Ah-cation, Part 3

We took a day to travel to Gettysburg.  The park was amazing--much larger than I had envisioned.  We toured the visitor center and bought tickets for the museum, which also included a viewing of a cyclorama painted in the late 1800's.  We really wanted to see it but were told that we would have to sit through a film first, then go as a large group to view the cyclorama.  The entire thing would take 45 minutes.  A civil war film with a 2 year old?  A 2 year old who the night before could only be tamed with waffles?  I was feeling a little uneasy.  When we entered the theatre, I asked the guide if we could be seated near an exit, in case we needed to make a quick getaway.  This kid couldn't handle cheering in Independence Hall--how was he going to handle gunfire and cannons?  Luckily, the guide was understanding and seated us in the back.  I'm not sure if it was pictures of all the horses in the film or the smooth narration by Morgan Freeman, but Jackson behaved wonderfully throughout the entire film.  No meltdowns.  Success!  And, he absolutely LOVED the cyclorama.  As for the rest of the park, Jackson fell asleep soon after meeting Abraham Lincoln and slept through the entire tour of the battlefield. 

Hanging out with Abe in Gettysburg...

On our way back to Lancaster, we decided to eat at a little Amish farmhouse restaurant in Intercourse.  We arrived at the farmhouse late in the afternoon and upon removing Jackson from his carseat, discovered he was completely wet.  I grabbed his diaper bag and found ZERO diapers.  Not good.  We did not have enough time to go back to the hotel and then back out for dinner--it was getting too late.  So, we had to eat somewhat quickly (and then REALLY quickly when Jackson announced he was pooping) and get back to the hotel for a bath and change.  He wasn't smelling so fresh by that point.  Of course, the Amish country kind of stinks like manure on a regular basis.  It had been raining that day so if it kind of stinks on a sunny day, you can imagine what it smells like on a rainy day.  Add a toddler with a dirty wet diaper to the mix and he'll just blend right in.  Lesson learned that day:  TRIPLE check the diaper bag and do a diaper count before you leave!

On our last day in Lancaster, we drove around the countryside and stopped at a neat bakery in Bird-in-Hand.  We bought some shoofly pies (chocolate shoofly, too), cookies, and apple butter.  Jackson was itching to get his fingers on one of the cookies, so we went outside to eat a cookie and check out the petting zoo and playground.  Lesson learned that day:  Don't even mention the word "cookie" unless you are prepared to give your toddler a cookie within the next 5 seconds.



At the Bird-in-Hand Bakery petting zoo.

Jackson loved the animals at the petting zoo.  They wanted his cookies.

Cookie evidence on Jackson's mouth.  Yummy snickerdoodles!

On the way back to the hotel that day, Jackson threw up in the back seat of the car.  It was messy and smelly.  Luckily, it had been raining (again) so we once again blended in with the rest of the smells of Lancaster county.  Jackson was okay but felt a little warm.  We knew he was okay when through his snotty sniffles, he got excited by the sight of a horse and started neighing.  Still, we knew it was time to go home.

Overall, we had a fun time.  Jackson liked the Amish country the best.  He was really excited by all of the horse and buggies, not to mention cookies and pies.  However, he was ready to go home from day one and told us so everyday.  We had a rough drive home (lots of stormy weather) and made a stop or two (Potomac Mills).  We were happy to finally get home.  As we were pulling into the driveway, we heard Jackson from the backseat say "We're HOME!".  He was the happiest of all!