PA

We decided to take our vacation early this year since DH will be starting a new job in March, we wanted to at least get 1 week vacation out of the 2 weeks he would have gotten had he stayed. So we decided to go to Lancaster PA again. It was actually a very nice 3 days, we lucked out! Tuesday we did our usual shopping at the Goodwill (got some nice things for real cheap) F is really liking the UPWORD game we found for $4. Went to the local Walmart.. yes we do that... stocked up on lots of things for the coming year for so much cheaper....
Once we were all checked in to the hotel we headed for the pool, the girls had a great time, F was not so sure.. he is trying to learn how to swim but is afraid of drowning.... sooooo.... I'm trying to explain to him that he has to trust in himself and in me/his father that we won't let him drown.
J is my brave girl, she had on her arm floaters and jumped right in a started her version of the dog paddle all around the pool.
We drove around and stopped a the Kitchen Kettle village where the kids played on the playground, monkey bars, swings and a big wooden train.
For dinner we went to Applebees and then went back to the hotel to relax, play games, and watch TV... sounds like home lol
Wednesday was such a beautiful day in PA, it went up to 64 degrees, we drove around the countryside, it is so peaceful and beautiful there. Real God's country...
after a nice lunch at the Olive Garden we decided to check out the Amish Farm and House tour. We took a guided tour of a real Amish house and learned some interesting things about the Amish people. The kids got dressed up in traditional Amish outfits, got to see a wood stove, lamps, refrigerators powered by propane gas etc... then we took a self guided tour of the farm, we got to see baby lambs, chickens, goats, sheep and got to experience farm life :). The kids loved the whole thing, especially the baby lambs. F was not so crazy about the smell, this is after all a real working farm lol. The place also had a playground for the kids with slides, wooden houses, a big wooden tractor to drive etc etc....
We went inside a one room school house and pretended I was the teacher and the kids were my students.. hmm where have I seen that before haha...

It was just a great day and I was so glad the weather was nice.

Thursday we got up and reluctantly packed our bags and checked out of the hotel. :(

We then drove to The Outhouse, which is a one of a kind store, the kids had a blast being scared by practical jokes, getting sprayed by water and just playing with the toys inside, F decided he really wanted a whoopie cushion so he doled out the $5 ( a lot of money for him to actually spend). He prefers to save all of his money...

Then we drove out to Christiana, Where Freedom Began, and visited the Christiana underground railroad museum. This was the actual house (which was a hotel back in 1850) where escaping slaves stayed, and in 1851 a riot was started by an escaped slave and many other ppl, both black and white who did not stand for slavery, and the plantation master who came to collect his 2 escaped slaves and take them back home to Maryland. Since the Fugitive Slave act was passed in 1850 he was allowed to cross into the free states and enlist the help of the law there to collect his 'property'. Well after a stand off at the house and then shots, the plantation owner was killed and the first 'battle' that led to the Civil War years later was done.

We got to see pictures of the people involved, hear first person accounts of the riot, got a brief history lesson by the curator of the small museum, took pictures and bought a small scale version of the map of the area. It was very interesting and I thought so cool to be at the same spot and try to image what it was like back in the 1850's.

It was too short and none of us were ready to leave PA but....