, Grace didn't want to get in the pool - this day we couldn't keep her out. She did make me take her over to the sand to play at one point, but was back in the pool right after that.

Sunday night, we went for a cocktail hour at the conference center in our hotel before going with the group to Animal Kingdom. They provided dinner (with children's activities) at one of the outdoor restaurants. To say it was a little warm outside is putting it mildly. I was pretty much sweating my face off - haha.

Hello Birthday Boy!

Selfie Time

Hanging with Daddy

Look at these "wild" animals. Tommy has a scary ROAR and Grace had a cute little Meow

Once dinner was over, some guides took us over to another area of the park (our group had the park to ourselves) where they had dessert stations set up. Yum! They also opened Expedition Everest (the popular roller coaster at this park). Tom and I rode the ride 3 times and then Tom and Tim rode it another 2 times. It was pretty awesome not having to wait in a line!

We got back to the hotel around 11:00 that night and we all headed straight to bed. Another fun day at Disney.