East Coast Day 3

Today was fun. We got up a little later than we planned. Okay, I got up a little later than we planned. I'm having a tough time adjusting to the time change. It's hard enough for me to get up early as it is! We packed our clothes, packed our lunches and hit the road. First stop: Pennsylvania state line! Birdie Alex and Beary Bear wanted to prove that they were actually in Pennsylvania. I love having these two along for the ride. They're good traveling companions! Shortly after we crossed the state line we saw signs for the Crayola Factory. I'd never heard of it but we thought, hey, why not! So we detoured to the Crayola Factory. We went inside and it looked like a super cool place to take kids, but it didn't make a lot of sense for us to pay $10 to play with Crayola stuff. I'll have to bring my kids with me next time! But we did stop at the Crayola store. There was a whole lot of Crayola fun. A whole lot! BA and BB had fun. These two are a hoot! Sometimes it's hard to keep them in line though... (Can you spot Waldo Beary Bear and Birdie Alex?) (Who let these two nut jobs inside the store anyway?  Seriously, who would do this? Bad stuffed animals!) (It's almost as difficult to keep these two in line as it is to keep their 'parents' in line. By parent's I'm referring to my kiddos. They don't fit in my sling bag and they're much more expensive to take on a flight though.) Just outside of the store was a cool tribute to fallen fire-fighters. This fountain was set up in a traffic circle. It seemed like a good photo-op. I'm all about photo-ops! We traveled down the road a bit further to a place I was so excited to visit... Hershey, Pennsylvania! We toured the chocolate factory, smelled lots and lots of yummy chocolate and enjoyed looking around at all of their great treats. I limited myself to one white chocolate kit-kat and a mint ice cream cone. (They love kisses) (And hugs too, of course!)   (I love this sign... I want one to hang over my bed!)  (This is a street lamp on Chocolate Avenue. I love it!) Then we drove to Lancaster County. It's a beautiful place! Unfortunately however, we didn't have concrete plans for where we were going to stay. We really wanted to stay at a Farm Bed and Breakfast, but after making some phone calls and driving by a few prospects it just wasn't what we were looking for, nor were any of them at the price we were hoping for. We debated back and forth for quite some time about whether to grab a hotel or just sleep in the car. The frugal, adventurous side of me thought sleeping in the car would be a memorable thing to do on such a trip as this. My, "I don't like to be cold, I have no idea where we'd park and how safe it would be, and I really like to  shower," side eventually won out. So while I had glamorous thoughts of enjoying a slow-paced relaxing evening on a farm, I am currently tucked in to a comfortable enough bed at the local Super 8. It wasn't quite what I pictured, but it will do! These two settled into bed rather quickly. And because I miss my kids so much I decided to crawl into bed with them and pounce them and squeeze them like I'd do to my own kids if they were here. I'm weird like that! Oh and here is a picture of our time at Cracker Barrel. I'd never eaten there, but I'd heard great things. We don't have Cracker Barrels in Oregon. I deeply appreciated the fact that they had a game to play on our table and that they let us order from the kids menu. Seriously, who needs the amount of food that is served at an average restaurant? Not to mention, kids meals appeal to my frugal side. My dinner cost me $4.55, including tax. That's my kind of dinner! Tomorrow we plan to take an Amish buggy tour and visit some local farms and shops. I'm going to be shopping for some wonderful things to take home to my family. I'm also secretly hoping to find a godly young Amish man to marry SaraJane so I can come visit her in Amish country and stay on her quaint little farm while she cooks me all sorts of yummy food from scratch :0) Or, maybe I'll just pick up some jam?