Vacation Notes

I am sooo frustrated that Blogger won't let me download our vacation pictures. Aargh. I've been trying and trying for a couple of days and I guess this will just have to do.

We had a wonderful time on our 10 day vacation this year. We flew to PA to visit my parents and see my Aunt and Uncle and Grandma, too.

The day after we arrived we went to an amusement park called Idlewild. It had rained earlier in the morning so it was fairly cool - it just ended up being the perfect day for such an outing. The park has a separate section of rides for the smaller kiddos, which Chris really enjoyed. But he really amazed us all by being fearless on many of the bigger rides. Basically, any ride that he was tall enough for, he wanted to ride - and he had a blast. So we rode the Spider, the Scrambler, the Log Jam, Ferris Wheel, and his very first, real live Rollercoaster!

The following day Chris and Pop went for Chris' first ride on the back of a motorcycle. I didn't see them in person, but Bobby videoed it, and when I saw my little baby boy hanging on the back of that thing it just scared me to pieces. Chris is getting to the age where I'm having to let go a lot and it's hard for me! Later on we went to a gorgeous park that has a walking trail around a lake. Mom and I walked Emily while Chris and the guys "fished" and then played on the playground.

Sunday, after church, we gathered at my Aunts house for a cookout with one of her nephew from her husbands (my uncle) side of the family. They have 2 children that are almost exactly Chris and Emily's ages, so it was fun to watch the kids play together. They pulled out a Slip n' Slide too!

Monday morning we drove to Lancaster County - the Amish Country. I've had a fascination with the Amish lifestyle for years and after reading tons of books, fiction and non-fiction, it was really neat to be able to see the land, houses, buggies, gardens, and people with my own eyes. The funny thing is that, in my mind, I pictured them so set apart that I almost thought of them as fiction or in another country or something. But being there right in the heart of the Amish, everything just seemed so normal. Yes, the were dressed differently and drove buggies instead of cars, but their houses were right alongside non-Amish (English) houses, and they smiled and waved back at us, and were just regular old folk. It was just another city in the USA with Target, and TGI Fridays, etc, and some gorgeous farmland.

While we were in Lancaster, my parents treated Bobby and me to a show at Sight&Sound, Ruth. It was wonderful! The stage is huge and wraps around the seating area. All the shows are Bible-based stories. They use live animals and it rivals (I think it's better than) a Braodway show. Bobby and I want to see all of them now!

My parents kept the kids while we were at the show and went swimming in the hotel's salt-water pool and ate ice cream cones and grilled cheese sandwiches and finger painted.

After Lancaster, we travelled to Hershey, PA. We went to Chocolate World, which has an interactive ride of their chocolate factory. I wish I could show you the look on Chris' face when we told him we were going to a real live chocolate factory. The boy LOVES Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, the original version! And then, they give you candy when you finish the ride. What can be better?

Then we went on to Hershey Park, the second amusement park in one week, for us. Chris rode an even bigger rollercoaster, and I was nearly in tears waiting for him. Of course, he absolutely loved it. In fact, he was upset when Bobby, Pop and I rode the really scary rollercoasters. He wanted to go too! These rides were so crazy that I got a huge bruise on the back of my arm from one of them. I was praying that my children would not become orphans in the 2.5 minutes that I was screaming my head off. I survived.... barely. :)

After our drive back to my parents house the next day, we were able to get in some relaxation. We went flying in Pop's airplane and visited some more with the family. And then, sadly, our trip was over. The night we got home, Emily slept 14 hours. I think that sums up our trip quite nicely -- we had fun until we collapsed, literally!