driving and eating through amish country

we planned a low-key day today. matt had to work and then a dinner meeting so we had the whole day open to us. we spent a casual morning at home with breakfast, snuggling and cartoons. but i broke up the party and loaded everyone up to take big pop and grandma for a drive through amish country for their first time.

we started at the warthers museum. we didn't go through the museum this time but the property is so beautiful that we walked around a bit before heading to lunch.

we didn't take any pictures in the restaurant (der dutchman). grandma loved the family style round table (and the salad bar!). the food was wonderful too. it was a hot and sunny day but we tried to take pictures anyway.

we stopped at the amish heritage center this time and learned so much about the amish beliefs and history. they played us a short movie explaining their history and way of daily life. grandma was ready to convert. i think she would miss the beach.

another staple in our amish visits is legman's hardware. so much fun browsing and the kids (read: grandma and big pop) did a little toy shopping.

maddux scoping out our next stop

another first for us was stopping at the smuckers farm/store. it isn't really much more than a store. they also own a division of pillsbury which grandma also reps so there were some cute photo ops.

we did some more shopping on our way to dinner and then finished up at the barn restaurant. again, we didn't take any pictures at the restaurant (we were too busy eating!). before loading up for our long ride home we spent some time feeding the ducks (manning was in heaven) and enjoying a beautiful evening.

we had so much fun driving, shopping, eating and learning. they really enjoyed seeing the countryside and we look forward to doing it again on a future visit. love.