I'd rather wear out than rust out...

Years ago my grandparents were in a fun local seniors band and that was their slogan.  I've sort of adopted it as my life's theme.  It's another way of saying something else I often repeat: "I want to live till I die."  

Yesterday I wanted to do something special with the grandchildren, since there is only one more week until school starts.  I knew I was on my own with three of them, and I was at a loss to come up with a plan for the day.  We've done a lot of the usual already: the zoo, the local parks, hiking, swimming, the library, baking, crafts, a lemonade stand, the flea market, and playing in Grandma's park (our backyard).  

Before they arrived yesterday morning, I did something I often do when I feel a lack of direction for the day ahead.  I prayed.  "Lord, I need you to order my day.  I know for sure there are two things that you have promised to give for the asking:  forgiveness and wisdom.  I need both.  Please give me an idea of something fun to do with the kids today."

It wasn't very long until I thought about taking them to Ohio's Amish country, located in Holmes County and a little more than an hour's drive away.  It would get us out of town and into the beautiful countryside, and I thought they would love tasting the cheese at Heini's.  But could I handle three of them on my own for such a venture?  I'd never gone there by myself before, but I knew I kept a detailed map of Amish Country in my car. And I had Dora, my faithful GPS, plus a stroller. Confidence rose and I felt my prayer had been answered.

When I finally got everyone dressed, fed, and buckled tightly into their carseats, I pulled out of the garage and stopped.  I announced to the kids that whenever grandma and papa go on a trip, we always say a prayer first.  So I prayed out loud for a safe and fun day and gave thanks for the beautiful weather and our special time together.  Simple and to the point. A teachable moment too.  

There were many more teachable moments, especially once we got off the highway and onto the country roads.  We took turns spotting grazing cows, baby goats, lots of horses, beautiful farms and rolling hills.  We started counting how many horses and buggies we saw until they became a common scene.  We looked for houses without any electrical lines attached to them, and we saw lots of clothes being dried outside in the breeze.  I pointed out several small Amish school houses.  We talked about some of the differences between the Amish and the Mennonites, who also populate the area.  In answer to my granddaughter's question, I explained that even though it is called "Amish Country", that we were indeed still in the United States!  We talked about the difference between being "in the country" and "in the city".  

Our first stop was the Ashery Country Store. Located in Fredericksburg, Ashery's is a bulk food store I've enjoyed going to since my own kids were young.  I was pleasantly surprised at how much the store has expanded and the grandkids loved that there were free samples throughout ~ candy, pretzels and dips, even sassafras tea.  When I was looking for a certain item, I inquired to a woman I recognized had been there for probably 20 years! Even though the store had changed slightly, it really did seem like time had stood still here!  People were so friendly too, stopping to chat and admire the grandchildren. There are some interesting facts at the Ashery website, found here.

Ten minutes farther down the road is Heini's, where cheese-making operations have been going on for 75 years.  It takes a little time to walk around the store and sample every cheese they sell.  And behind large glass windows we could see the workers cleaning out the huge vats where they had made cheese earlier in the day.  We paused to watch part of a video which showed the process.  

On her own, Elylah decided to keep a little scorecard of ranking her favorite cheeses!

 Ethan: "Grandma look! Mouse cheese!"

Some unusual varieties included rainbow fudge cheese.

We left Heini's and drove a few more miles down the road to "downtown" Berlin.  Main Street is full of tiny little primitive looking shops and I knew of a restaurant where we could get some lunch.  I didn't try to take the kids inside any of the shops (I'm not THAT crazy!) but we enjoyed strolling up and down the street a little.  I did take notice of lots of "new" shops that weren't there the last time I was in Berlin, and I'll go back to check them out another time when I can freely browse!  

We waited about 15 minutes in line to go into Boyd's, a great sandwich shop in the heart of things.  Again I was stunned to realize a waitress was someone I recognized from more than a decade ago.  The place was just as busy as always, filled with visitors from all over.  The kids wanted home made chicken noodle soup, and I had a half-order of a hot roast beef sandwich, my favorite when I go to Amish country. Apologizing for the mess we left, I gave the waitress a good tip.  She chatted with me for a minute, and we were on our way.

The timing worked out perfectly and I drove the kids directly home.  They slept the entire hour.  I'm still glowing with memories of this perfect, gifted day.  God is good.  And I thank Him!

"If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given." 

James 1:5

I'm back...

We made a quick trip over the holiday weekend to see the SC kids. I'll post soon and share some pictures. Have a great day!

chocolate's not food, right?

Well, I promised to get off the food channel, but that was before I decided to take the two grandkids I babysit on a field trip today. I was looking for something relatively close and inexpensive. I settled on this:

I confess openly to being a serious chocoholic, or perhaps I should say, "chocolate snob". My excuse goes something like this: If I'm going to consume the fat & calories, it's going to be the good stuff, not candy bars filled with paraffin!

For $5 for all three of us, we got an informative video, plus a 45 minute tour of the factory. I never dreamed I would ever see and smell five 80,000 gallon vats of warm chocolate anywhere except, uh, in my dreams!

Even 8 month old squirming Ethan, usually quite the high maintenance little guy, seemed to be calmed by the sights and smells. I had to carry him the entire time, as for some reason the factory doesn't accommodate strollers! (Imagine that?) Elylah was a little intimidated at first, but she realized this was just like things she'd seen on TV where they show you how things are made and she was excited. It didn't hurt that we started the tour by receiving one of these:

Harry London was a local steel worker, who learned chocolate making from his father, who brought the skills from the old country. The following is from the Harry London website:

(www.harrylondonchocolates.com)

"At the turn of the century, fine confections were associated with the delicate hand-craftsmanship of the Swiss, or the rich, smooth cream and butter used by the Belgians. In Canton, Ohio, unknown to the existing masters of chocolate, Gilbert London was teaching his son Harry the fine art of confections by using recipes and techniques from the family’s strong European traditions.

Harry London learned over time and through the eloquent teachings of his father the true art of making fine confections. He found that in a world where more always seemed to be the norm in creating anything of wonder, the art of chocolate-making broke all traditional rules. He learned that quality was more important than quantity. Chocolate needs to be simple and pure, rich and complex, and filled with blends that are subtle...yet irresistible.

Over the years, Harry London began making these delicious delicacies for his friends as holiday gifts. Friends were finding that resistance to these delights was futile. The gifts were cherished, and soon Harry was receiving requests for his fine hand-made chocolates. In 1922, Harry - a steelworker by trade - soon decided to make chocolate his life’s work and left his job at the mill. Thus, Harry London Candies was born.

Through humble beginnings, where ideas are strong and passion runs through every thought one has, Harry London created a small kitchen in his home. This would be just the beginning of where the finest chocolates in the world would be created. Through the years, his family traditions and recipes are still held to exceptional standards, for only the purest ingredients are used."

What a fun day! Of course they conveniently have the store right there where we did pick up some plunder to take home. Elylah was excited we were able to buy some chocolate covered pretzels, since that was one of the items we watched being made.

So the next time you come through North Canton, Ohio, be sure to stop by this place...you can be in and out within an hour or so. It's located right on I-77 near the Akron-Canton Airport.

The visit to Monticello and Montpelier

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness."

This is said to be the most well-known sentence in the English language. They are the opening words to the Declaration of Independence, drafted by Thomas Jefferson, whose home at Monticello, in Charlottesville, VA, we enjoyed visiting for the first time this year.

Jefferson designed every aspect of Monticello ("little mountain" in Italian) and it is considered an icon of American architecture. It was a plantation, as well as a retreat and laboratory where Jefferson spent time applying the latest thinking to make life and labor more productive and efficient.

Here we stand with him at the new-this-year $43 million Visitor's Center which was quite impressive. There is an education wing, a fantastic gift shop, and a very nice cafe. A free shuttle picks up visitors from this location and takes them up the famous house on the hill.

The scenery from every direction is just fabulous...here are some of the gardens on the property.

One interesting thing we learned when we saw Jefferson's grave site, chosen by him in 1773, is that it is owned by an association of his descendants, and is still used as a cemetery.

Our next stop was to visit James and Dolley Madison's home at Montpelier, about 30 miles from Monticello, and nestled in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. James Madison is considered the Father of our Constitution. Here we recalled some more famous words:

"We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

Though Montpelier was the life-long home of James Madison, his grandfather having acquired the land in 1723, his widow Dolley Madison (famous for saving the portrait of George Washington during the War of 1812 when the White House was burned during her husband's presidency) sold the home in 1844. In 1901 the duPont family purchased Montpelier and enlarged the house from 22 rooms to 55, and preserved the grounds. Finally in 1984 it was transfered to the National Trust, and in 2003 work began to restore the house to the way it was when the Madison's lived there.

Again, the scenery was breathtaking...

We didn't have nearly enough time to see everything at Montpelier, but we did have a tour guide to take us through the mansion. We both were awe-struck as we stood in the very room where Madison researched past democracies and conceived of the system of government that became our republic...and where our Constitution was drafted.

We seem to have a thing for these bronze statutes...which seem to be just about everywhere we visit! Montpelier is still undergoing restoration and it is facinating to see the quality and detailed care that is taken to preserve and restore this national treasure.

We would probably recommend seeing Monticello and Montpelier in two separate days instead of one like we did. We didn't have time to do a leisurely audioguided tour of the Montpelier grounds, or see many of the exhibits, which we regret.

Back in downtown Charlottesville, we enjoyed a free trolley ride ...

to the pedestrian mall...

and enjoyed a fabulous Italian dinner outdoors...a perfect ending to a really nice 5 day get-away!

Thus ends my ramblings about it and I hope you enjoyed touring with us!

Vacation Highlights, Part Two

Out of habit, we had mapquested the route from Somerset, PA to Charlottesville, VA before we left home, but didn't even look at it till we were well on our way. We also had our GPS and turned it on. We were surprised to see they had us going different routes. We decided to go with our GPS (fondly nicknamed "Dora" -- as in Dora the Explorer).

The travel time was basically the same, about 4 hours, but Dora had us driving on some very beautiful by-ways where we thoroughly enjoyed the scenery, especially when we got into the Blue Ridge Mountain region.

The Bed & Breakfast we had booked in Charlottesville was (to our way of thinking) the pricey Dinsmore House. It is a historic Federal townhouse built in 1817 by Thomas Jefferson's master builder, James Dinsmore. We've never paid this much to stay anywhere, but bit the bullet for two nights since everything in this part of Virginia was high. From looking at the website (http://www.dinsmorehouse.com/) I thought we were really going to be in very plush and high end B&B. We actually were pretty surprised to find, while our accomodations were clean and very acceptable, it was more like staying in a small eight room hotel rather than what we've always experienced when we've stayed at "country" Bed & Breakfasts. And it looked like an "old" place, with some peeling paint, etc. (which it is) rather than a "restored" place (which the price would suggest) .Our room, however, (the Veranda room) was nice:

And I was impressed with the vase of fresh flowers on the mantle...

There was also a small semi-private courtyard...

and of course, the private Veranda...

Breakfasts were served in another part of the building, which we needed to access by going out of our room to the outdoors, walking a few feet, and entering another door. But it was a lovely, sunny porch...

and I loved the brass pineapple napkin rings...

While we thoroughly enjoyed the ammenities, we probably would not stay here again. The main difference between this B&B and any of the others we've stayed at (8 in several different states) is we sat at individual tables for breakfast, which was more like a restaurant, and our quarters were separate from where the common area of the house was. Also, the B&B's "office" was in the common area, so we didn't really feel free to hang out there and we didn't really even have any conversation with any other boarders. SOOO unlike country B&B's!

But enough about the Dinsmore House. This leg of our trip was really about sight-seeing!

Next: Monticello and Montpelier

We love B and B's and other vacation highlights, part one!

A month or so ago, we realized we were going to have a string of days without obligations and we decided it was a good excuse to take a mini-vacation. The only parameters we put around our planning were these: stay within our budget, plan for 4 overnights, do a good combination of resting and sight-seeing.

We had a book some friends had given us that listed Bed & Breakfast Inns all over the country which would honor a coupon for one free night, Bed & Breakfasts and Country Inns (http://www.iloveinns.com/ ). So we decided to first pick a destination and then work "backwards" with the accommodation plans.

We decided to visit Monticello in Charlottesville, VA, as we do love to see historical sites and neither of us had ever been there. We had heard they just opened a brand new Visitor's Center this year--there was a nice write-up in the Cleveland Plain Dealer on May 17. We were not disappointed! But more on that later.

What I found was many of the B&B's listed in the book have specified availability dates for getting the free night. So I did have to do some searching to find one that would honor the coupon since after Memorial Day seems to be the beginning of peak vacation season.

All the B&B's anywhere near Monticello were pricey, and I couldn't find a single one that would honor the coupon. So I looked over our route, and determined we would stay two nights in Charlottesville, and we would have to find another place to stay the first two nights where we could get the one free night. We took a chance on the Quill Haven Country Inn in Somerset, PA, about 3 hours from home. (http://www.quillhaven.com/).

This place was a real treat, and we highly recommend it to anyone. Innkeeper Carol Miller met us at the door and made us feel welcome right away. We told her we basically just wanted to rest for a couple days, and we knew we had found the perfect place. The circa 1918 home set back from the street on a beautiful and well cared for piece of property. It had a keyless entry system so we could come and go as we pleased without fear of inconveniencing anyone. We also enjoyed the outdoor whirlpool while we were busy relaxing!

Much to our surprise, we realized there were several important things we wanted to see while in Somerset:

1) Flight 93 National Memorial. The site of the crash of the hijacked plane is only about a dozen miles from the B&B. While there is only a temporary memorial right now, a permanent one is being planned. I cried when I signed the guest book as it was very emotional to witness the place where so many innocent people lost their lives. Very touching to say the least. Tax deductible contributions for the permanent memorial can be made at http://www.honorflight93.org/ .

2) Quecreek Mine Rescue Site. I well remember the national news coverage of the miraculous rescue of nine coal miners on July 28, 2002, so we were surprised to stumble into the location of the rescue, just 5 miles down the road from the B&B. The building of a memorial park is in progress, and again, it was with a sense of awe and emotion to realize what had taken place here, as the lives of ordinary people became world-wide headlines. (http://www.quecreekrescue.org/ )

3) Johnstown Flood Museum. Roughly 30 miles from the B&B, in Cambria County, we visited this very interesting museum that remembers over 2200 lives that were lost in the great flood of 1889. We learned a great deal about life before and after the flood, saw actual artifacts that were recovered, and watched an Academy Award-winning documentary of the event. The museum is operated by the Johnstown Area Heritage Association. (http://www.jaha.org/ )

4) Heritage Discovery Center. While in Johnstown, we spent some time in this museum also. It basically tells the story of how Johnstown was rebuilt after the flood by immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe who settled there in the late 1800's. The interactive nature of the museum brought it all to life and it wasn't hard to visualize what the daily lives of those people must have been like. We found ourselves feeling grateful to the folks who care enough to preserve the memory of the heritage of the building of America. (http://www.jaha.org/ )

While I realize that everyone's idea of "vacation" is not the same as ours, this leg of our little trip was not only a much needed get-away, but a step back into a heartland area where ordinary, people live, love, and work day in and day out. A coal mining town that would probably never have been much noticed but for the historic events its people have endured, Somerset is now a popular stopping place off the PA Turnpike, exit 110. We are so glad we decided to visit here.

And before I close this out, I want to mention an eating place where the food was just out of this world. The Pine Grill Restaurant (www.pinegrill.com ) is right off the Turnpike Exit 110, at 800 N. Center Avenue in Somerset. I highly recommend their lasagna. It's more "cheesey" than "saucey", is baked, and the portions are large and the price is very reasonable. Their tossed salad with home made dressings are excellent, too. So if you're driving on the Turnpike in southwestern PA and it's lunch or dinner time, hop off and grab a bite to eat here. If you're tired and need a place to stay, drive up the road a mile or so and see Carol at the Quill Haven Bed and Breakfast. (Her breakfasts were great, too!) And please tell her I sent you!

Next: off to Charlottesville, VA

My "grand" Mother's Day Week - Day Five

On Monday morning we decided we wanted to get out and do something special for the kids. Andy's and Ellie's friend and her two children met us at the local city zoo and we had a great time there. Elylah finally had two little girls to play with...

And Ethan got a free ride from Aunt Ellie!

All we had to do was point a camera at Owen and he smiled!

Deacon and Olivia liked the penguins...

Can't remember what this animal's name is?

When Deacon got chilly, he had to wear Elylah's pink jacket, much to Andy's groans...




There was a really neat indoor area that boasted a giant turtle, lots of jelly fish, and this star fish display...




as well as a play area where kids could literally climb the wall!

Deacon: "humm, I THINK I can!" ...





Yes he can!



Here the children see themselves on TV...



At last we came upon a small outdoor playground area where the kids could run around and let off some energy!









Not sure how eating popcorn produced these faces?





There is a beautiful, new area of the zoo which features a butterfly garden and teaches children how a caterpiller transforms into a lovely butterfly...



These water fountains will help cool things off in the heat of summer...

(Elylah claps as Olivia takes a bow!)




I thought it was great that she took time to smell the flowers without any prompting!





A little skinned up knee doesn't keep Deacon from riding the caterpiller!


Owen takes it all in, but his eyes are starting to get droopy...





Andy may not be able to get up...






and Ethan is definitely done...

Guess its time to end our happy day at the zoo. I was thinking maybe we had so much fun because we all belong there?