Who Farted?

Defecation and its byproducts were the theme of the day. I don't know how it happened but once it got rolling there was no stopping it. It began at breakfast when Adlani announced very loudly, "Uncle Josh...I can smell your fart!" So much for trying to sneak one out at the breakfast table. Actually, it started even before breakfast because Norah needed to poop but didn't want to do it in her diaper. All signs are pointing to serious potty training readiness. Yay! As we entered Amish Country and saw the absolutely beautiful farms there, I kept hearing, "Who farted?!" from the back seat. We explained all about fertilizer (again) so they are now experts on the topic. We saw horse poop (that's how you know a buggy has passed by), goat poop, and bird poop. When we were were playing Outburst and Uncle Josh was giving the kids a clue in the "Types of Cake" category, he said, "Angels eat angelfood cake, bad kids eat..." and Aliya shouted, "POOP-CAKE!" Defecation Day ended with Adlani in the bathroom of the hotel room we had entered moments before yelling, "Mommy! There's poop in here!" With disgust I imagined a former guest's remnants until I realized that he was talking about his own underwear. I hope they've got it out of their system.

So...today we traveled from Denver, Pennsylvania to Lexington, Virginia. We spent the morning touring the Amish House and Farm, and the afternoon meandering through Amish farmland. The farm was great, although I was a little freaked out by its close proximity to Target. When we went for a buggy ride around the farm we circled the corn field and drove right along the back wall of Target. It's kind of sad when you think that the whole area used to be an Amish farm and now it's filled with strip malls and discount stores (it was kind of cool when we needed deodorant and toothpaste, though). The tour of the house was very informative and Aliya learned a lot. I spent most of the tour keeping the posse from breaking anything. We were there right before lunch and when we went into the kitchen, Adlani was ready to sit right down and chow on the plastic fruit. Here's a good FAQ site about the Amish: http://www.holycrosslivonia.org/amish/amishfaq.htm#how






After a lovely lunch at Cracker Barrel, we took the long way to the highway. The Amish farms are SO beautiful and Josh and I both enjoyed the ride, especially when the kids all fell asleep. Just before naptime we had a special surprise - "The REAL Thomas". We didn't go for a ride but Adlani was content saying hi to Thomas and his friends. Today was supposed to be a short drive but we stayed in the Lancaster area so long that we didn't arrive at our hotel until about 10 p.m. The kids went right to sleep so we should be all set for a visit to the zoo and the drive to Uncle Elijah and Auntie Kristin's tomorrow.

Today's Favorite Sights / Activities:

Aliya - Amish house tour, buggy ride
Adlani - The REAL Thomas, buggy ride
Norah - dipping her cheese in Mommy's blue cheese dressing
Josh - the goats at the farm, Cracker Barrel
Lori - seeing an Amish farmer cutting his hay with a mule-drawn mower, learning that Virginville got its name from the abundance of virgin land (I was wondering), the deer running through the field of hay bales, the beautiful full moon, bedtime
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This water tower was really cool too. It's a bowl of apples.


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Hotel Review: Last night we stayed at the Econolodge in Denver PA. Pros: Close proximity to Dunkin Donuts. Cons: Outdated, not very clean, really bad breakfast, centipede in the bathroom. One star.