Countdown: 1 day

The girls' dance recital last night was great. Rachel's class had three numbers, plus an appearance in a fourth, and Lydia's had two. I did not have good feelings towards the recital in advance, because I think these events are especially hard on families with small children, they're always at dinner time, and it's not clear what the benefits are. But, the logistics of this performance were much more professional than at the previous dance school, and despite all the performances by several age groups, it didn't seem too much to sit through. Unfortunately, because we had two kids in the show, Nicole missed one of Rachel's performances in order to get Lydia ready for hers.

After the performance, we stopped at the McDonald's across from Kennywood, because we didn't have anything at home to make for dinner. We managed to get to bed at a reasonable time: before eleven, and slept in until almost eight.

This morning, I was convinced we needed more space than the car offered, but REI didn't open until eleven. Nicole was going to go pick up some boxes to mail things, but I talked her out of it, because I was skeptical that the remainder would fit even with a few things mailed. And then she went ahead and got everything into the car. I don't really know how.

Rachel, Lydia, and I went to the Pirates game today with the neighbors. Nicole dropped us off a little before noon and we walked to the park from the Fred Rogers memorial along the river. We saw some baby mallards swimming with their mother, and then later ran into some young Canada geese along the path.

There was some rain before the game that chased us under the bleachers, but otherwise the weather was nice: a little hot at times, but breezy at others, and not unbearable. We ate a lunch of hotdogs, peanuts, and cotton candy, paid $6.25 for a liter of water, and finished it off with Dippin' Dots: the ice cream of the future. Although the food has been Rachel's primary motivation for going to the ballpark in the past, she learned to track the ball from the pitcher's hand today, and that was the favorite part she mentioned as we were leaving. She was disappointed that more balls weren't hit out to left field, where we were. There was only one play by a left fielder in seven innings. (We left after the Pirates failed to score, despite having the bases loaded with one out. They ultimately lost 1-0 to the division-leading Brewers.)

After the game, we went to dinner at Curry Away, a nearby Thai restaurant that is the successor to the one we ate at when we came to have the house inspected six years ago. We closed the loop. Next, we were to meet the Horners at their house for dessert, but they weren't ready yet, so we had some time to kill. Nicole had the idea of driving around and saying goodbye to important places, so we spent about a half hour making a ridiculous series of loops to pass the piano lessons, library, music and dance classes, Nine Mile Run, La Escuelita both old and new, Phipps Conservatory, old and new Google, and several other places, too. I don't know if it will help the girls to have closure, but it was fun, and the Horners were home when we arrived.

We ate splendid ice cream with them, and the kids played. Back home around ten, we stopped by the neighbors' to say goodbye, then put the kids to bed. Nicole is addressing Rachel's six year photos while I write this final post from 2216 Hampton Street. Tomorrow morning we'll finish clearing the house, load the car with kids and cats, and drop them off at a friend's house while we go to the real estate office for closing. After that, it's so long to Pittsburgh. I'll post an update from the road, or after we arrive in Chicago.