Twenty-Five Thousand Words

They say a picture is worth a thousand words.

I am hoping this sentiment is true even if the photographer is me- an amateur- and the photographs are candid shots, at best!

Just in case the pictures don't speak for themselves, I am planning to add some narration to fill in the inevitable blank spots!

In mid-August, our family went to a cabin near Brickerville, Pa for several days. This spot is about one-and-a-half hours from us and it was the perfect vacation for the particular stage of life we're in...namely 3 children, including one whirlwind of a toddler.

On Wednesday, the 13th, we packed & loaded the van & trailer and actually got out the door before noon! Wesley had outfitted our van with a hitch, and the trailer, on loan from my brother, was perfect for bikes & the overflow of luggage & food that didn't fit in the van.

We made a stop at McDonalds for lunch and another in Ephrata to procure a key for our lodging. The next stop was our planned activity for the day... the Hands on House Children's Museum! There was a little of everything to do there and the children loved it! Outside, in the cutest of playgrounds, there were slides, a sand-pile & trucks and things to climb on & explore. There was an activity going on in which the children were given a backpack with all kinds of fun things inside with which to collect and examine bugs and other interesting bits of nature. Elasa was pleased to procure a ladybug. The children could have played outside all afternoon, but eventually we herded them inside and they found another world to explore...a cow to milk, corn to pick, fish to catch, eggs to gather and a tractor to drive! There was costumes for dress-up, a store & a post office, an assembly line...and more! The children went from one fun thing to another in a state of heightened excitement! The museum was perfect for their ages, but a child several years older could also enjoy themselves, and would probably get more from the activities which required reading.                                                                                                                                  

From the children's museum, we drove to our cabin and were pleased to find a cute little red structure nestled among the trees awaiting us! It had everything we needed for a home-away-from-home...living room with toys for the children to explore, a nicely stocked kitchen, one full bath, a bedroom with a double bed, and a loft type room up a flight of stairs with numerous beds, where the children slept. 

For supper, Wesley managed to coax a fire to life after a false start or two and we roasted hot dogs and made some wonderful s'mores. Afterwards, we sat around the campfire and sang, which turned into one of the highlights of the trip for Elasa. She especially liked propping her feet up on a log beside the fire to keep them warm while we sang. Wesley & I dredged far back into our memories for good campfire songs that we used to sing with the youth group.

The night was alive with the sounds of summer, and I was thrilled to hear frogs croaking in a nearby pond. They provided some bass notes that are just plain missing at our home in town!

On Thursday our destination was the Strasburg Railroad. The children were very excited to ride on a real train and it really was quite pleasant, with the quintessential Lancaster farmland rocking past the windows and some narration to accompany it.

We took a packed lunch along and hopped off the train at a picnic spot supplied with tables and some play equipment. When the train came through about an hour later, we hopped back on and completed our journey by riding back to the station. 

Hurrah for restored steam trains!!!

While perusing things to do in Lancaster County, I came across the Doll Outlet, which sounded like something Elasa would enjoy (never mind that I am an adult and I wanted to see it, too!) We left the men resting in the van while we took in this stop! Along with the hundreds of dolls & piles of clothes and accessories, there was also a Baby Nursery, where you can choose a "newborn" to take home with you! Of course we didn't buy any babies, but Elasa did get to hold one of the pink bundles awaiting adoption! The ladies who work here dress up in scrubs like nurses, and if you actually adopt a baby, they give it a check-up before it goes home! 

We had supper at Hershey Farms Restaurant and put to good use a gift certificate given to us several years back by Wesley's wonderful grandparents (thanks, Granddad & Bomie!!!) The smorgasbord was a literal groaning board and served some very tasty food! Wesley gave a thumbs-up to the shoofly pie!

Friday was our shopping day! We went first to Clay Bookstore, where I did some school shopping and marveled at how unchanged the store has remained over the years! In a world of change, it is comforting to walk into a place that looks & smells just as I remember from childhood! The thing that has changed is me...I am there buying school prizes & preschool books & an electric pencil sharpener instead of another addition to my Anne of Green Gables set!

Next we went to Green Dragon, a flea-market/ farmer's market that is only open on Fridays. The place was packed out and it was a little nerve wracking to make our way through the throngs of shoppers and booths with our little group of 5, but we found a few "bargains" (including a birthday gift for Gavin which Wesley bought & whisked to the van without him noticing!) For lunch, we got some top notch sausages smothered in onions for the adults, hot-dogs for the children & french-fries for all. Gavin contracted a condition called  "ice cream on the brain," so we took care of that as well!

After Green Dragon, we went out of our way to go to a Jubilee Thrift Store. I enjoyed browsing, but I don't know that the drive was worth the purchases. Oh, well, one never knows with these places! 

That evening, we ate supper at the cabin...this time a casserole I had brought along. The tastes of home rival the finest restaurant, if I do say so myself!

Elasa wanted to sing around the fire again, so Wesley built a fire and we sat around it to sing and have another go of s'mores!!! 

On Saturday, Wesley's sister & brother-in-law joined us for the day and we enjoyed their company very much. It was nice to have the adult-to-children ratio in our favor for once! 

We ate brunch at the Brickerville House, which I could recommend any day! I don't quite remember what I ate, but I do remember that Parker sat on the floor and emptied my wallet for entertainment. I also remember allowing this so that I could enjoy a few bites in peace! Parker's behavior was on the decline by this point in our vacation, as he missed his normal schedule & regular naps, and this meal was not one of our finer moments!!! 

Our activity for the day was the Landis Valley Museum, a living history spot depicting Pennsylvania German culture. There were people dressed in period clothes and doing various things, such as woodworking, tin-cutting, and food preparations the old-fashioned way! Not everything belonged in the past, however! We saw a horse getting a bath in preparation for a wedding it was to participate in later in the day, and we watched a man making real brooms. At one point, I sat down to rest on the grass and eventually became aware of an increasing discomfort in the form of extreme itchiness! Soon enough, red welts came out all over my hands and arms. I am not sure which time period these particular insects (ants?) came from, but they did a very thorough job of causing me some grief!!! 

Marcus & Kathryn joined us back at the cabin for supper. We made mountain pies and s'mores around a very nice fire. This was the 3rd time for the campfire & s'mores combination for us, but one must make good on these opportunities when they present themselves. 

On Sunday, we went to church with Marcus & Kathryn and then went to their house for lunch. They grilled hamburgers and served them with some delicious goodies straight from their garden!  

Back at the cabin, we set to work packing & scrubbing. The cabin rental was extremely reasonable, but we did have to do our own cleaning! As we had been pleased to find it clean & neat upon our arrival, I wanted to leave it accordingly for the next guests. 

We got on the road, pulling our dutiful little trailer behind, in the early evening and stopped at a park in Hershey to eat supper before heading south on the children's absolute favorite highway- Interstate 81!

Our vacation was over, but the best part was awaiting us...

HOME.

Sometimes, in the middle of what is suppose to be a restful & rejuvenating experience, I start musing over why I thought a vacation was such a great idea! 

I have noticed that pictures have a way of capturing the sweet smiles & fun times with such success that we can make pretty much anything look perfect. We catch a moment and preserve it into a memory. We look at the pictures and say, "This is how I will remember my trip."

Only that isn't always the case. There are always the stories behind the pictures. 

There are the bug-bites and the secret fear that maybe I would have some allergic reaction to them.

There is the toddler misbehaving and climbing out of his high-chair and making such a huge mess out of his whoopie pie that I feel like saying, "No more restaurants until this boy is in college!" 

There are the children rustling about in the overhead loft and making umpteen trips down the stairs to complain that they can't sleep because Parker is crying. Which he is indeed doing.

There is the fire that won't light. 

There is me lying awake in the dark and hoping to survive one more night in the boonies because I just can't wait to go back to my home in town where there are other people and lights around!

No, there are some things even a picture can't tell. 

It takes a thousand words to do that.