DeLancey Family Spring Travels Volume VI: Pittsburgh, PA

Accommodations: Holiday Inn University of Pittsburgh University Center and Aunt Helen's House

Tuesday April 12:
The kids and I took off from Boston to Pittsburgh while Lance flew home to California. The plane ride was mostly uneventful, but once we got to the airport, we had to a wait a little while because my mom and Randy got stuck in the Pittsburgh rush hour traffic through the Fort Pitt Tunnels. This wasn't too bad, but it was entertaining getting two children, two large suitcases (that don't strap together), two carseats, one stroller, one backpack, and RJ's backpack all to the door. Luckily RJ found it fun to pull one of the suitcases and I used his spot in the stroller for one of the carseats. We got picked up, fit all that stuff in the car and headed to the hotel to check in, and then went for a late dinner of ice cream. Yes, ice cream for dinner. The kids had eaten a late lunch and then had some snacks on the plane, but really, ice cream was what everyone wanted. The original plan was Max and Erma's, but apparently the one in Shadyside doesn't exist anymore (WTF?) and it was getting late and we wanted to get the kids to bed. We all crashed when we got back to the hotel.

Wednesday April 13:
This was the first day of the NALS conference. Logan clearly had some separation anxiety since he doesn't get to see Grammie too often. (Grammie needs to get her butt out of Buffalo and move to California!) He did eventually calm down and the boys got to go to Pamela's for breakfast with Grammie and Randy while I conferenced. It was spectacular to have academic discussions again and to visit other preschools (I went to the Cyert Center for Early Education (which I have never actually toured despite living above the center in Morewood my Freshman year of college) and I skipped out of the end of the tour to visit the Children's School (that's the one I worked at during my undergrad years at CMU - the one in the basement of the Margaret Morrison building for you other CMU alums out there). I gained so many great ideas for my center if I can ever get money to start it!

I met back up with my boys at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, where they spent the afternoon learning about dinosaurs and RJ acquired a ridiculously heavy museum quality Brachiosaurus (who he quickly named Ned after the one on Dinosaur Train), and a big T-rex, since he was still sad that he didn't have one of his bigger T-rexes with him (and Stripey was smaller). Thanks Grammie and Randy for giving us even more stuff to fly back with! [In all fairness, RJ does play with Ned practically every day and he has visited the park, the sand table, and most recently, RJ's forehead when Logan clocked him with it.]

We had some dinner at Primanti Bros.

(Randy was previously a Primanti Bros. virgin, so it was definitely on the Pittsburgh to-do list!) and walked around Oakland and into Schenley park where I stopped in at the University Reception and Poster Session for the conference at the Frick Fine Arts Building.

Thursday April 14:

More conferencing for me when Mom and Randy took RJ and Logan to visit with their Great Grandparents and Aunt Helen. The highlight of my day was the keynote address by Hedda Sharapan from the Fred Rogers Company. She worked closely with Fred Rogers and was an absolutely delightful speaker who shared lots of clips from Mister Rogers' Neighborhood as well as clips of Fred from awards banquets, hearings, etc. She also provided the entire conference with copies of "You are Special", which I have wanted to read for a while now!
After the conference, Mom, Randy, the boys, and I ate at LuLu's (yum!) and then I took the boys to the CMU Spring Carnival midway, which I don't think I ever went to since I was usually avoiding the last minute work on Booth, preparing for the buggy races, and/or at the KDR Buggy A-team dinner (carb-loading my pushers!) This was quite a different experience seeking out kiddie rides and being able to see straight because I was sober. RJ thought it was pretty cool as I reminisced, seeing all the fraternity men and sorority women frantically trying to put the finishing touches on their booths.

Friday April 15:

2am: Logan had been getting up frequently to join me in bed with RJ, but it did afford this adorable picture of them sleeping together, even if I was being pushed off the side of the bed.
I played hooky from the conference because I absolutely HAD to take my boys to see the buggy races.

For those of you who have no idea what I am talking about (or clearly weren't listening to me when I was in college), Buggy is a unique race at Carnegie Mellon. The buggies are small aerodynamic non-motorized vehicles built and powered by CMU students in various organization. I usually describe them as looking like torpedoes on wheels with a giant stick coming out the back. These were the ones I drove:

Palooka - KDR Buggy 1999

Penthus - KDR Buggy - 2000

Penthus - KDR Buggy - 2001

Yes, I am INSIDE the torpedo part. Laying on my stomach a few inches off the ground enjoying every second of it. The course is roughly a loop, where a two person relay pushes you up a hill and then shoves you to free roll (yes there is steering, and brakes in there) downhill and around a sharp curve (the "chute"), after which the buggy is picked up by 3 more people who relay up the hill again to the finish line. The running part is fun (especially if you cheer on your pushers from inside the buggy), but the downhill portion is where the real excitement is for the driver because buggies can go pretty fast (~35 mph at peak speed).

Anyway, in college I drove for Kappa Delta Rho (Lance's fraternity) and I had the time of my life doing it, so I really wanted to share the experience with my kids.

RJ thought it was really cool since he is obsessed with races, and even got to witness a crash (something Mommy NEVER did - I spun once, but never crashed) right in front of him. Seriously. The buggy hit the hay bale right next to the one he was standing on. After this crash (the first of about 5 this year - crazy!), we ran into Doh, 40, Lou, and Dawber (oh, you expected me to use their real adult names - HA!), who were all KDR buggy gurus. For example, 40 Dogg, who was chair, built the buggy that I drove (and got a 5th place trophy with) in 2000. That was 11 years ago. Damn. Yeah, a lot has changed in 11 years - for example, I know 40 as my buggy chair and friend who welcomed me to the KDR buggy team at a party, and who once got covered in American cheese after passing out during Carnival festivities. However, to RJ, "Mike" is "the cool guy who has two boys my age and took me to the potty so Mommy could stay outside with Logan". Thanks "Mike", that was really helpful and in college, I NEVER would've imagined that you'd be taking my kid to pee.

I reluctantly returned to the conference for the afternoon and took the kids back to midway in the evening (where we ran into Shannon, Kirstyn, and beautiful baby Amelia). And then, as the trip had been going more smoothly since getting my new phone, of course, we were due for some drama. I lost my wallet, which I didn't realize until we arrived at Gullifty's for dinner. So my mom and Randy left me and kids there with some money and went to look for it in the parking garage at the hotel (we thought it fell out when packing the stroller in the car). We briefly saw Eileen and her family there, which was cool, but I was so discombobulated that we didn't really talk much. Mom and Randy came back and we stopped at CMU to check if anyone had turned it in. I really had zero faith that I would recover it during Carnival, but Mom's sixth sense was right and CMU police picked it up and it was completely untouched. Thank goodness! The trip was back on track!

Saturday April 16:
After packing up and checking out, I finally got to go to Pamela's with the boys and Mom and Randy! Except it was packed, unlike during the week (duh - should've KNOWN that). After a yummy breakfast, we took the boys to the Pittsburgh Children's Museum for some good quality play and then shopped a little in the Strip District before heading out to Aunt Helen and Uncle Jim's for dinner and a sleepover and visiting! And, as an added bonus, Logan decided that he was ready to walk again! His injury was, for the most part, over.

Sunday April 17:
We visited and then drove up to Buffalo, stopping at Grove City on the way up.

More pictures on Picasa

DeLancey Family Spring Travels Volume II: Montreal, QC

Montreal, QC Accomodations: Parc Suites Hotel (Trip Advisor Reviews)

Friday April 1:

Friday was a day of rest and regrouping. It seems silly to be holed up in our hotel room when we were in a great city like Montreal, but both children and adults needed a breather, so after my 8am poster session, I returned to my boys in the hotel and napped (yes, rare for me, I know!) while the boys played with their toys, which they really needed to do. We went to lunch at Boccacino's after walking along Rue St. Catherine. Then we headed back to the hotel to meet my dad, who was joining us for the weekend. Thank goodness that Parc Suites had free long-distance calling (to the US even) included in the room - this made not having cell phones a little easier for meeting up.

My real highlight of the day (other than seeing Dad) was getting to eat dinner with adults, more specifically my Brandeis advisors/colleagues, at Restaurant Fonduementale, sort of. I was SUPPOSED to get to eat dinner alone with adults, but somehow my children and their Father and Grandfather ended up at the same restaurant, seated across the aisle from me. Luckily, they were cute before Logan melted down, prompting Lance to take him outside and RJ to come and sit by me instead of Grandpa (poor Grandpa!). It was a crowd of developmental psychologists, so we were at least entertained by it all. Regardless, it was still nice to not have to feed anyone, have anyone hanging on me, or worry about Logan throwing food off the table! That alone would've been enough for me to be happy, but the food was OUTSTANDING as well. Melted cheese, shrimp, steak, salmon, chicken, calamari for cooking in the broth, topped off with chocolate fondue with assorted fruit and clearly fresh in-house made marshmallows.

It was starting to feel like a vacation.

Saturday April 2:

We ate Montreal bagels and cream cheese in the hotel room, and then sought out the views from the top of Mont Royal before eating crepes for lunch at La Crepe 2 Go.

After lunch we headed down to the Parc Olympique area to visit the Montreal Biodome.

The Biodome was really cool with four different habitats under one roof. From rainforest birds to sub-antarctic penguins, we had a great time watching the animals. I think it's safe to say that while the DeLancey's prefer the Mediterranean climate of the San Francisco Bay Area, we all seem to enjoy watching the King Penguins frolic the best.

Probably because their cold (2-5 degrees C) was behind glass.




We also really enjoyed the beavers,

and watching the ducks' feet and watching them dive into the Gulf of St. Lawrence replica pool.

Then we walked around Vieux Montreal and ended up eating in Montreal's Chinatown. I don't recall the restaurant's name though it was very good, especially the shredded duck!



Sunday April 3:

We ate an excellent breakfast of fruit exploding out of crepes at Chez Cora, which was literally downstairs from the hotel and then wandered through the massive underground mall in Montreal. Or attempted to. It would've been better had we put Logan in the Ergo and had RJ walking because it was not very stroller friendly if you were trying to use it to stay out of the cold. There were elevators, but none seemed to get you to the level of the tunnels that went from one section to another. After a few times of carrying the stroller up the stairs (most of these tunnels had a set of about 6 stairs going up or down to get to them), we gave up and just walked outside to Vieux Montreal again for some Poutine at Montreal Poutine. For the uninitiated, Poutine is basically fries and cheese curds smothered in gravy. In other words, delicious comfort food. Fries have never been my favorite thing to eat, but this makes them delicious.


After lunch, we had some maple sugar taffy, freshly rolled off some snow at a little kiosk in Place Jacques Cartier, and then walked along the waterfront while Dad told us about the buildings from Expo 67. He had actually been there as a kid!


Then Dad left for his long drive back home and we let the kids play for a little while in the hotel before heading out for some smoked meat at Schwartz's. Yum.


Monday April 4:

We packed up and headed to Quebec City.

We definitely enjoyed our time in Montreal, although I think we'd enjoy it a lot more in the Summer when it's warm or without the children to enjoy the nightlife! Planning more would probably have helped too!

DeLancey Family Spring Travels Volume I: Overview and Prelude to Montreal

This post is first in a series describing our three weeks of Spring Travel. In these posts, I am sure you will see just how insane adventurous we are in traveling with two children under the age of 4.

Overview:
We traveled from Home --> Manchester, NH --> Montreal, QC --> Quebec City, QC --> Burlington, VT --> Boston, MA --> Pittsburgh, PA --> Buffalo, NY --> Home

And why, you ask?

Back in July I learned that the Society of Research in Child Development Conference was in Montreal. While I am not working at the moment, this was something I committed to with my last grad student as I was finishing up. Also, when your name gets attached to something, it's good to have some oversight in case of a return to academia in the future.

Also, I want to open my own laboratory preschool, so attending the International Association of Laboratory and University Affiliated Schools Conference in Pittsburgh - directly preceding Spring Carnival weekend - was a damned good idea for me to get some ideas.

These conferences were a couple of weeks apart and we really miss our friends in Boston, so we stopped there on our circular trip.

But that's boring stuff. Let's move on to the trip.

1 week prior to takeoff: I received an email from my graduate student stating that she had a family emergency and that I never got feedback to her about the poster. (except that I did - 3 weeks prior). So, 1 week before the conference, I had to complete the poster and get it printed. This was frustrating because it took vital time away from planning the fun parts of the trip. So we sort of ended up winging it.

2 days prior to takeoff: Logan jacks up his leg going down the f*#&ing slide at the playground. We spent the day visiting the pediatrician and getting X-rays, only for them to tell us that it doesn't appear broken, but infants sometimes require a few days for the bone to split. WONDERFUL. Logan was miserable and frustrated, wouldn't walk, but still tried to climb everything in sight, leaving me with not a lot of time to pack.

March 30: The flight to Boston was OK (flights to BOS were a TON cheaper than flying directly to Montreal and we needed a car for the duration of the trip anyway), but it was the ride to the hotel in Manchester, NH that was eventful. The idea to stay in Manchester for the night was, in theory, brilliant. We landed at 10pm local time and got the rental car. The idea was that the kids would pass out in the car on the way up to Manchester, which would get them closer to East Coast time.

FAIL.

Instead, since we somehow forgot to get Lance food on the plane when we got food for me and the kids, he was hungry. But of course NOTHING was open outside the airport. Finally we found a late-night McDonald's (somewhere near Malden, MA - hi Justin & Saru!) that only had a drive thru open. We got the food and figured that we were in the clear and that the food would help RJ get less cranky and fall asleep (RJ often gets cranky when he's hungry and he was due for a snack based on when he last ate). Except that RJ was really upset because he was carsick. We parked about a millisecond too late. Puke was all over his jacket, the carseat, and the seat of the rental car. And he did NOT want to drive ANYWHERE. There were hotels in sight, but not ours, which was still far away in New Hampshire. I have to plug the Earth's Best Baby Wipes at this point, because they played a large role in our cleanup effort. They are actually a little soapy and pretty thick. I use cloth wipes at home, but usually use Seventh Generation, Full Circle, or Lansinoh wipes in the diaper bag. These were at Babies R Us when I picked up the G-diaper inserts for the trip and BOY was I glad I picked them on a whim!

After cleaning up in the freezing cold parking lot, we finally convinced RJ to get back in the car and Daddy promised to drive slow so he wouldn't get sick. Thankfully, it worked and we made it to Manchester, where our kids proceeded to keep us up til 2am. So much for moving to East Coast time, as we were on Hawaii time! We almost missed the complimentary breakfast (thank you wonderful lady who hooked us up with more food than we could possibly eat after breakfast ended!), and Logan was still in a lot of pain after 3 days, when the pediatrician told us that if it was a sprain he should feel better in a few days.

So, Next stop:

The Elliot Hospital Pediatric ER to get another X-ray

Several hours later, we had a CD with Logan's X-ray, which still showed that it was not broken, and Logan was splinted in what was termed a "half cast" or "soft-cast", meaning that I could take it off for bath. Or, as it turned out, he could crawl out of it unless it was heavily taped to his sock.

We got back to the car and realized that my phone battery was dead. I plugged it in to the charger and even after it charged, the screen wouldn't come on. A visit at the local Verizon store confirmed that yes, the only phone that we added the international plan to, died hours before leaving the country and of course there was NOTHING they could do because we didn't have the insurance and I wasn't due for a new phone until November. Since buying a new one outright was not an option, we were about to go on the trip the old-fashioned way - WITHOUT smart phones (insert scary music).

So with a broken kid, a whiny kid, discouraged adults, and a broken phone, we drove up to Montreal much later than expected. And like clockwork, once getting into Quebec and clearly on a rural highway through small-town Quebec, RJ announced that he had to go potty. And of COURSE the kid had to take a shit. We thankfully found a completely French Speaking diner that let him use the potty and Lance managed to buy a piece of pie with American Dollars because he didn't just want to let RJ take a dump in their potty and run.

We got to our hotel and the kids had yet another late night.

And my poster presentation (my grad student did end up cancelling her trip to Montreal due to her family emergency, so I was stuck presenting her work as well as creating the poster of it) was of course at 8am the next morning.

Stay tuned for Volume 2: Montreal, QC.

Logan Goes to NALS

After our South East adventure, we headed up to Muncie, IN (Home of Garfield the Cartoon Cat) so that I could attend the annual conference of the International Association of Laboratory and University Affiliated Schools (NALS). I was presenting some research on how new teachers develop guidance skills and since Logan and I are attached by the breast, we all had to go.
I am really impressed with how well Logan did as a conference buddy. I had him with me each day (of the three day conference) from about 8/9 am until about 1 or 1:30. Then Lance would pick him up and take care of him until 4, so I could have a little baby-free conferencing. During the time I had Logan, he was an absolute angel. Even when he was awake (and not nursing) in a session, he just batted at his dangling toy and stayed quiet, so I could pay attention. I think he enjoyed listening to everyone talk around him. He also charmed everyone who saw him between sessions. And he even slept for Daddy both days.

RJ got to visit the library and the Muncie Children's Museum with Daddy when Mommy and Logan conferenced.
The only crazy day was when my presentation was scheduled for 9:40 on Friday and we had to be checked out of the hotel by 11. Lance had both children and had to pack us up. That just sucked for Lance.

I don't think it will be as easy to take Logan to a conference next year!