Our Take on Slide the City

I was compensated 4 VIP tickets from Slide the City. All opinions are honest and my own.


How many times do you get to see a 1,000 foot slip 'n' slide?
Probably not many.
But that's exactly what this is!





Growing up, there was a Slip 'n' Slide across my back yard almost every day during the summer. Honestly, I'm surprised the grass in my parent's yard ever grew back. So you can only imagine how excited I was when I heard Slide the City was coming to Pittsburgh. There was no question about it. We HAD to go! The kids were over the moon excited when we told them we had tickets to go.

Thankfully those clouds you see in the picture above moved on as we were waiting at the registration table to get our stuff. With our inner tubes in hand, we made our way towards to top of the slide. Each slider was required to have an inner tube. Although they were handed out to every ticket holder, people had the option to bring their own. We also had the option to pay for the volunteers to inflate them, but we chose not to. The kids struggled to blow theirs up so after blowing up FOUR inner tubes, we did regret not paying a few bucks to have someone else do it for us. But once we were done blowing, we were ready to start sliding.



Because we weren't sure how the kids would do, we chose to go into the family / group line so we could slide together. All it took was one slide for all of us to be hooked!





Because we had VIP tickets, we could slide as many times as we wanted. Those tickets also got us early entry. During the time we were there, the slide was shut down twice. At first we were told to go down head first. I'm not sure if laying that directions really made you go faster or if it just seemed faster, but I was not a fan. Everyone was eventually told they had to sit on their tubes, but some people were still going down the slide faster than anticipated. For anyone ready from this area, you know what Sunny Slopes looks like. That hill is a bit steep. Steeper than it looks in my pictures. I don't think the owners of Slide the City realized how that hill would effect the slide, but I am glad for the stoppages so they could make it safer for us sliders. The husband didn't go down as many times as the kids and I did. He is recovering from an ankle injury so after being told he had to sit, he didn't want to injure it again so he chose to watch the three of us continue to slide.

We continued to slide away for over two hours, but once the slide opened to the general public, we decided to call it a day. The lines were getting rather long, we were all getting hungry, it wasn't exactly a hot day, and whether the kids would admit it or not, they were getting tired. All of those are a recipe for disaster.




Participating in Slide the City definitely brought out the kid in me. And I know my actual kids had a blast. Both of them thanking us multiple times for taking them is usually a good indicator of a good time. If Slide the City were to come back next year, it would for sure be on our summer to-do list!




Until next time...








When a Haircut Turns into Something More

My daughter, she's 13, but she's not the type of teenage girl I expected. When I think teenage girls, I think girls who are into the latest clothes, the newest boy band, boys, make-up, and probably more girly thing I can't think of at the moment. My daughter is not like that. She's a jeans a tee kind of kid. She loves Doctor Who. Make-up has never touched her face outside of Halloween and she hasn't expressed a desire to change that. This is why I was a little thrown off guard when she asked about getting a haircut. And not just a trim, but a major hairstyle change.

She was closer to two years old when her hair finally started to grow. Since then, she's always had long hair. The shortest it was ever cut was below the shoulders.This new hair cut she wanted? It was closer to a longer pixie cut. I talked her out of it for a year for fear it wouldn't look right. She has a hint of her chubby cheeks from when she was a baby. She wears glasses. Would those things work with super short hair? That's why I continued to say no.

Until last week.

I told her to pull up some pictures of what styles she liked. I wasn't sold on any of them, but I continued to nod and smile. I spent an hour helping her brush her hair. Her long hair almost always had giant knots in it. Once we finally got all the knots out, off to the salon we went. Thankfully a stylist took some time to pull out hairstyle books and go over a few styles with her. And then it was time.

The pile of hair on the floor nearly made me cry. In the end, I love her new 'do, but looking back, I realized that pile of hair on the floor at the salon was more than just a pile of hair. My daughter was letting go of her hair as I was letting go of my daughter. She is and always will be my baby, but it took something as simple as a haircut for me to realize that she is of the age where I need to pull back so she can start to figure out who she is as a person.



As a parent letting go is one of the hardest things to do, but seeing a smile on your child's face makes it all worth it. Also, my daughter giggling for the rest of the day because she loved her new 'do that much... you can't put a price on that!


Until next time...

I Want to Slide the City

When I was a kid, my friends and I would play on my Slip 'n' Slide ALL the time. We would run and slide from one side of the yard to the other. I can't tell you how many beed I stepped on over the years sliding across the yard, but on those hot summer days, it was so worth it. So can only  imagine how excited I was to hear that Slide the City was coming to my town. A 1,000 (yes one thousand!!) foot slip 'n' slide and it's going on a very popular sled riding hill?! Heck ya... sign me up!!

If you've never heard of Slide the City and live in the Pittsburgh area, keep reading. I guarantee this is an event you and your family won't want to miss!


Slide The City Comes to Pittsburgh - Saturday, June 6, 2015 11am-7pm

Best Rates - Early Bird Registration begins Wednesday, April 22, 2015!

Summer time is approaching fast and we are bringing 1000 feet of slick vinyl to brighten your city streets. Slide the City is a family friendly slip-and-slide water party event. There will be live music, food, drinks, water, and of course the biggest slip and slide ever to hit Pittsburgh!

Come dressed to impress because it's not every day you can strut through town with your hot bod, cool dance moves and slick slides. Did we mention 1000 feet? Yeah, that's over 3 football fields.

Make sure to bring your water buckets, floaties, and water guns (non-realistic of course), to squirt, spray, splash, and get all attending soaked.


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Is there an age or height limit?
All who are over 46 inches tall and over 5 years old are invited to slide, but remember if you're under 18 you'll need to get a sign off from your legal guardians.


Are there group rates available?
If you have a group with 20 or more participants send us an email.

What do you do to address water conservation?
Water conservation is also a priority at our events. We strive to have zero environmental impact on the community. The Slide was designed to have zero water loss, and it treats and recycles the water safely and efficiently throughout the day. When permitted, we donate the water back to the community. Methods of disposal include local reclamation centers, parks, golf courses and other places dependent upon local regulations.
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Additional Information:
Instagram - https://instagram.com/slidethecity/

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/slidethecity or http://www.slidethecity.com/events/pittsburgh/

Twitter - @slidethecity


Don't live in the Pittsburgh area? Check out http://www.slidethecity.com to see if this fun event will be in a town near you!

Until next time...

One More Day

One more day until things begin to change for us. I'm mostly excited, but I'm also scared, nervous and a bunch of other emotions that I can't put into words.

A friend of the husband's was bugging him to talk to the people at the company where he works because they were hiring. The husband wasn't searching for a new job but he agreed to talk. Probably to get his friend to stop bugging him. One talk led to another and that talk led to a trip to meet these people in person. This process lasted a few weeks and to say it wasn't nerve wracking would be a lie. A big one. The husband claimed he wasn't nervous. or at least at first. If things didn't pan out, he would still have a job. A good job that paid the bills, put food on our plates and a roof over our heads. But this new potential job... it was good. And I was a mess over it.

I couldn't sleep. I couldn't sit still. I know my husband is smart and I know he is very good at what he does. But what if. I hate what if's. I didn't want to doubt him. And I really didn't. But what if.

And it turns out my what if's didn't matter. I'm so proud to say that I have one more day of driving him to and from work and I couldn't be happier. I am so excited to see where this next chapter takes us. And him!

But the selfish part of me is so very thankful for that one more day and no more. Having to take him to work means more time in the car for me and less time to do the things that I need to get done. I always feel rushed. I hate feeling rushed. But after our drive today, I'm honestly scared to get back in the car and be on the highway.

I was in the car with the Dude and we were almost to our exit off the highway and a few minutes away from the husband's office. Suddenly all three lanes of traffic stopped. When traffic in the right lane slows or stops, it's usually because someone is driving entirely too slow for the highway or lots of people are lined up waiting to get off at the next exit. But all three lanes? Something bad happens to cause that and today was no different.

Driving on the highway everyday, you see things. Bad things. Probably more than most drivers because more bad things tend to happen on a highway compared to a residential street. And today? It was bad. very bad. I didn't see what happened. From what I'm reading in the news, I'm very thankful I only saw the aftermath. But I wish I didn't see anything at all. I've never seen CPR being done on someone in a true emergency. I've also never seen a dead person outside of a funeral home. I quietly cried as I drove by to get to my exit. the last I wanted to was explain what I just saw to my 9 year old. Childhood innocence only lasts a short while and he didn't need to know what we had just passed. My heart goes out to the deceased's family. I know bad things will continue to happen, but I'm so very thankful for one more day. One more day on a road where these things happen. One more day before one chapter closes and another exciting one begins. One more day at life.



Until next time...

Let Them Be Safe

I'm not really sure when it came to be a thing but apparently bomb threats are a thing.

It breaks my heart when I watch the news and hear about office buildings, schools, even neighborhoods that are on lock down because someone threatened to detonate a bomb. I'm sure it makes me sound older than I am, but when I was growing up, if you had a problem with someone, you met outside in the parking lot at the end of the day and released your frustrations with words and fists. Now, children are scared when they see a threat written on a bathroom wall in a building where they're supposed to be safe. All the kid wanted to do was pee!

I'm not naive, but I also don't live in fear. We've talked to our kids about bad people in the world and things they can do to keep themselves safe. I want them to live their lives, but also be aware of what is going on around them. We talk about how to stay safe when they want to walk to or from school. We've also had conversations about what others can do to keep them safe after hearing about tragedies such as Sandy Hook. New security policies were put into place at the schools here. Teachers and staff were trained. Book bags are to be kept in lockers.

All that being said, having these conversations and actually dealing with a potential issue are two totally different things.

My daughter recently came home with a letter from her middle school. A serious threat had been discovered written on a bathroom wall. The letter detailed what was found, what was done by the police and was would be done in the coming days to ensure the safety of the students and staff. I'm confident everyone is doing what needs done and my daughter will be safe, but it scares the hell out of me that this is happening in our neighborhood and in our schools. These threats can happen anywhere and, unfortunately, they do. I'm lucky if I can properly hard boil an egg so it blows my mind to think that a middle schooler knows how to make a bomb. I'd like to think they can't, but again, I'm not naive. The internet can be used for good and evil.

I know I can't put my children in a bubble to shield them from the evils of the world. What I can do is give them the tools to go out there and live and be safe. I just don't understand how it has come to this - sending our children out into a world riddled with evil. Sometimes all the security and training can't help as much as you'd hope.

Until next time...