October Craziness!

October has been a busy month for us!  We've been gone every weekend except for the first one on different family trips. As much as I'd love to do a post on each trip, I simply don't have the time so I'll recap each one here.

Lancaster, Pa
Our first trip was a long weekend to Lancaster. Ben was unable to make the trip so it was me, Caleb, Ashley and mom and dad.  We left on Thursday, drove half way then drove the rest on Friday morning. We made and unexpected pit stop in Washington DC on Friday.  Since we didn't have to be in Lancaster until 3:00, Ashley thought it would be a good idea to stop there and see a few things.  It was a lot of fun and I got to see the new MLK memorial, l which I hadn't seen before, and mom and dad saw the FDR memorial that they hadn't seen before.

We got to Lancaster around 3, checked in at the place we were staying and headed over to the Cherry Crest Meadows to walk through their corn maze and check out the other activities they have. There was a lot to do see, but unfortunately we didn't have a lot of time as we were heading to Bob and Deb Yingers for dinner that night.  We did the shortened version of the corn maze which was basically just following a path already laid out for you.  Hopefully next time we go we'll be able to do the actual maze.

We headed out to the Yingers for dinner that night and Sara, Ray, Lilly and Phil came over.  We ate pizza and caught on everyone's lives since we last saw them. Saturday morning brought almost the entire gang together at Shady Maple, a massive Amish buffet with some of the best food around. Everyone except Marilyn, Meghan, Dwayne and Tanner came for breakfast.  We even got to see Kevin and Tammy, whom we hadn't seen in a long time!  It as great seeing me and catching up!

Saturday afternoon, us and the Yinger/May clan went to chocolate world at Hershey park.  We rode through the ride twice, the second time making sure we got a good picture.  That evening it was back to Bob and Debs for dinner, this time with everyone.  Deb always has the best food and puts out an amazing spread.

Sunday we went to church at Faith Bible Fellowship, the church we went to before moving down here. Lunch on Sunday was at Meghan and Dwayne's beautiful new home they just built. They actually designed the home and Dwayne did a lot of work on it himself.  They just moved in a week before we came so it was very generous of them to have everyone over so soon!  We had a great time hanging up and relaxing all afternoon.  We didn't have any plans for the evening, but I knew we would before we left Meghan's and sure enough Bob and Deb invited us over again for dinner.  It was simple, hot dogs on the grill and leftovers, and of course, s'mores!  They have a fire pit in their backyard and you can't have a tip to PA without having at least one night of s'mores.

It was a wonderfully busy weekend!  We had such a great time and Caleb was a great traveler.  He adapted well to the changes in his schedule and to all of the time in the car. He slept great each night, mostly because he didn't sleep a lot during the day.  On both the drive up and back he was content to sit in his seat and be entertained by Ashley or I, or he slept.  I couldn't have asked for a better trip with him!


Chimney rock, NC
The next weekends Ben, Caleb and I went to chimney rock with Ben's parents. It a nice relaxing weekend after the busy one in PA. We drove up on Friday after Ben got off work and got there around 6:30. We spent the evening talking and playing games and sitting in front of the fire pit cooking s'mores. Saturday we went apple picking at skytop orchard. Its near the end of apple season so there wasn't a lot of variety, but we got some granny smiths for a pie and some pink ladies.  We then went for a walk in one of the state parks that is around.  We hiked to a beautiful waterfall, sliding rock.  That evening we were back at the cabin doing pretty much the same thing we did the night before :).  We walked around Hendersonville Sunday morning, had lunch there and left to come home around 1.

Orlando, FL
Our final weekend trip of the month was to Orlando and to Disney World!  Every year we head down to Disney in October for the Food and Wine Festival at EPCOT.  There are a bunch of events, food tastings and culinary showcases but we only go for the festival marketplace.  They set up a bunch of booths around the World Showcase at represent different countries. At each of those booths are a sampling of different foods and wine from that country.  Before we go, we figure out which booths we want to eat at and we make up a plan of attack to make sure we don't miss any.  Its always a lot of fun and something we look forward to every year.

This year was obviously Caleb's first trip to Disney World.  We spent the entire day on Friday in the parks and he was the happiest I have ever seen him.  He was totally enthralled with the people and sights around him. I wasn't sure what we were going to do about nap times but he slept in his stroller twice during the day so we were able to stay in the parks instead of going back of naps.  One of the things I really wanted to do was get a family picture on Main Street USA in Magic Kingdom.  Thankfully Caleb was awake and happy and we were able to get one!!

On Saturday we went to Ben's grandparents house for lunch. His uncle Bob came and joined us as well. It was great seeing them and I know they enjoyed seeing Caleb too. They hadn't seen him since July and he's definitely changed a lot since then!

My grandmother (who we we staying with) offered to go into MGM with us that night so we could ride a few rides while she watched Caleb. We were only able to go on one ride because of the lines but it was enough for us.  We had a great trip and are already looking forward to next years Food and Wine Festival!!


One thing I learned through our weekend trips is that Caleb is an awesome traveler!!  He did great in his car seat on the drives, wasn't too fussie because of lack of sleep, and wasn't thrown off by the changes in his schedule. Of course he had his fussy moments because of the traveling and lack of sleep, but it was nothing out of the ordinary and we were usually able to keep his happy until he could get some sleep. I am very glad for his flexibility so far since we love to travel and take weekend trips.  We already have a few more planned and I know he will do great on those as well!

So that was our October.  The rest of the years should be a little quieter, but you never know. Like I said, we have a few more trips planned, plus thanksgiving, Christmas and a myriad of birthdays to celebrate.  This is my favorite time of year and this is why!!