Amish school & Valley Forge

A busy day today, and absolutely divine weather. We began by dropping Mum to the train so she could continue through to New York. She got there in one piece, and should now be enjoying herself with her sister.

We took the children to the local Amish one room school for a visit this morning. Our hosts, Steven and Martha, came along with us. We spent a lovely morning with the children there. There are 30 children and one teacher at this school, with grades from 1 to 8 catered to. Amish children complete schooling until they are 15 then they spend the following summer doing 'vacation school' before heading out to take their place working full time on the farms. They do their schooling speaking English and Pennsylvania Dutch, and have formal German lessons. The schooling is taken directly from a text book (well, that is what we saw today) and there appears to be old fashioned pedagogy in practise. In fact, the teacher is also Amish, and does not attend teachers' college - but instead shadows the previous teacher until she/he is ready to begin teaching solo. The children at the school sang for us this morning, and invited us to spend recess with them playing baseball and kickball. Afterward, the Amish children asked us questions about Australia - and kangaroos in particular.

After a quick lunch, we drove an hour to get to Valley Forge http://www.nps.gov/vafo/index.htm - where George Washington and his troops survived the winter of 1777/78. Ken and I came here 8 years ago, and it was just as scenic upon our return. I must say though that I engaged with it far more this time, as with the children we spent considerable time speaking to the park rangers, working through the ranger booklets and listening to the self-guided tour cd whilst travelling the 10 mile loop of the park grounds. We walked around some of the cabins (reproductions), the house where George Washington stayed over the winter, and   George Washington Chapel - a functioning Episcopal church, built in the ornate style of a cathedral with organs, engravings, and beautifully carved seating for the choir.

trying to stand to attention just as Baron Von Steuben would have drilled the Continental Army to do

humouring the Park Ranger by dressing up in American Revolution period costume

with cabin

the kids didn't mind it in the cabin

National Memorial Arch

Pennsylvania columns

such lovely scenery 

The house where Washington stayed through the winter, and held meetings

inside George Washington Chapel

and again

complete with battle scars on face :)

Buggy Ride

Some photos from last night's buggy ride. We are heading out with the children and our hosts, Steven and Martha, this morning to visit the local Amish school. The children will have a chance to experience school the Amish way!

Ken, Benedict and Steven

Victoria and Daniel

clip clop clip clop

Smoky the horse

Oliver writing his 'thank you' letter to our hosts

Benedict trying to avoid doing school work!

Shopping day

Yesterday whilst Ken and I were out getting a much needed massage, Mum watched the kids. Indeed, she watched Benedict fly down the hill on a wagon and come off at great speed. Benedict now has less skin on his face.

So, we bought a quilt - we decided it would be a lovely 15th wedding anniversary memento.

We went back to Rockvale Outlets with Mum - we all did very nicely thank you!

We returned to Shady Maple - Ken will never need to eat again ... well at least not until tomorrow.

We are heading out for a buggy ride tonight - looking forward to it.

Mum heads off for New York tomorrow morning - it will be sad to say goodbye.

The top sign says "Driving essentials" underneath ... "Beer"

another amusing sign

Ben with a little less skin

The never ending smorgasbord at Shady Maple,  in Blue Ball

Our king size quilt, locally made in Lancaster County, PA

Children's thoughts about Lancaster County

Amish Farm - by Victoria

For the last four days we have visited an Amish farm. There are many different things that Amish people do compared to us. My essay will be about the many things that are different.

One of the differences is the way Amish dress. Girls and women usually dress in long dresses with aprons and bonnets. Boys and men on the other hand wear pants with special straps called braces, and straw hats that have large brims to protect them from the sun.

Another difference is Amish people don't have electricity. One of the ways they keep lights on in the house is using gas lighting. To use the gas lighting you simply hold a match or lighter up to the light and the bulbs will catch on fire and light up the room! In our Amish guest house the gas lights are downstairs but electric lights have been put up stairs for our comfort.

When the Amish children turn six they receive a blue scooter to go to school on. I'm not sure whether this is a difference as some kids ride a scooter to school, but I'm not sure that when you turn six you get a scooter to ride!

On the Amish farm they have many animals such as cows, pigs, chickens, rooster and dogs. We wake up at 5:45am and go out to feed all the animals, milk the cow, check the baby bull dogs and collect the chicken eggs.

Some of my favourite things on the farm are the animals and having milk fights while we are milking. Milk fights are just awesome.

I love this farm so much, I'm not looking forward to going back in the RV!

_______________________

Sophia

The girls look beautiful in their bonnet and apron and dress. I bought a bonnet that is black and pretty. The boys wear overalls and the girls wear dresses.

They have horses on the farm. We see lots of horses and buggies on the street. Do you know why? They do not have cars. My favourite animals are the puppies. I go over to their pen every day. They're so cute.

On their birthday they get a scooter. We ride their scooters everywhere!
On the farm they have two sorts of buggies for the horse to pull - 1. open (no roof), and 2. closed in (roof on top)

My favourite things on the farm are the puppies. They're so cute. I also love the guinea pigs on the farm. They have one guinea pig.

_______________________

Oliver

Amish boys wear braces.
Amish girls wear dresses.
Lights are gas down stairs in the house.
The boys ride their scooters to school.
We saw puppies in the barn.
We went to the chocolate factory and I liked the samples.
In the morning I milk the cow.
We collect the chickens' eggs.
My favourite animals are dogs.
We feed the pigs.

________________________

Benedict

I love the dogs.
The boys ride their scooters to school.
I collect the eggs.
We are going to ride on the buggy.

________________________

Quilt shopping

Yet another lazy day. Angst filled morning for Sophia doing her maths - argh! Headed to Intercourse to the Quilt Museum and various craft and quilting stores. Ben spends his time yelling out "Hey this is $4!" or "How much money do I have again?!"
The fabric here is so inexpensive. My favourite store in Brisbane is Peppermint Stitches in Toowong - where I pay anywhere between $25 - $30/metre; whilst over here the exact same fabric is only about $7 per metre. Another reason not to go home!
We lunched at Shady Maple www.shady-maple.com and then went downstairs to the uber gift store. Decided to give the cheese factory a miss for the afternoon.

Inside - the quilt museum

At Shady Maple - an uber Sizzler - just people watching is enough to make you limit what you put on your own plate

Amish 'Mills & Boon'!

A quilt we are considering purchasing

Ephrata PA

Another lazy day - I am getting very used to this pace! The kids were up early with Ken heading out to milk Caramel the cow and to collect eggs from the hens, and feed the pigs.

We headed to Ephrata Cloisters today. Ken and I were here 8 years ago, and it was wonderful to return. It is such a peaceful place, beautifully green, and interesting in its history and German architecture and design. Benedict asked some thoughtful questions during our tour of the buildings  - "What does 'architecture' mean?" and "How do they know what happened in these buildings?"

"One of America's earliest religious communities, the Ephrata Cloister was founded in 1732 by German settlers seeking spiritual goals rather than earthly rewards. Gathered in unique European style buildings, the community consisted of celibate Brothers and Sisters, and a married congregation of families. At the zenith of the community in the 1740s and 1750s, about 300 members worked and worshiped at the Cloister."  http://www.ephratacloister.org/

We bought some lovely gifts for the children's teachers that we (hopefully) will post tomorrow.

Afterwards, we headed to 'Wilbur Chocolate Factory' in Lititz, Lancaster. Any gifts we bought for people here have now been consumed ... but trust us when we say we thought fondly of you as we ate the chocolate delights of Pennsylvania on your behalf.

Oliver's new best mate

The Amish boys each receive a scooter for their 6th birthdays so they can travel to and from school. Benedict was disappointed to hand his over this morning as the children headed back to the first day of the new school year.

With Mum at the gate to Ephrata Cloisters

The bakery on the grounds - the bakers slept up stairs and the ovens were downstairs.

Wilbur Chocolate Factory and Store

Lancaster, PA

 So we are in Lancaster PA now, and have settled into our beautiful, spacious farm stay home http://www.vrbo.com/348004.

We have met our hosts Steven and Martha and some of their 8 children, and our children have not been seen or heard from all afternoon as they explore and ride bike and make new friends. Some photos of our lodgings and surrounds:

Our home for the next 7 days or so

Tori with two of Martha and Steven's sons

The garden

dining room - huge!

The garage - buggies!

The kids' room

Oma's room

Our room

The kids have found bikes!

Heading off for a picnic

Plenty of room to roam

They found the horses fairly quickly

Our buggies

Dog!