Pittsburgh with Brock!

A few weeks ago, the husband needed to re-certify in his CrossFit Level 2 so we decided to head somewhere new! Unfortunately for Kenny, he was in a hot sweaty gym all day learning while Brock and I got to have all of the fun. I figured I would share our fun for those of you looking to choose your next weekend trip, or those already planning a stay in Pittsburgh.

Usually, I would plan my trip around food (because, hello) but with a picky 4 year old, I focused more on activities than anything else. The goal? Keep him busy and get him tired so he could SLEEP when we got back to the room each night. I can ensure you that I was successful!

We started our weekend off at the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium. Our hotel offered a “Stay and Play” package that included tickets to the zoo and aquarium. We got to the zoo when it opened, and found a parking spot really quickly. We also got to skip the line because we had these advanced tickets, but I was surprised to see that although the parking lot was full the lines were short! We got into the park, and I have to tell you if I was worried about not getting enough exercise/activity while I was away, those worries were quelled fast. The Pittsburgh Zoo is really hilly and combined with hot weather and a child who refused to walk, I pushed a stroller and broke a sweat the whole time.

The zoo is fantastic, by the way. The ticket cost is only $18 for adults, $16 for kids, and toddlers under 2 are FREE! You can purchase tickets online or purchase them at the entrance. The zoo had a great variety of animals, and we got to see so many of them out and in their habitats. Elephant babies, lions, rhinos, silly monkeys, everything was awesome. For those of you who don’t have to drive, you can also cruise the zoo with a beer in hand from one of their beer gardens! AND, bonus: they’re environmentally friendly and care for their animals by banning any plastic cup lids or straws.

We also walked over to the aquarium, which is on the same grounds. This means that YES you basically get entry to TWO for ONE. The aquarium is small, but they have a nice collection of fish, sharks, and even polar bears and seals in their outdoor tanks! You can even walk through a tunnel surrounded by ocean life, and there is a section for the kiddos to do the same on a smaller scale and even touch some stingrays!

A quick swing through the “barn animal” exhibit to see the goats, and Donkey (to which Brock referenced Shrek), and we headed out to grab some lunch. Choosing a place to eat with a toddler is always interesting. It has to be loud enough that no one will hear him when he is trying to be the Incredible Hulk, there should be booths so I can try to contain him the best I can, and bonus if they have a good kid’s menu. That all comes first, and then my food preferences come second.

Luckily, we found a happy medium with Mad Mex Shadyside. They had a kid’s menu consisting of dino nuggets and french fries… and for me? Tacos of course! I got carnitas, which is my favorite and they did not disappoint. This is in a pretty hectic part of town, so even on a Saturday afternoon it was jamming with traffic and very few parking spots. Mad Mex actually has a lot that you can park in for free if you’re eating there, though! Win. The other perk? Mad Mex is right next to Millie’s Homemade Ice Cream – which was absolute perfection because it was SO HOT OUTSIDE.

I am not much of an ice cream eater, honestly. I ordered Brock his favorite: plain vanilla with rainbow sprinkles. For me? Diary-free banana nut ripple. Okay YOU GUYS, this was seriously the best ice cream I’ve ever eaten… specifically the vanilla. Brock didn’t finish all of his, so I took a bite and all I can say is WOW. Warrants a trip in itself just for that ice cream. We were lucky, we beat the rush. A line of 20 or so people formed right behind us as we ordered!

After lunch, we headed off to our next adventure: Pittsburgh’s Children’s Museum! I have to say, Philadelphia has a lot to live up to when it comes to kid-friendly museums. This wasn’t a huge museum, but there was so much to do and we spent hours upon hours there. Each room was different, and each floor housed a different set of activities for kids to complete. Upon entering, there is a vertical maze for kids and you know that Brock was all over that ish. He spent at least 30 minutes climbing, helping other kids climb, and maneuvering all over the place. I finally convinced him to get down when I told him there was a huge slide in the next room.

I have to be completely honest, places like this give me complete panic. I don’t necessarily love other peoples’ kids when I feel like they aren’t nice to mine. I had a few instances of this at the museum, but overall it was a super fun and exciting experience for Brock. We moved onto a few other rooms, which included slides, games, puzzles, a Curious George inspired room, and my personal favorite was the “Very Eric Carle” exhibit. There was tall grass that a “Very Hungry Caterpillar” would crawl through, life-sized kaleidoscopes, a maze, and more. The #basicB in my was also super happy for this butterfly mural – it is like if my 4 year-old went to Nashville and stood in front of those large wings. What’s even cooler is a projector allowed him to choose his own design for the wings before we got a photo!

After all of that fun, we headed up to the 2nd floor which had tons of sensory activities, like sand bins, marbles, and a big light bright wall. On the 3rd floor, we hung out in a huge water play area. This space comes equipped with rubber vests and coats that kids can wear, or if you’re like me and pack an extra set of clothes to go EVERYWHERE, you can let your kid get wet and play without any limits! The best part of this whole museum is that almost everything was educational and meant to stimulate the brain power of your child. Even the water play allowed kids to put together tubes and connectors to create large water features and sprinklers of their own!

Our adventure at the Children’s Museum set us back $18 for me, $16 for Brock. I always think it’s neat that they charge the parents so much since they know darn well we will just be standing off to the side watching our kids, but whatever. We headed back to pick up Kenny from the hot and steamy gym, and back to the hotel where my small dude was completely tuckered out and barely made it through dinner at the hotel.

On Sunday, we woke up and had breakfast at the hotel. It was a struggle to get little man out of bed, so we didn’t rush. We were checking out Sunday, so I let him hang out and watch Cars while I got ready and packed all our stuff up. Once we checked out, we headed over to Whole Foods to make a salad for Kenny for lunch and brought it over to CrossFit Pittsburgh. I ate some pre-cooked chicken breast, berries and zero-calorie Zevia Cream Soda… and Brock had nuggets and fries (again).

After lunch, we headed to the Senator John Heinz History Center, which is a Smithsonian affiliate. The parking is easy at every since place we went, and even though this was downtown (like the Children’s Museum) it was simple to find a spot to park for only $5. There were so many things I loved about the history center! Even though there were some exhibits targeted to adults, there was still so much to do for kids. We started on the ground floor, where you can find a full-sized, authentic trolley car (which Brock loved), old cannons, fire trucks, cars, and more.

Among the many featured exhibits was a Vietnam War exhibit, which we didn’t go in because there was a warning about how it may not be appropriate for children. Of course, my favorite being a Pittsburgh Steelers fan was the sports exhibit! It was a whole two-level exhibit including ALL THINGS Pittsburgh sports. We checked out the race cars, threw some footballs, and saw all of the MANY MANY NFL Superbowl Rings that Pittsburgh has earned.

On another floor of the building, there was an incredible kid’s play area that had large foam blocks to build with on a soft floor, an activity area inspired by Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood, an innovation center where kids could build with magna-tiles and make their own tin foil airplanes, and so much more!

Finally, we finished off our visit with another “ride” on the trolley car, and then got a snack at the snack shop. There is also a space for kids to play in that is secluded upstairs accessible only by a spiral staircase and a tunnel slide. Parents can sit outside the snack shop and watch their kids play in the pretend store via closed-circuit television. I enjoyed a nice local seltzer and let Brock get the last of his energy out before we made the trek back to the gym to pick up Kenny and head back to New Jersey. The admission for this one was awesome – $18 for adults, and kids under 5 are FREE! Kids over 6 are only $9.

All in all, I highly recommend Pittsburgh as a family friendly city to visit. There wasn’t a ton of time for us to do all of the things I wanted to, but I felt like we accomplished a lot and made some fun memories! Next visit, because I would love to go back, I would want to hit up a football game (college and/or NFL), take Brock on the water taxi to Heinz Field, cool off outside at Sandcastle Water Park, and definitely check out more of the culinary attractions!

Until next time, Steel City!