Spring Break

We had an extra-long spring break this year (a full week, plus the next Monday), so it seemed too long to just stay home. Since a big tropical vacation wasn't in the budget, I planned a close overnight trip to Lancaster County, PA.

We left Monday morning and drove north until Gettysburg. Then we took 30 East across PA until we reached the tiny village of Ronks. Our first stop was the Amish Village. We took a 45 minute tour and learned about the Amish lifestyle--how they cook, what they wear, how long and how often they go to church. Mikelle pointed out that their religious beliefs are similar to ours in some ways--Be in the world, but not of the world--we just don't live it to such an extreme degree. The kids loved climbing in the Amish buggies at the farm and taking photos. We also loved the Amish schoolhouse--a one-room school house for all ages. The desks started very small in front and then got bigger and bigger as you moved back. It was a beautiful sunny day and fun to walk around and see the animals.

Next, we drove to neighboring Intercourse, PA--I know, I know--Dan had a great time making wise cracks. It is a small Amish town with quaint little shops, so we just walked around and window shopped. Our noses lead us to some amazing kettle corn--hot, fresh and so yummy. I made sure I bought enough to last the whole trip!

The kids were anxious to get to the hotel and swim. We checked into the Doubletree hotel around 4:00 PM. The swimming pool was a whole water playground and the both the big kids and the little kids loved splashing around.

We started the next day with a nutritious breakfast at McDonalds! Ethan and Sydney were so excited to find out that McDonalds serves pancakes. Of course, Syd managed to spill syrup all over her pants and jacket--oh well!

We drove a short distance to Strasburg and visited the Pennsylvania Railroad Museum. Open since 1974, the museum is a huge warehouse of actual trains, engines, and locomotives that traveled the rails in the past century. Many of the cars were restored to see what it would be like to travel in the dining car or in the sleeper car. A real engineer was there to show us how to drive the train and what all of the levers and gears were for--don't quiz me on this! We did try our driving skills on the impressive assortment of model trains housed in the education center. Each one had multi-step instructions for hooking up certain cars and switching the rails to arrive at different points. The education center also housed any train "toy" ever made--Thomas, Geo-trax, Lego--they were all there to play with. We practically had the museum to ourselves so the kids were so lucky to get their hands on everything. I say "kids" but I think Dan was the hardest one to convince that it was time to move on!

We walked across the street and purchased our tickets to ride the Strasburg Railroad: a real steam engine locomotive. The ride lasted about 45 minutes through the countryside of Lancaster, County. The train was a bit jerky and bouncy, but that just added to the enjoyment. Train travel seems like such an old-fashioned way to travel, but it's only been in the last 50 years that trains have been mostly replaced with airplanes and cars!

We found a sandwich shop close by that actually served excellent sandwiches and wraps--they even offered gluten-free flat bread for me. Yea! We stuffed ourselves with sandwiches, pickles, carrot sticks, chips, ice cream sundaes and peanut-butter pie before beginning the 3-hour journey home!

Hunger Games Premier

I know, I know! This happened last week, but it was such a fun, middle-of-the-day outing! I felt like such a rebel. Lezlie, Esther and I (book club buddies) met at the Brambleton Theatres at 11:10 am last Friday to see the long-awaited "Hunger Games". It was so fun to sneak away to a movie in the middle of the day! Gonna' have to say that the movie may not have lived up to all of its hype. I liked it...but I don't think I'll be buying the DVD. The book is so much more detailed and gives you more insight into the characters' backgrounds. The movie didn't give you a lot of time to become emotionally attached to anyone. I did enjoy the make-up and costumes for the people from the capital. Favorite character based on the movie: Caesar Flickerman, the host of the Hunger Games.  So much satire for our reality TV-saturated culture all rolled up into one little character--and the blue hair--Fabulous!

Mikelle Performs in Annie Jr.

Mikelle's middle school put on a production of Annie Jr. a few weeks ago. Mikelle was cast as one of the servants in Daddy Warbucks mansion. The production was very successful! They had a full house every night they performed. Mikelle was very dedicated to attending all of her practices and felt relieved and happy when everything came together at the end. Her siblings loved the show--it was a shortened version--just about one hour long.  Sydney and Ethan have now started watching the Annie DVD at home almost every day!

A Summer Day in March

The calendar says it's March 14, but outside it is 82 degrees! We just had to get out and enjoy the sunshine! So after pre-school, I took Ethan, Max, and Jack to Trailside Park. They played and played on the rocket slide, the school bus, the motorcycle and the swings. While we ate our picnic lunch, we ran into their buddy Drew, so he joined us at our table. What a marvelous day at the park!

                                                                  Jack on the swing.

                                                       The rocket ship is blasting off!

                                                         Ethan cheeses it!

                                                    Max likes to live on the edge of danger!

                                         How could I be anything but happy with these 3 cuties in tow?!

March Madness

Dan and I enjoyed the kick-off to the March Madness tournament last night as we watched our BYU Cougars come from behind to beat Iona. The first half was all Iona. At one point they lead by 25 points. BYU had turn-over after turn-over and the Gaels couldn't miss a shot. Half-time was about 10:30 PM and the score was 55-40. Dan was ready to head to bed. I coaxed him into staying up and watching it to the end. "What if they come back?" I asked. "Unlikely, " he said.

Well, as unlikely as it was, that's just what the Cougars did! They really slowed the pace of the game with their zone defense; they got the ball into Hartsock in the middle; and they quit making so many turn-overs. Little by little they ate away at Iona's lead and won by 6 points! 78-72. Wow! Even though I'm suffering a sleep deprivation hang-over today, I'm glad I saw the Coug's amazing comeback!

Dinner Guests from Turkey

On Sunday evening we had Dan's co-worker, Seyrim, and her parents from Turkey, over to our house for dinner. They were very kind and gracious. Even though her parents didn't speak English, we enjoyed their company and had fun hearing them plan our "future" trip to Greece and Turkey. Sydney was thrilled when Seyrim agreed to play a card game with her.

Dan asked Ethan if we had ever had guests at our house from Turkey before. Without missing a beat, he said, "Yes! For THANKSGIVING!"

Dan, Dan the Uber Handyman

Last week the kitchen sink sprung a leak. I noticed it on the top of the faucet, and then when Dan opened the cabinet underneath the sink we saw a recreation of Niagara Falls. So, Dan turned off the water and I was without a kitchen sink for a few days. At this point I really learned to appreciate that water coming out of the tap at the touch of a hand was, well,  just so handy! Trying to live without the kitchen sink was interesting. I filled my teapot from the bathroom sink; we ate on paper plates and used plastic silverware; I brought the water up from the food storage room and used that to wash the plastic silverware and pots and pans.

On Thursday night Dan finally had a few hours and he began the project of replacing the sink. Nothing is ever as easy as it might seem. First he discovered he needed a specific faucet wrench. No problem. Chris Caffrey had one that he could borrow. Then he discovered the sink had been installed incorrectly and he had to saw away most of the old pipes to remove the old faucet. We made a trip to Home Depot to purchase a new faucet and luckily the installation went according to the plan. He added a little plumbers putty and sealant and {Walah!} a new faucet!

I'm grateful for my hubby whose not afraid to tackle a household project and get his hands dirty in the process. "Hi dear! I'm adding plumbing to your resume of impressive skills!"