Pittsburgh International Children's Festival

Today the Bralys ventured down to Oakland for the International Children's Festival at Schenley Plaza. Daddy was post-call and managed to find the energy to come home, shower, and go straight back out again with us without napping. It was a picture-perfect day, and we looked forward to spending some long-overdue time as a family of three.

University of Pittsburgh's Cathedral of Learning.

Love seeing so much green!

Big tent at Schenley Plaza.

Kaiser had had kind of a rough morning prior to the festival. First, he was in his room playing and must have fallen and busted his lip on a piece of furniture. I honestly have no idea what happened; I was in the next room and rushed in as soon as I heard him start wailing. Poor baby was pretty shaken up and had some blood in his mouth. His teeth looked alright, but his top lip swelled up really quickly, and a red mark appeared above it a bit later. Then, as we were getting ready to hop in the car, Kaiser tripped over Daddy's foot, fell forward onto his hands, and bumped his forehead on the driveway. Here is our precious klutz showing off his big lip right after we got there:

So tough.

We spent quite a bit of time just strolling around, enjoying the sunshine. There were several tents set up by various organizations, which had activities/crafts available for the kiddos. Kaiser is still a little young for most of these, but we did make a stuffed squeaker toy for Berkeley at the Greyhound Rescue tent. We also spotted a petting zoo where you could buy a bottle of milk for $3 or a cup of food for $2 to feed the goats. We opted for the milk and headed in to give it a go.

Kaiser enjoyed looking at the ducks and chickens as we waited in line.

These goats were hungry!

Someone's a teensy bit overwhelmed by the pushy goats.

He felt a little safer in Daddy's arms, feeding a cow that was behind a fence and couldn't knock him down!

My sweet boy.

I can't really blame the kiddo for getting a little upset; he's still a small dude, and it's hard to hold your own when so many animals surround you and get up in your face! All it took was a piggyback ride to lift his spirits, though.

Sure has missed Daddy this week!

We did some more walking around and found the North Way Oakland tent. We said hi to Megan, our church's Family Ministries Coordinator, and Tuff and Mary, friends who recently joined our small group. Kaiser also got to make his very own puzzle!

Not a big fan of coloring just yet, but he did a great job!

Next stop was copping a squat on the grass for lunch. Fortunately, there was lots of space for this one to roam.

Finding the perfect spot.

Time to eat!

Tired Daddy got in a quick doze while Kaiser dined.

After lunch, we got in line for Kaiser's very first merry-go-round experience! Rides were free because of the festival. As we waited, I wondered what animal he would end up on--so many from which to choose! We were the last in our group to make it on, and he got to ride the seahorse.

Here we go!

We were anxious to see whether he would enjoy it or not. Fortunately, it was a nice, slow ride (which I'm sure they all are, but it's been a while since I've been on a merry-go-round!), and Kaiser had a great time. We saw lots of smiles and heard a lot of "Whoa!"s and "Daddy!"s. :)

Staring at all the lights in the center of the merry-go-round.

Daddy looking on.

Love that face!

Holding on tight.

"Is it over already?"

Once we'd had our ride, Kaiser started rubbing his eyes and we decided it was time to head home.

"Bye bye!"

More piggybackin'.

Threw in the towel during the last few minutes in the car.

Thanks to the Pittsburgh International Children's Festival for a couple of hours of free family fun!