Halloween is a special day in our family. It is my daughter’s birthday. When she was 4 or 5, she really thought that everyone was giving her presents as she was trick or treating. Now she is older but we still celebrate her birthday. This year however, she is trying to help her dad as he continues his battle with cancer while coping with her recent job layoff.

I decided we would do something different this year-spend the day together-just her and I.  Jen (my daughter), likes baseball and hockey as much if not more than I do. Unfortunately a Pirate game was out of the equation. I looked at the Penguin schedule and found a Saturday afternoon game and it was today! I purchased the tickets and we began planning the day.

Finally October 19th arrived. It was the first time she or I had been to the new Consol Energy Center. We of course had to stop at the Penguin store and shop. We then started the journey to find our seats. I have to say the Consol is a very nice arena. Our seats were up in the 200’s. I was able to secure seats near the goal in the double attack zone meaning the Penguins would be shooting the puck in that goal for 2 periods. This was our view from our seats

We settled into our seats and saw a great game. We laughed, talked and cheered.  The best part was we were able to see a shootout and a Penguins victory.

Our next trek took us to the river. Today was the day to see The Duck. For those of you not from Pittsburgh, this is a 40 foot rubber duck was created by artist Florentijn Hofman, of the Netherlands. She has been creating the giant PVC ducks all over the world. Different versions of the duck have appeared in Hong Kong, Sydney, Sao Paulo and Amsterdam. Pittsburgh’s duck is the first in the United States. It has been here since September 27th and its last day is tomorrow, October 20th. There have been thousands of people come to the Point in Pittsburgh to visit the Duck. There was a light rain but it did not deter us or many hundreds of other visitors. Here is one of our pictures with the Duck

The day ended with dinner. We went to one of our favorite restaurants, Bado’s Pizza Grill and Ale House. Jen and I have not been there together for a few years but enjoyed our dinner.

The day was special for me not because of the activities but rather I was able to spend it with a special person. I am so proud of my daughter. She has become not only a great daughter but a fantastic woman.  I hope this early birthday celebration was as special for her.