Take me out to the ballgame!

 I just love to go to a live ballgame and before I'd left home I'd checked to see if the Pirates had a home game while we were there.  They did!  The we're playing their rival the Milwaukee Brewers so I asked Jeff to get us all tickets and I'd pay!  Monday was the day and we were off to the park at 4:30 for a 6:30 start.

A little blurb about PNC park.

Driving through downtown Pittsburgh.  Everything is so old and the building materials and architecture are so interesting. 

Car parked and ready to head to the stadium.

The stadium.

Heading in.

               Ava, Krista and Jeff.

We have our "big" beers!

We're early and not too many people are here yet.

There's always some nice person who'll take a photo.  And then we took theirs!

The game hasn't started yet so we're still upstairs drinking beer.

First pitch...play ball!

We needed hot dogs and fries first!

Beautiful evening but really hot and humid.

The skyline is spectacular.

More people now and they are really enthusiastic.

The jumbotron.

The Pirates Andre McCutchen.  A longtime player and a big favorite.  He was traded away and now he's back.

Ava, Shane and Jeff.

Joy hamming it up!

Is it a home run...yes! A two run homer for the Pirates.

The family.  Is Shane having fun..maybe😁

Rowdy Tellez used to be the DH for the Jays.

Raise the Jolly Roger the Pirates won 4 to 2!!

Joy in front of one of the many bronze baseball statues.

Back to the vehicle and Ava drove us all home!  It was a great evening and so nice to have the whole family together.  I even got to sing "Take me out to the ballgame" in the seventh inning stretch😁

 

A few days in Pittsburgh.

 Last Sunday we were off to Pam and David's for a little pool time.  Pam has been a stand in Gramma to Ava and Shane and is Krista's very good friend. She and David have always been there for the kids and for that I am grateful.  Pam also teaches lessons at Silvercrest which Krista and Jeff operate.

Joy in the pool.

A few friends showed up to make it a party.

Shane.

That's Pam in the white.

Joy.

Krista usually brings food so she made potato salad, I chopped for salsa and guacamole and Joy made the burgers!  Delicious food and a lovely afternoon.

The last couple of days or, this and that.

We went to Phipps on Friday and after that it was time for some low key visiting on Friday and Saturday. 

Friday we were off to Mary and Toms. When Shane and Ava were small Mary babysat them so she is a close friend to Krista's family and a second mother to our grandchildren.  Back in May she went to Maui with Erika, Abby and Palwinder. I haven't seen her for many years so it was great to catch up.  She and Tom have a lovely home and a fabulous outdoor living porch.

I did a really lousy job of taking pictures but here are couple.

Tom, Mary and Jeff.

Mary and Jeff share the same late August birthday so Mary decided they should do a limoncello shot!

Ava came with us but at 16 I'm not sure we were  much fun for her!  Mary prepared a delicious charcuterie and a couple of different sliders and we had a really nice visit.  So good to catch up.

A trip to Phipps!

One thing I really wanted to see in Pittsburgh was the Phipps Conservatory and Botanical gardens.  The current event there right now is the Billy Porter costume exhibit.  Added on to that are costumes created by local design students that are all plant based.  Slotted in here and there are resident Dale Chihuly blown glass art objects.  Everything is in the multi winged Victorian glass conservatory and it was stunning!  Krista, Joy and I spent two hours touring it.  There are 85 pictures plus in this blog.  I will comment on a few pictures but most are self explanatory. 

This is from Wikipedia, have a look if you like.

The exhibits by Billy Porter's love of fashion.  Again, check Wikipedia for his bio.

Years ago Eric and I visited the Phoenix Desert Botanical gardens where Dale Chihuly's exhibit was on display.  If you ever get the opportunity to view his work please do, as you won't be disappointed!

          Heading off on a 40 minute drive into the city.   

I just love the skyline.

Downtown Pittsburgh.

University of Pittsburgh.  Every thing here is so old and the architecture is so beautiful.

Phipps.

I'm ready!

Billy Porter.

Billy Porter and one of his costumes.

How beautiful is that!

Dale Chihuly glass work.

You keep left to that you'll tour the whole exhibit.

Krista.

I love the managed English garden look.

😊❤

A hanging Chihuly glass ball greets us.

The cacti are stunning...don't touch or you'll be sorry!

There is a small vegetable garden.

The Japanese bonsai exhibit.

Here we're in an outside exhibit.

Many non indigenous plants threaten the Hawaiian Islands.

More glass.

I just love the colors.

The butterfly and bee garden.  I grow many of the same plants at home as Pittsburgh is roughly the same zone as Terrace.

A metal snail that I'd like in my garden.  I like real art objects that are not cute!

Krista and Joy.

These are the local plant based costumes.

More Chihuly.

Krista vamps a living plant wall!

A monkey puzzle tree.  When I was a girl my Granny who was a fantastic gardener had one of these in the Vancouver area.  She would have loved Phipps.

The Orchid exhibit.  

Look at the little glass figures.

Here we come to the end.  We were all so impressed and glad we came.

Joy was better at this than me😆
  

    Krista's selfie of us!

Homeward bound heading out of town.

Medical research and educational facilities everywhere. 

Beautiful green areas everywhere.  There has been above average precipitation here this year.

Coming up the road home.