A Visit to Amish Country

 So, ever since we arrived in Virginia, we have heard people talk about the amazing Sight and Sound Theatre in Lancaster.  We had a free weekend and tickets were available so we decided to make a quick trip. And we also have some sweet friends who we haven't seen since we lived in Hawaii the first time, so it sounded like a great idea. Of course Lancaster is also known as Amish Country. It was a great learning experience for the boys to see how differently people can live. 

Our first stop was at the Central Market. It is the longest running farmers market in the country.  We of course had to try the famous Shoo Fly Pie. It was delicious! Chris and Abram enjoyed sampling all the beef jerky. Its their favorite. 

Then we toured an Amish house and learned all about their way of live. Even though this place was set up for tourist, it was very informative and the boys had a fun time exploring. 

That evening we went to see our play... it was absolutely amazing! Every year they do a different story and this year it was Queen Esther. We spent the week before reading the story in the Bible, so the boys loved seeing it come to life. It was a 2.5 hour play and the boys loved every minute of it. It was so grand, with elaborate sets, live animals and singing. We can't wait to go back next year when they do David. 

We took a drive around town on Sunday morning before we met our friends... we saw buggies and horses parked outside of a church (pretty neat sight) and we drove through some of their covered bridges. Lancaster is such a beautiful town and so very interesting! 

We met up with our friends, the Burrs, at a park on Sunday afternoon. We met David and Erin in Hawaii before any of us had kids and now between us we have seven. It was so great to spend the afternoon with them and let the kids play while we caught up!

Our final stop was at the Julius Sturgis Pretzel Bakery because who doesn't love a fresh pretzel? We learned the history of the pretzel, how it is made and we even got to practice making them with our dough. Such a fun stop! 

We are so glad we made the trip this weekend... between the play, pretzels, seeing our friends and learning about the Amish we packed a lot in and enjoyed a fun weekend adventure!

Philadephia!

 Our plans changed at the last minute at the beginning of June. Essentially, Chris had some time off and we didn't have any where to go. So we decided on Philadelphia and we are so glad we did! This city is packed full of amazing things and it was only a three hour drive. 

You know I love a good mural picture! 

If you ask the boys their favorite part of the trip, they will probably say the hotel. Chris picked a good one and the boys could not get over the view. It was incredible! They have never seen anything like it. 

We got there just in time for dinner so of course we had to try the famous Philadelphia Cheese Steaks. Jack and Luke didn't care for them, but Abram and I loved them!! 

We left our van in a parking garage that we couldn't get out until we were ready to head home, so our main form of transportation was the metro and bus. Chris loves to figure out the transportation system in new cities. He always does an amazing job. The boys loved hopping on and hopping off. They became pros by the time the trip was over!

The city has so many amazing historical sites which was perfect because we just spent the year studying American history in our homeschool community. 

Elfreth's Alley... Our Nation's Oldest Residential Street

With my boys infront of Independence Hall

Where the Constitution was written... so cool! 

Woohoo!! The reason for our trip... the Liberty Bell.

Couldn't get too many pictures. 

Benjamin Franklin's grave 

My favorite place... The Reading Terminal. So many amazing food stalls inside. It was hard to pick where to eat. 

The City of Brotherly Love... I need to frame this picture. 

Walking the Benjamin Franklin Bridge at the most amazing time of day. 

Look at this breakfast for our little peanut! Cookie Dough stuffed French Toast

Okay, I was kidding about the hotel being their favorite part... this place was. The Eastern State Penitentiary. We took them to tour an old prison and they were amazed the whole time. This was like a dream come true for them.  They did a great job listening the audio tour and learned so much about this historical landmark.

And of course no trip is complete without a visit to the city's art museum. Chris could walk around all day, but I just like to find the highlights of the familiar artists (mainly the ones we have studied). 

Luke with one of Van Gogh's Sunflowers. 

Picasso! They loved studying him this winter and were thrilled to see an original. 

Luke with one of Van Gogh's self portraits. Can you tell he's my little artist?

And with a Monet! 

And of course we couldn't leave Philadelphia without running up the steps and taking a picture with the Rocky Statue. I'm such a boy mom!

My four boys!

Our Summer Adventures around D.C.

 

We had so many new adventures to take this summer and we were so happy when things started opening back up! When we moved here the museums and zoo were closed due to Covid, so we have had a wonderful time exploring. 

Early in the summer we headed to a fun place to swim in the middle of the town, its called The Yards. It was so fun and the perfect summer activity. And of course, there was an ice cream shop just around the corner that we had to try out. 

Of course we still have a lot more to visit, but we have enjoyed the ones we have been to. First on our list was the Natural History Museum because the boys love the movie, Night at the Museum. 

The famous elephant 

Jack loved the monkey bones

Abram's favorites were in the geology section. 

So colorful!

In our Classical Conversations community we study famous artist throughout the year.  We have loved finding their original paintings all around the museums! It's really fun when the boys can identify an artist before I tell them, just based on what we have studied. 

Grandma Moses

Georgia O'Keefe 

Abram remembered that this was the portrait that was saved when the White House was burning.

I kind of loved seeing the Academy Awards. So cool!

One morning we headed to Great Farms with our neighbors to Great Farms. We picked peaches and found a new kind of peach that we love, the donut peach! We ate most of what we picked on our way home. We can't wait to go back to this farm in the fall to pick apples and pumpkins. 

And finally the zoo reopened and we were able to get tickets! The boys were so excited to get to see the pandas! It is such a great zoo. 

Watching the mom and baby panda play

Jack loved watching the mama monkey and baby monkey climb! 

And Luke's favorite was the blue tree frog!!

I just think this is adorable. This sea lion stayed by them forever!

Two peas in a pod

And finally, we made it to the Library of Congress. Abram has been waiting to see this amazing library and it did not disappoint. It was beautiful inside and had so many interesting things. 

The amazing ceiling

Stunning!

Thomas Jefferson's library

We can't wait to take more adventures this fall!