Hi guys! We are back in town after Riese’s first road trip! It was a lot of fun – all 3 of us enjoyed a change of scenery and some quality time with Matt’s parents. 🙂
We were in Pittsburgh area for the wedding of one of Matt’s buddies. The wedding was on Saturday, but we had a lot of friends coming into town for it, and we wanted to make sure to have lots of time with Matt’s parents, too, so we headed up on Thursday afternoon.
For the drive, we decided that one of us would drive and the other would sit back with Riese, because it’s really not fun to sit up front and listen to her cry and not be able to do anything about it! Matt drove the first half and I drove the second.
This approach worked well –we stopped once so I could feed Riese and for a little break, and she got a little fussy at the very end of the 5 hour drive, but overall it was less of a big deal than we thought it would be.
When we arrived, after getting settled and feeding Riese again, we headed to Matt’s family friend’s house for a BBQ with Matt’s parents and a bunch of our friends who were in town for the wedding. So fun to see everyone and to introduce many of them to Riese for the first time!
The weather cleared up so we were able to eat outside, which was fun. Delicious spread – I had a burger with various sides. The orzo salad was especially good – really lemony! I must get the recipe…
We ended up staying at the party until about 9:30 – Matt fed Riese her evening top off bottle and then I put her in my Boba 4g carrier and she fell asleep on me. Once we got back to Matt’s parent’s house that night, Riese slept in her Pack ‘n’ Play for the first time, in the Merlin sleep suit. She woke up a couple times but overall did well!
On Friday morning, we had a relaxing morning with the Mauneys – had some food, played with Riese, etc.
Late morning, the grandparents enjoyed some time with Riese while Matt and I headed out on an adventure: our first legit run date together in over a year!
I love running near Matt’s parent’s house – it’s hilly, but there are some really beautiful quiet wooded streets with streams running alongside the road. The air was so fresh and scented by the trees – and everything was wonderfully green thanks to all the recent rain. One of my favorite loops where we end up in town involves about 5 or so miles, so when I found out we’d be headed to Pittsburgh area this weekend for the wedding, I decided I’d make it my postpartum running goal to be in good enough shape by this weekend to do one of my favorite loops with Matt.
It was humid and we treated ourselves to a walk up one of the really big hills, but overall I felt good out there!
We made plans to meet up with Matt’s parents and Riese in town; we ended our run/met up with them at a cute coffee shop in Sewickley called Adesso Café. They have great lattes and really yummy snack balls, too! The snack balls are made with pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, almonds, almond butter, coconut nectar, dates, chia seeds, hemp seeds, cinnamon, mesquite powder (!), and vanilla. Tasty!
We all strolled around a little bit and then headed to lunch at Café Des Amis. Matt and I shared a BLATT (bacon, lettuce, avocado, tomato, turkey) sandwich and a massive salad. Hit the spot! (Matt also got a french onion soup, but I passed on that – not my fave.)
We spent the rest of Friday relaxing at the house and playing! Riese was in a cheerful mood this weekend – she’s social like her momma! And seems to really love music, too. 🙂
For dinner on Friday, we all had an early meal at the club Matt’s parents belong to. I was craving something salty apparently after our run – I went for the steak with fries and asparagus. Plus some shared fried brussels!
I’ll be back tomorrow to recap part 2 of our weekend trip – stay tuned, and have a great day!
