They are the world's greatest hosts and they showed us the best time. I wondered if we would be invading their lives, but they didn't make us feel that way at all and they planned so many great activities for us to give us a good feel of the culture where they live.
They live right in the heart of Amish country and I happen to be fascinated by all things Amish so this was a super big highlight of our spring break trip for me. We went to a dairy that is run by either an Amish or a Mennonite family (I can't remember) and the creamy, smooth ice cream was like a dream for this ice cream lover. The kids all bonded with each other right away. They were all so little when we left Arizona, so it was so much fun to see them having fun together.
Outside the dairy we got to feed the goats.
They live close to Hershey so we were excited to visit the Chocolate Factory.
We also went to another Amish family farm where we bought some of their nasty homemade rootbeer. We hung out in their yard and drank it and watched the dog attach himself to Jared.
I was fascinated driving through the Amish country. It seems like all of the yardwork is done by women. We saw them mowing and using big blowers and weed whackers everywhere we went. I loved seeing all of the horse-drawn carts with the men all dressed up in their suits. I borrowed a book from Mark about the Amish but I didn't have time to finish it darn it. I'm going to have to ask him for the title so I can buy it.
Unfortunately, none of my other pictures turned out, but we did plenty of other things...
Went to the famous pretzel making demonstration in Intercourse, Pennsylvania and came away with loads of yummy pretzels.
Got the tour of the town and saw the hospital where Mark moonlights sometimes.
Went to some of Mark and Stacy's recommended places to eat - we did lots of good eating on this trip. Mark and Stacy know their food and they like to try lots of things. One of my favorites were the philly cheesesteak sandwiches.
Toured another chocolate factory called the Wilbur Chocolate Co. You can never have enough chocolate - that's a motto I live by.
We were busy the whole time we were there, but the best part was catching up with Mark and Stacy and getting to know their kids again. When we lived in Arizona, we would frequently get together for dinner and games. Mark and Stacy are game-playing fools and because Jared is likeminded, I go along with it all. One night they taught us a new game that was almost too complex for my half-smart mind and I nearly lost my marbles trying to figure it out, but we all got through it and it was so much fun. We had lots of long, late-night talks and it wouldn't have mattered how long we stayed, I would have felt like we still had more to say.
I'm so grateful for good friends and especially for the kind of friends you can go years without seeing, and just pick up without missing a beat when you finally do get the chance to connect again. Seeing "our people" was seriously the perfect ending to our spring break.
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