I heart Lancaster

A couple weeks ago we were finally brave enough to venture out into the great exciting world and do a day trip! And I have decided that I want to live in Lancaster, PA. It's Amish Country, and it is beautiful. Pastoral farms tucked into wooded hills, little farm stands and rustic stores on all the corners, but not outside of civilization's niceties (read: 2 major outlet malls). The little buggies zooming up and down the streets were pretty awesome, too.

Our first stop was the Amish Farm and House, where we took a tour and wandered around the farm. We went with some friends who are also doing an internship here, and who happen to have a redheaded little girl and a baby the same age as ours! The kids loved seeing all the animals and feeding the goats. I thought the tour was fascinating.

this was just a fake "boogey" at a gas station (notice the horse's perfectly manicured tail) but it was a good photo-op!

After that, we stopped by the outlet malls and stayed only slightly longer than the half hour we allotted :) I did get some badly needed dress shoes out of it, though! Then we took off for a self-guided covered bridge tour. This meant a couple of hours of driving through the countryside while the boys traded napping in the back seat. I loved this! The bridges were neat but didn't do as much for me as the farms - seeing farmers tilling their ground either with tractor or horse-drawn plow, passing buggies everywhere (Archer yelling "There's a boogey! There's a boogey!") and just being in awe of the beautiful landscape.

After we had our fill of driving, we went to dinner at a little Amish buffet to try the local delicacies. A lot of it was fried or very sweet, but the bread pudding was to die for, and I rather liked the pickled beet eggs. Outside there was a mini farm/petting zoo that the boys wanted to stay at forever.


First real family trip on the East - a success! We would need that good mojo to cover some of this weekend's adventure . . . (duh duh duuuuuuhhh!)

saving graces

The last month has been extremely trying. I'm not going to lie, I went to bed crying more often than I have in a long time, and woke up crying more than once. We are finally starting to get back into a rhythm now. The boys are coping much better with life, playing well with each other (you know, for their ages), and are back to their usual cycle of only occasional disobedience. We now feel like we can go out on excursions and have adventures! Life is fun again!

In times like this when it feels like everything is uphill, sometimes our Heavenly Father sends encouragement through angels that look remarkably like middle-aged women in the grocery store and old ladies at the mall. The mother with grown children who stops and says, "You've got your hands full," (I swear I hear that at least twice every time I go out) but she goes on to talk about how fast they grow and asks how we're doing in the area. The grandma who stops you to say how beautiful your children are ("He could be on tv!").

When things are going well, I hardly remember comments like these, but when it's rough, they may give you the strength to make it to nap time. And that is something.

How NOT to move across the country

 

Are you moving this summer? Maybe just taking a long road trip? Here is some great advice that I sincerely wish we had followed. All except the last one, I guess! :)

1. Do NOT let the driver get sick on Day 3 of your trip.
The major stomach issues will make him pull over even more than your 3-year-old in the back seat's potty breaks. It will also lengthen your drive by a day. It turns out that Day 4 is where everyone turns nasty. Give me 3-day car trips forever. 4 days? Not advisable. 5 days? Never again.

2. Do NOT forget to check and double check the day that you can move into your apartment. 
This will make you sit in the leasing office for probably an hour longer than you should while they figure out what to do with you because you are there a day early, and they are supposedly cleaning your carpets (lies, all of it!) which won't be clean until tomorrow. During this eternity, you and your children will be barely tolerated by the office staff, obviously not used to seeing a family with 3 obscenely cranky kids under age 4 in their office. You will then need to get back in the car because you still can't get into the apartment for another 4 hours. Luckily there are beautiful parks and the breath of fresh air will be good for everyone, even if your children act like zombie monsters at McDonald's.

3. Do NOT have a baby 5 weeks before you move.
Contrary to popular opinion, babies at this age actually travel very well in our experience. The drive is not the issue here. It is the sudden upheaval of everything your older 2 children know and care about all at once. You may do this, but be prepared for a solid 3-4 weeks of not recognizing your children and really not wanting to own that they are yours in public. Seriously.


Now we did do some things right. First of all, we made a sweet pulley system to go from the front seat to the back seats where the bigger boys were (thank you, pinterest). I could relay snacks or toys in a bucket to either of them at any time. We also only ate out one meal a day to cut costs, and we had a few activities and prizes to give to the boys throughout the drive. They loved playing "Guess what animal I am." Anyway, for good or for bad, we'll chalk this one up to experience!

The Reader's Digest version

Now let me catch you up to speed on the past couple months at our house. It has been exciting.
March 30: We had a baby. Here is baby Levi. My mom and dad came into town, which was so very nice! We loved having them!

Mid-April: Jimmy gets out of school (hooray!) and we begin a month of scrambling to do house projects, find renters, and pack our belongings, while adjusting to the new baby. Here is the new laminate flooring my dad put in while he was here. Thanks, Daddy!

May 20: We leave for a trek across the country for an internship at Johnson & Johnson in Philadelphia. We really danced on the table singing "I'm So Excited" before leaving.

May 25: After taking 5 days instead of 3 to get from Utah to Philadelphia (more about that later), we arrive, bedraggled, in Ambler, a borough about 45 minutes outside of Philly. The apartment has carpet everywhere except the teeny tiny kitchen and the bathroom, so I made the boys eat their dinner in the bathtub because we didn't have a table. Made for an easy transition to bath/bedtime!

We have been here for about a month now, exploring the area and trying to get through the day and maybe even enjoy it a little!

To blog or not to blog?

Reader beware: this is my third attempt to write a blog. My first two trailed off into the abyss of this-would-be-nice-if-I-had-the-time. They are probably sitting somewhere next to making homemade bread and exercise. Unfortunately, journal writing is in there, too, and I feel like a schmuck of a mother not keeping any records of my adorable children and their milestones and cuteness. Lately I've felt the real need to start journaling again, along with the need to pull my far-away family into our lives. Ta-da! A blog is born. (Don't worry, I'll try and keep this to detailing our lives and leave the scary inner workings of my mind to my leather-bound REAL journal!)

My point is, I have a history with blogging, and it does not bode well. I take no responsibility for the hearts I may break if this blog suddenly goes AWOL. That being said, I am going to give this a real shot. In my mind, I'll fill these fake pages with pictures and stories of our lives, plus an occasional musing about motherhood, and maybe the odd nutrition thought or two. As my 2-year-old has been singing lately, "I'm so excited, I just can't hide it!"