Our House is a Very, Very, Very Fine House

One of the good things about being back east is being close to the majority of my family. Not only did we get to visit my Aunt Lori and cousin Dan in Michigan, we also made stops at my Great Aunts' houses in Mansfield, Ohio and Sharon, PA. Additionally, we made it to Pittsburgh, PA, and saw my Aunt Karen and cousin Christian, as well as my Aunt Mary Beth and cousins Sophie, Anne Marie, and Lucy. But, first things first. After the Henry Ford, we headed south to Toledo (specifically Waterville) to show Cody where I was born and our first house. While most of Waterville was the same, they had definitely built out. Where there used to be fields and farms down the street from our house, it was all houses and subdivisions. My first school was now administration buildings. Luckily, the house still looked the same. It was neat being back and telling Cody about my pink bedroom, the back porch where my dad built the fish pond, and about the skating rink that he built in the backyard. Waterville was a neat place to live and it was nice to see that it still has maintained that small town feel that we enjoyed so much. After a few circles around town we continued south to Findlay, where we camped for the night. While we were setting up camp I got a call from my Aunt Karen in Pittsburgh asking if we would be able to get to Pittsburgh by Friday night because she has an extra ticket to the musical "Wicked" and she thought it would be nice to have all her nieces go together. Thank you Aunt Karen for thinking of me! I had a wonderful time! As has been the case with the rest of the trip, we had very few plans, so changing these non-existent plans was pretty easy. So, we were headed to Pittsburgh after a brief stay at my Aunt Fran's in Mansfield.

We got to Aunt Fran's on Thursday at 2pm and had a nice visit with Aunt Fran and my Aunt Kay (who Fran takes care of). We got to hear all sorts of stories about my Grandma Radkowski when she was younger and it was nice to just visit with family that I hadn't seen in a while (and to introduce them to Cody!) Friday we set off to Pittsburgh (where we got miserably lost). Luckily, my dad knew the area like the back of his hand and was able to get us to Aunt Karen's before the show :)! Cody hung out with my cousin Christian, while all the girls were at the show. They went out to dinner, watched the Pirates game and met us for dessert after the show. As far as the show was concerned, it was awesome! I was smiling the whole time. They did such a great job of creating Oz and the flying monkeys were super creepy. I cannot wait to take my mom to the show if it ever comes back to Florida. There is just something about the energy at a live show that makes it so much better. Aunt Karen also bought all of her nieces a souvenir from the show. Sophie and I got matching "I <3 Oz" shirts and Anne Marie and Lucy got really cool necklaces. We decided that "Nieces Night Out" had to become a regular event! But the fun didn't stop on Friday. Saturday, Christian took us to the Pitt vs. Iowa football game at Heinz Field in downtown Pittsburgh. Aunt Karen and Uncle Bob have season tickets and neither of them could go, so Cody and I got to watch the Panthers beat the Hawkeyes 21-20. Saturday night was spent at an art festival near Christian's condo and enjoying his homemade ice cream, for which he is becoming famous amongst the family.

After a nice visit in Pittsburgh, we promised that we would visit Aunt Fran and Aunt Kay again, but this time at Aunt Kay's house in Sharon, PA. This was a great opportunity to show Cody around Sharon and Hermitage, PA, where my dad grew up and where we spent many wonderful times while my Grandma and Pop-Pop Radkowski were alive. We did all the quintessential Sharon things. Cody tried on shoes at Reyer's (which used to be the largest shoe store in the world). He had chicken wings at Quaker Steak and Lube and got a T-shirt! We also toured Christmasland at Kraynak's (which is a nursery/collectibles/decoration store). We decided to stay 3 days, in order to visit with my great aunts. I took Cody by my grandma and grandpa's house and told him about our 4th of July parties and what Christmases were like around there. It was nice being able to share these memories with Cody while we were there.

The final stop on the "memory lane" portion of the trip was to stop by Gahanna, OH, near Columbus to takes some pictures of where my mom first lived as a child. While the lilac bushes she told me about were gone, the fleur de lis on the garage, that my Grandpa Linscott made were still there! Everyone was entertained to hear that the garage cutouts have remained over the years. Having never been to where my mom lived as a young girl, it was neat to get to see. We got a couple pictures of the house (we probably freaked out the neighbors with our picture taking) and then headed out to Louisville, Kentucky for a final stay at a KOA and the Louisville Slugger Factory in the morning. Batter Up!

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