The next day my dad and Sandy took us to "The Amish Village". We received a guided tour and then the tour guide left to allow us to have fun on our own.
Brave boy!
Feeding "Mr. Ed"
Andrew was quite brave--especially considering
he was TERRIFIED of ALL animals earlier this year!
What the camera missed...
Before this next shot, Andrew and the calf had kissed...
TONGUE to TONGUE!!!
Grandpa being silly:
Cherish requested this shot:
Amish covered wagon:
Grandma Sandy decided Andrew needed to have a little fun.
Unfortunately, this slide has a slope that is way too steep!
She kept Andrew from breaking any bones, but she got hurt in the process.
So, Derek tried.
He got hurt too.
That was the end of this slide for Andrew.
Cherish wanted to be barefoot like the Amish:
Then, we entered the Amish's one-room-schoolhouse:
Cherish was our teacher:
Derek was bad, and ya know what that gets ya!
We all laughed so hard and had so much fun together.
Cherish officially wants to be "a mommy and a teacher".
Then, off we went to Kitchen Kettle:
Dad had reserved a ride for us:
And, this is mostly what we saw:
Afterwards, we went to my dad's house, because he had told his new neighbors about us coming to visit. Dad's neighbors are Amish, and they wanted to know what "Chinese people" look like. So, they asked my dad to bring us by. Cherish wanted to know what "Amish people" look like, so there ended up being a mutual gawking going on. It. was. great (that it was mutual)!
Long story short, out of respect for their beliefs in "no graven images" (and taking pictures of people falls into that category), we left our camera in our car. Thus, we have to rely on our memories and the stories we keep retelling each other of our evening with the family. We had so much fun!
The family invited us into their home, and then they took us to their barn. It was cow-milking-time, and oh what a blast Derek had! He received a few surprises--like don't stand behind the cows being milked, because you will get sprayed by their urination and defication. It was hilarious!
There was even a newborn calf that had been born the day before. The Amish children were trying to teach the calf how to drink out of a bottle. It was cute!
At one point when Cherish was outside playing with some of the other children, the mom asked me (since I was holding Andrew at that point), "Is it because he was a preemie that his eyes are shaped that way?" I was able to explain to her that Chinese people have almond-shaped eyes, etc.
She unashamedly asked us all kinds of questions, and Derek unashamedly asked her all kinds of questions (because, of course, he did not grow up in "Amish country"--nor "farm country" for that matter). The evening and conversations were mutually satisfying.
They've invited us back the next time we head back to Pennsylvania. What a blessing!
We. had. such. an. amazing. day!!!!
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