Stamping a Moment in Time

There are eras/days/events/hours that you wish you would never have to live again.
There are eras/days/events/hours that you never think about after they happen...just a flash in the pan, then dissolve into some distant memory that you may or may never recall throughout your life.
There are eras/days/events/hours that are so important/epic/life-changing that you will forever use them to mark life-long changes in your path through life.
There are eras/days/events/hours that you just want to look back on fondly because they were just pretty awesome.

Tonight falls into the last category.

To make along story short:

Chrissy went out to do some Christmas shopping tonight. It was me and the two little ones for the bulk of the evening. Some things to note:

It's Christmastime.

It's the first night in 2 weeks that it's even felt "Christmasy" and chilly.

I had this night planned and in the bag from the get go....complete with a night-before stop to WalMart for supplies.

We made These:


Watched This:


I hung out with Them:


I drank one of These:


While curling up next to This:


Simple. Fun. Family. That's just about all I need.

Merriest of Merrys to you!

God Bless.

Extreme Tree Trimming

Well...like many others...this weekend was the weekend to procure the family Christmas tree. I posted a similar post last year:

http://findtheblueheron.blogspot.com/2010/12/tree-trimmingliterally.html

about our exploits in securing our tree. This year was much of the same....same place: (a guy right in our town who's got a couple acres with trees planted on it)
same date: (first weekend in December)
Not-quite-the-same price: he went up from $25 to $30...but, in the end, I'm still supporting a local brother
same harvesting means: hand saws are for chumps....I say let the Stihl do the work.
same over sized tree: refer to the pictures below for explanation.


WE FOUND IT!! Now..a couple of factoids to bring up.

1. I'm 6'2"
2. The top of the tree is nowhere in sight in this photo
3. We have 8' ceilings in our Living Room

The reality is...the guy who we get our trees from has trees that are 3 feet tall and trees that are 23 feet tall...and all of them cost the same price. This adds an interesting element to choosing a tree because you are in the unique position of not necessarily selecting a tree, but selecting a part of a tree...last year we cut ourselves an 11' tall tree, lopped the top off of it, then shaped the bottom of it into a nice Christmas tree shape. This year, it was just the opposite. Chrissy spotted this one and decided that the top half was a keeper. Around here, we don't just TRIM the three....we chop that mother in half.

So, I fired up the ole chainsaw ant let 'er rip:

which elicited this response from my daughter:

shock, terror, and sadness at the fact that I just chopped it down. She's, by nature, a nurturer, and fell in love with our tree as it stood in the field...she had a real hard time understanding that it had to get cut down in order for it to be brought home and put up in our house. She came around, eventually.


Loading her up onto the tractor. One of the nice things about buying a tree here is that the owner comes out in his tractor and trailer and hauls the tree out of the field right to your care for you...now heavy lifting.

Gavin made sure that the tree was secure during it's trip from the field to our van.

just a cool shot that Chrissy took.

Once we got it to the van...we loaded it onto the roof rack. I had to snap a pic because this thing was a giant root ball away from being the Griswold Family Christmas Tree:


Which stirred up the quote:
"Dad...that tree wouldn't fit in our yard".
"It's not going in our yard, Russ, it's going in our living room".

During the trimming and shaping portion of our afternoon, there was also a very aptly quoted:
"...little full....lotta sap".

At any rate...when the sawdust cleared, we were, as usual, left with a nice little Leo Family Christmas tree:


May all your Christmases be white...we'll bring you some figgy pudding...for auld lange syne...deck your halls...laugh all the way...come and behold him...and all that stuff.

Merry Christmas from The Leo's

Leo Family in Lancaster County Photo Dump

Some random shots from our trip that didn't fit into the other blogs:


There's "Cozy" and then there's "Camper Cozy"...guess which one this is?


The "Pantry". Notice how the entire top shelf is medical supplies. We were prepared to treat minor scrapes and burns, gunshot wounds, and everything in between.


Gazebo Rain Dance!! Behind the kids is the "bridge" that "MillBridge Camp Resort" gets part of its name...despite the fact that it was all borded up and looked like it was one 30 mph wind gust way from being reduced to kindling.


I put the "Der" in "Wonderland".


Here's "The Bean"...booger-nose and all...but pleasant as can be. Notice our fishing gear leaning up against the tree behind her. it didn't get much use....the only thing we found in the "Fishing pond" was an old boot......and a flip-flop. I wish I were kidding.


There's nothing like a battle-scarred, well-rested, armed 4 year old. WOLVERINES!!!


We don't let our kids play with fire....just near it ;^)

Some random campground silliness:







Last but not least...I give you....the only pay phone in Lancaster County:

Leo Family in Lancaster County: Part 5

Sometime mid-week during our time in Lancaster County, I KNEW that I was officially on vacation. Someone asked me the date...and I literally had no idea. I gave a date that was 3 days off from what it actually was. Also...at one point...Chrissy asked me what day of the week is was...and it literally took me 5 minutes to figure out if it was Tuesday or Wednesday. That's one way of figuring out if you are on a good vacation...if you can truly forget what day of the week it is. Anyway....that was 3 (or 4) days earlier. Come Saturday morning, there was no mistaking what day it was....it was moving day. I had asked for a late checkout, which our campground wasn't able to oblige because they had our site booked to someone else that afternoon. It felt like we had always been there...and there was certainly a feeling of ownership over that site. 7 days in Lancaster County had felt like a wonderful lifetime....and it felt like a bit of a sacrilege to just hand over our home base to some stranger like we were being asked to do.....but.....reality settled in and we started rounding up our things and packing up our site.
God is so good....just at the same time that I really needed to focus on packing up the site....a time that I knew was going to be hard for the kids to emotionally be a part of...the campground owner ran a hayride for the kids!!! Ours and Susan's were the only ones around....so while I packed up our camper, Chrissy and the kids had the wonderful distraction of a hayride throughout our campground:





"Daddy Dog" buttoning up the site as the kids flew past on the hayride.
Chrissy brought the kids over the Susan and Dave's cabin to give me time to finish closing up the camper.

The older boys playing with their motorcycles that they got at the flea market we went to the day earlier.

Ivy helping Aunt Suse clean up their cabin.

One last romp in the driveway before packing up the bikes.
Well....sooner than we all would have liked to admit...our campsite, which provided a wonderful home for us for a week....a place that felt like we had ownership of for much longer than we actually did....no longer looked like our quaint home away from home, but rather like this:


The saving grace in all of this was that this was more of a "soft" farewell....at this point, we weren't heading home to MA, but rather to Chrissy's mom's home in Southern NJ for 3 days....our vacation would continue for a few more days...but it would be nothing like what we had just experienced.
You want to know how you can tell if you had a successful vacation with your small children....here's how you can tell:

When you are pulling away from your vacation spot and you children are hysterical with sadness. That's how you know that you've pulled off something awesome that they will remember forever.
We headed East....towards New Jersey....looking forward to spending time with Chrissy's family....but leaving a place that still lay heavy in our thoughts. Lancaster County certainly left a lasting impression on our hearts....as well as our camper:


We've already started talking about what our next adventure will be....North to the White Mountains or farther up into Maine.....South into colonial Williamsburg, VA or Washington D.C.....Northwest through upstate New York and into Canada to see the Falls....Although....at this point....the bar has been set pretty high....it will take something special to top what we just experienced....and quite frankly....I'm not in any hurry to try to best it.

If the Amish taught me anything...it's to take it slow....enjoy the process.....treasure the journey.....relish in the simple.

Done and done.


Additional random pics from our trip coming in the final installment tomorrow

Leo Family in Lancaster County- Part 4

I'm blessed that Chrissy's twin sister, Susan, married one of my very close friends, Dave. I'm also blessed that Susan and Dave's kids are just about the same age as ours. Our kids and theirs have a great cousins relationship, despite only seeing each other 4 or 5 times a year. It's kind of like me and Dave in some aspects. We have a kind of relationship where we could go 9 months without seeing or talking to one another then, when we finally get together, it's like it had only been 3 days since the last time we hung out. Dave was awesome in putting this vacation together. he did tons of leg-work securing our campsite, finding out about the best local spots to visit....what restaurants to hit up, which touristy stuff to check out, etc.
We visited some major smorgasbords for breakfast and dinner. One place that we hit was the "Plain and Fancy" restaurant. They promote themselves as a "Farm to Table" restaurant, getting most of their vegetables and meats from the Amish farms in their surrounding area. It was a family style meal that featured just about the best food I've ever had. The best fried chicken, roast beef, gravy, chicken and dumplings, desserts....If you ever hit up Lancaster County for a vacation, The Plain and Fancy Amish Feast would be my #1 recommendation for good eats out that way. They also had a cool play area and petting zoo:

Hangin' with horses.

I am currently working on putting a materials list together to see what it would cost to build one of these clubhouses out back. This thing was stellar....complete with flower boxes and a loft.

Not exactly sure why, but I LOVE this shot. Our kids are typical 2 and 4 year olds, and they have their squabbles...but they really do love each other, and care for one another. I think this shot captures that beautifully.

My pumpkin with a pumpkin.

Earlier in the day, leaving from the same campus as the Plain and Fancy....we took a 3 mile legit Amish Buggy Ride:

The boys got to sit up front with our less-than-talkative Amish driver "E.J.". The Amish traditionally do not take photographs of themselves...they hold pretty literally to the command in Exodus 20:4..."You shall not make unto yourself any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth." In fact, they take this verse so literally that the dolls that the little Amish girls play with don't have faces on them. they are o.k. with getting photographed from behind, though...which works out because....the one time my kid is riding shotgun in an Amish buggy....graven image or not...I'm snapping a picture...you got that E.J.?! :^)

here's the fam outside the buggy hanging with the horse that just trotted us around. At the mid-point in our ride, we stopped at an Amish farm for fresh baked cookies and homemade root beer. Very, very nice.

As a parent, you always want what's best for your child. And even though they are young, you hope that they develop skills and interests that will fuel them throughout their lives. It's nice to see your kid's ambition. Gavin has pretty much made the decision that he wants to be an airline pilot or a Belgian draft horse when he grows up.....we're so proud. *sniff*
When we got back to our campsite...i think that this was Thursday night....5 nights into our vacation....we were treated with the Amish equivalent of the Ice Cream Truck:

The Snack Wagon!!!
Let's get fat Amish Style! The Stoltzfus family came through our campsite peddling all sorts of amazing baked and canned goods. We bought some cookies, a pumpkin roll, and several jams and jellies from this wondrous little horse-drawn cart of love. One thing that I had found while vacationing out here is that the Amish don't, in any way, thumb their noses at those who live a "modern" life. They understand that sustaining their way of life greatly depends on the tourism that perpetually invades their County. They don't pass judgement on anyone who holds beliefs different from their own. With that in mind...it was neat to have conversations with them and pick their brains a bit. As I was buying some jam from Mrs. Stoltzfus, I had mentioned to her that our family keeps a rather large garden and small "orchard" at our home and that this past Summer I had experimented with my own homemade jams and jellies. I had brought a few jars with me on our trip and I gave one of my Cherry Jam jars to her and her very quiet husband. She said that she was excited to try it and thanked me for it. I wonder if she and her family actually cracked into my jam or if they accepted it kindly and then privately threw it out, as not to let any influence of the "English" into their home. I'd like to think that they enjoyed it over breakfast the next day, spreading it over some fine fresh-baked bread and thinking "that Englishman puts together a fine jam....he's alright".

That night our kids got some playtime in the Haggerty family loft:

and we got ourselves a good campfire hang outside in the crisp Autumn night:


We had been in Amish country for 6 days....with less than 36 hours left to go....none of us were ready to leave...and it wrenched my gut to think about packing up our site. I guess that when the last full day of vacation makes you feel sick....that means that all the days previous were amazing.
2 more sleeps in the camper....then back to reality.

Wrapping it up in part 5 tomorrow.

Leo Family in Lancaster County- Part 3

Before I begin, I just noticed that yesterday I published my 100th post, as well as received my 5,000th hit on this blog. Thanks for the interest y'all. Here we go:

Some things in life are cool, but not nearly worth the money they cost. Like a $9.00 fried dough at the Woodstock Fair (after shelling out 40 bucks for the family to just walk through the turnstile). Today's activity was NOT one of those things. This was so cool and unique that it'd be a value at twice the price. I'm talking about the:

Strasburg Railroad!!! This locomotive is the "Old 475", built in 1905 and beautifully restored by Strasburg Railroad to perfect working order. The 475 pulled us along a 9 mile ride through some of the most picturesque Amish farmland in all of Lancaster County. 40 bucks for the whole family to ride. This train was the real deal. We chose to ride in the "open air car" located at the very front of the train. The 475 hitched to the front of our car and basically rode backwards, pulling us through the countryside.

Hitching up to the Open Air Car

The boy looks a little nervous...but he was psyched (and a little scared)

The girls are ready

Chugging through the countryside, the horn was deafening when we hit a railroad crossing.
Along the way, we were treated to a bunch of different sites. Here's a shot of a "traditional" Amish home:

Many people think that the Amish live in like some thatched roof house built with rough timbers and heat their homes with dried cow patties. Not the case....these Amish are living large!! Some of the most tricked out homes you'll ever see....just no electricity or phone. I dug seeing the HUGE clotheslines that these home sported. Some of them had to be 50 yards long. MTV needs to do a show: "Cribs: Amish Edition". There were tons of old timey farmhouses, but just as many crazy-cool new pads. These places were styling.

Here's a shot of a traditional Amish schoolhouse. Most Amish kids are taught in a one-room schoolhouse taught by a single Amish woman. They have 20-30 kids per school, so there's lots of them throughout the countryside. They are close enough to the farms so that the kids can walk or take their scooters to school. We caught these kids out at recess.
At the halfway point in our trip, they unhitched the engine at a switching station, brought it to the front of the train, making our car the "caboose" and pulled us back to the station. As we were pulling in we saw:

A full-on Thomas the Tank Engine. Pretty cool stuff. We ate lunch at the station and then said goodbye. We figured that it was time for Ice Cream at Lapp Valley Farm.

Chrissy snapped this shot of Amish kid's scooters parked outside their schoolhouse. I gotta tell you...these kids FLEW on these things all over the rolling hills of Lancaster County...very cool to see.
It is rare that you get to meet the cows that make the milk that becomes your Ice Cream. That is unless you are eating Ice Cream made on an Amish Mennonite farm.



After rubbing noses with these guys, we headed up to the parlor and got ourselves the absolute best ice cream we've ever had. You'd think that Breyer's tasted like school paste after having this stuff.

Ivy got Strawberry, Gavin got Black Raspberry. My boy is drawn to Black Raspberry Ice Cream like a moth to the flame...just like his old man. Oh yeah....they also had cats....very hungry cats....



By this point in the trip...I was ready to buy me a plot of farmland and never return. I mean...by "modern" standards, our family is fairly "simple". We don't watch much T.V. We homeschool. We garden. We can and preserve our food. We solely burn wood as our cold weather heating source. In many ways, our family is very different from many families around us. If it weren't for the staunch conviction to a religion that I don't fully agree with....it wouldn't take a huge twist of the arm to get me to live this way forever. I'm sure many people have felt the same after visiting this wonderfully intriguing culture.

Now....while the Strasburg RR was super cool. I'm thinking that if we ever come back to Lancaster County, which I'm sure we will, that this will be the coolest way to check out the area:


Part 4 tomorrow.