Home and Away

My weekend away was....amazing.

















There was no jacuzzi after all and no pool for that matter, either. *sniff* Even worse, no visit to our dear old Mrs. Ort because she became too sick to accept visitors right before our trip. But there were daiquiri's and flea markets and yard sales and all things Amish and lots (and lots) of conversation.  I learned things about my Mom that I never knew, I learned things about my sister that I never knew and it was so good to connect that way.  

My sister Elizabeth fell asleep mid-sentence in the hotel room as we continued to talk into the night.  "We just really want fropoist buoomsmth zzzzzzz".  It was hilarious.  That was another thing there was a lot of....laughing.  Giggling, chuckling and tears rolling down your face deep belly laughs.





























One recurring laughing fit kept coming back to haunt me after I committed a major faux-pas of which  can only be attributed to the 'blonde moments' I am still plaqued with from time to time.  It involved asking an Amish man to take a picture of the four of us after the buggy ride. *?!?!?*  I knew that the Amish thought photographs of themselves were sinful but it didn't occur to me (until about 5 minutes afterward!) that there was also a possibility that participating in the activity of taking photographs might also be a no-no.  What was I thinking?  (I wasn't.)  Mom joked the rest of the weekend about that big grin Isaac had on his face while he was doing the devil's work and at stupid me, who led poor Isaac into temptation.

He didn't do so bad~ for an Amishman!

After the Amish buggy ride and beautiful scenic tour and the tour of the working-Amish farm and the trip in the handmade gift shop filled with everything quaint and beautiful... we had dinner at the Plain and Fancy restaurant which had it's own garden outdoors, ponies, a pond, big beautiful roosters strutting around, a playground and gift shop.  The atmosphere was gorgeous, the food was delicious and affordable (I love me some fried chicken!) but the 'family feasting' around us (you had the option of seating with 19 people and passing (unlimited) amounts of food around) made for a bit of a boisterous dining experience.

(The following pictures are from the restaurant grounds)

Before we came home we spent an hour at an enormous flea market that a person couldn't get through entirely if they had the entire DAY to walk around in instead of an hour.  We drove to my Oom Hans' home for a lovely visit with him and then back home under the cover of dark night.  I didn't do a lick of driving...so I crocheted instead.










As wonderful a weekend as it was, I was happy to see the bedroom light glowing from the top of the hill as we passed over the last crest of hill before home.  I was happy to hug a bleary-eyed Matt that came down to meet me at the door.  I was happy to kiss warm, tucked-in cheeks that smiled in their sleep at my touch.  I was happy to crawl into my familiar bed and into Matt's familiar arms... home.