DAY 6- I Think I Want To Be Amish

OK- I've been trying to get this post completed for the last 5 days & I absolutely can't figure out what's going on!! I can't upload pics anymore for some reason & it's driving me crazy. So I'll just post what I've got & try to finish the rest later. Here's what I've got:

I still can't believe how beautiful trees can be. Why can't this tree live in my backyard? Oh yeah, trees don't get like this unless they have water & I live in the desert. Boo. Anyways, after almost a week of doing huge, important, life-changing activities every day we decided to cool it for a while in Amish country. This area is just west of New Philadelphia, OH where we were visiting a family that Andrew became close with while he served there for 6 months of his mission. Mom & Pop Dixon are so fun & let us take over their whole basement for a few days of rest & relaxation. It was so wonderful to get to visit & catch up after all this time. Andrew & I haven't been to visit since I was preggo with Emma!

Our first stop was at Yoder's Amish Farm, where we found some fun animals that "needed" to come home with us.We also checked out a "coupe" buggy & tried to figure out how that basin could possibly be a sink!After a really great tour of the house where they tortured us with smells of fresh-baked bread & the biggest cookies known to man, we experienced our first real Amish buggy ride. Luckily we took out the "sedan" so that we all could fit.Other high points: playing in the garden & feeding the extremely friendly goats. Emma decided that she would NOT like to go to school with the Amish kids because even though they only have to attend through 8th grade, that just can't make up for the fact that they have to use outhouses every day!Here I thought we were takin' a super cute picture & James is busy eating the greenery! I like to think of this as another "blissfully unaware" experience.

While we were enjoying ourselves in the simplicity of Amish life, less than 40 miles away authorities were hunting lions, tigers, & bears, oh my! My poor friend Andrea just about gave herself an ulcer worrying about us. But never fear, we were protected! Yay for not getting eaten by a tiger while on vacation!

DAY 5- Kirtland, OH!!!

Today was the day. The day! We were going to take the kids back to the place where WE became US. I was so excited!!!

But I'm getting ahead of myself. First, in yet another effort to be educational, we took a quick trip out to see Lake Erie. Emma has been learning about the Great Lakes, so we scored some points there!It was really windy.No, SERIOUSLY windy! Anyhoo.......You know how legends are made up of places that seem magical, like they might not really exist? We have a place like that in our family. It's called "The Bench."

The Bench is the place where Daddy asked Mommy to marry him. The Bench is the place where she said yes. The Bench is where our family began.Our tour guide of the Kirtland Temple thought that we were a little cuckoo because as soon as we left the visitor's center Emma started running around asking "Is this it? Is that it? Where's The Bench?!?!"It may not be the same simple wooden bench that I remember from so long ago, but it's still a pretty magical place for our family.

So much wealth from one little bench. Sigh....I'm all teary now.

Moving on....In case you were wondering why this place is so special to my hubby, he served his mission in the Ohio Cleveland Mission, which includes Kirtland. He used to have Christmas conferences & special firesides in the temple. The LDS church no longer owns the building or grounds, but the RLDS church (now the Community of Christ) was kind enough to let the missionaries use the building on occasion. They even got special "behind-the-scenes" tours from the RLDS restoration specialists. I was excited to see the new visitor's center & museum. They were educational & SO interesting. It was nice to see the effort they're going to to keep the history alive & restore the building.

So after reminiscing all over the place, we finished up our tour of Kirtland at the LDS sites. Emma really liked the Newel K. Whitney store because she's seen it in movies!

2 future missionaries in the School of the Prophets.Hey, I'm going to be a missionary too, Mom!

Checkin' out the sawmill & ashery.
So. Much.Fun.

After Kirtland we high-tailed it down to the John Johnson farm, but it was closed! Bummer. Andrew spent a lot of time there while on his mission & wanted to show the kids, but it wasn't meant to be. But that meant that we were ready to get on down the road to finally see the Dixons! After a stop a White Castle, that is, just so Kris could say she'd been. She's been, & she will not be going back, just in case you were wondering.

Tomorrow- It's Amish time!

DAY 4- Niagara!!!

This place makes pictures from even my little point-and-shoot look good!
This one with the foliage might be my Christmas card! I LOVE the colors of fall!

I have to admit, we almost scratched this excursion from the schedule more than once. But how can you be only an hour away & not go see one of the most amazing sights in the world? Niagara State Park is the oldest state park in the nation, by the way. Gotta get that educational stuff in so that we can justify missing a whole week of school for this trip!According to the weather people, it was supposed to be 50-something degrees with 30 mph winds & a 70% chance of rain. Nope! Yes, it was definitely nippy, but most of us were shedding layers of clothing after hiking all over the park. And rain? What rain? Fabulous!

So even though we knew there was the potential for great misery, we braved the forecast & took the plunge on the Maid of the Mist. This was Frank's #1 for the trip. (Although if you ask him he'll also say that #1 was the Sacred Grove because "it's more important." What an angel!)We may have been courageous enough to do the boat, but you couldn't convince me to let my kiddos go down to the Cave of the Winds. Those folks are wearing sandals with no socks! Brrrrr!Chasing seagullsLove this girl!

I was so excited to see the pictures I'd taken on this wonderful day. So imagine my shock & horror when I turned on my camera in the car to find this: Bless the soul that invented Internet phones! We were able to locate a Best Buy right off the freeway in Erie, PA on our drive west, so we didn't miss documenting a second of our trip. (Insert sigh of relief here.)

On tap for tomorrow: The place where it all began!

DAY 3- Palmyra, NY!

Did you know that in other parts of the country there are rivers so large that more than 1 rowboat can be on the water at one time? My Arizona-raised kids didn't! But here's proof- a college rowing team out on the Susquehanna River. Pretty cool. Oh, and did you know that there are trees that are more colors than just greenish-brown? See? Man, the things we learned while on vacation.So after a night in possibly the worst hotel ever, we ended up in the little town of Palmyra, where they really do have an intersection with a church on each corner! I guess I always thought that was kind of a dramatic statement to paint a better picture of the religious fervor of the 1800s. But nope, there they were!Hill Cumorah was our first stop, & boy was it a doozy! This is the day that my kids started praying before each stop that the rain would go away. And wouldn't you know that in the 8 days we were travelling, we only got actually rained on once! Sure, it poured on our car for most of the time we were in it, but every time we stopped to see something the rain would fizzle to a mist or light sprinkle. It was a great testimony-builder for our family.For some reason the kind missionaries don't tell you that the "short walk" to the top of the Hill is almost straight up! We had to be careful because most of the path looked like this:GORGEOUS!!!

Next we drove by the Palmyra Temple & over to the Smith family homes. Jack thought it was pretty cool to be in the same room that the angel Moroni had been in.Getting ready for the Grove. Just look at those red leaves!Our walk through the Sacred Grove was so special that I won't talk much about it, but I don't ever want to forget praying with my family there. I loved how the yellow leaves on the ground almost made everything glow.Next up was the Grandin Building, where the first Books of Mormon were printed. This was a very informative tour & we learned a lot. The older kids even got to help out in the printing press room!As if we hadn't already done enough this day, we hopped in the car, bound for Buffalo. We got into town early enough that we were able to go play at the Rubalcava's house! Emma still says that this was one of the best parts of the trip for her. And I haven't laughed that hard in ages! It was so great to catch up with friends from our younger days at EAC & MGRMC.

Luckily TJ & Vanessa know where to get the best buffalo wings in Buffalo. I was actually shocked at how good they were. Yum!!!Tonight we'll all sleep well. Yet another great day down, many more to go!

DAY 2- Hershey, PA!

You can't go to Pennsylvania & not do Hershey, right?

So we hit the potty 1 more time in the hotel & then headed out.Amazingly, we managed to keep this destination a secret from the kids until we pulled onto Chocolate Avenue & they spotted the Kiss streetlights & smelled the chocolatey air. You should've heard the screams of excitement coming from the back of our van!After the chocolate tour we packaged Hershey Kisses, designed & produced our own chocolate bars, & pigged out on some incredible S'Mores pie.The chocolate factory was more enjoyable for some than others. :)

This place took almost all day- well, the choosing of trinkets to bring home took almost all day, so after some yummy chicken nuggets with CHOCOLATE barbeque sauce & that great pie we headed outside to show Mommy & the kids what a real fall looks like. Mommy is now addicted. She wants nothing but red trees in her yard from now on.

And now we're heading north toward our next great adventure!

THE BEST TRIP EVER!!!!

It's over, it's done.

And so are we!

But before I tell you about the end, let me take you back to the beginning....

Originally this trip started out as an anniversary trip for Mommy & Daddy.

(October 19- 11 years!!)

But the more we planned it, the more we realized that we wanted the kids to see all of the amazing things we had on our list. And yes, I know...you're thinking- What were they thinking? And let me answer- I don't know!!! But it was wonderful.

DAY 1

Leavin' on a jet planeLuckily little man James was in a fantastic mood & didn't utter a peep- as long as I kept him stuffed with snacks!So excited to be on our way!After 1 stop in Dallas & a VERY long car ride we made it to our first stop. But ssshhhh, it's a secret! The kids don't know what's in store for tomorrow!

Sleep tight, little ones. Tomorrow marks the start of a great adventure!