Go WEST young man (family)!

Okay, so we technically already started heading West and so we still are! lol

After waking up at the Dutch Amusement Park and enjoying their seriously fabulous showers and playground we headed into Lancaster and found our way to The Amish Village.

Just too cute for words these two! <3

Our new family photo plus one! :D {And yes, the Captain America forgot to actually hide the camera remote behind his back! lol}

There are 501 different Amish tours, farms and villages that you can visit in Lancaster. There is everything from one right next door to Target to 5 hour tours you can take out into the middle of the backcountry. So we opted for something a little half way in between. Something a little more authentic but maybe doable for the littles, cause that certainly isn't 5 hours locked into a hot bus looking at fields! lol

There's a few animals to pet to start off.

The one room schoolhouse.

There has yet to be a photo where a) everyone is in it, b) everyone is looking at the camera, c) some version of above.

It was a fun experience to walk through the (pretend) Amish village and see how they live. It was just our family on the tour so we got to ask lots of extra questions of our tour guide. It was extremely interesting and fascinating! I think I'll just go home and be perfectly happy with the amount of work that I have to do as wife and mother - or maybe their simplicity makes it easier!?!? Hmmmm......

We were all famished after our Amish tour so we headed to one of the places we know best on this trip... The Cracker Barrel! I think we each have our own way of doing the breakfast-or-lunch-what-did-you-have-last-time dance, except for the cheesy hash browns! Those are just a requirement every meal.... breakfast or lunch! Mmmm......

If you have never been to Cracker Barrel, let me tell you.... you are missing out on part entice-whiney-selfish-kids-in-store-when-you-first-walk-in and part home town cooking restaurant! lol I meant to say there is a really cute store/boutique at the entrance of the store that has the most precious items to tempt your wallets. And inside the food is scrumptious and the service is superb. There is that better!?!? ;P

And they are known for their triangle golf tee game that sits on each table. I'm sure there's an official name but you get the point. Even Esther (pretends to) plays and has an unbeatable record. ;)

So if you haven't noticed in the pics by now, the mister is sporting 'some' facial hair. He usually grows a goatee on our trips but this one has been going quite awhile! (chagrin!) And even Esther goes 'Ooooooo daddy - pokey!' :) 

Hey if you remember last year at all, we (okay - I) had to endure a foo-man-shoe shave job! YIKES! Thankfully the peer/wife pressure was effective after a day and we all lived to tell about it - barely! So I'm not complaining about this year....

So back on the road we head.... this time to Gettysburg. We have a KOA reserved so we hold our breath and wait in anticipation of the upcoming night's experience - of course we are all thinking positively about our next night's accommodations! ;) lol

And on the road, we still take naps - okay I think I got two in the whole trip - but the important ones, the littles, still take their naps. And it's no difference than home.... waking up still requires some snuggle time once in awhile.  

And the biggest kids got a little quiet time in, with some reading and math! GASP! I know - right! A mom that makes her kids do school on a trip! Yep! I'm THAT homeschool mom! lol And I'm okay with it! Come on people, we will have driven almost 8,000 miles by the time we are done with this trip! That's a LOT of time on the road! So we sneak in a little brain work just to make sure it doesn't turn completely to jelly while we are gone. And much of the time, mom & dad's bed turns into the on-the-road-hang-out-spot. It has it's advantages and disadvantages...

A) in the back = quiet up front

B) no eating in the driver's bed!!!!

C) right by the littles beds!

D) space to roam, okay sprawl! lol

And so we arrived at our Gettysburg KOA! It actually ended up being one of the best RV parks we stayed in the entire trip. So we decided to stay an extra night...

Okay this might be getting the cart before the horse but this sign is at the exit of the park... be sure to pay attention to the last item. HOW KIND OF THEM! ;) I'm assuming this has happened before, thus the need for the reminder!?!?!?

Tomorrow our field trip continues and we get to explore the Gettysburg battle fields! It's just kind of amazing to think we get to walk and talk and touch where our nation's major, shaping, historical events have taken place so long ago!

Heat, heat, humidity, heat and more humidity, cuts, falls, bloody knees and ice cream coming right up! ;)