A Dutch Wonderful Weekend

A few weeks ago, I posed a question to Facebook.  "Where-oh-where should we go for an affordable, family-friendly weekend that isn't too far from DC?"  The responses were practically unanimous.

Lancaster, PA, baby.

So off we went.  And, boy, did Lancaster deliver.  First of all, it was very convenient.  Just a short hop from DC.  Of course, our "hop" there on Thursday evening was during rush hour, so it was a slow-motion hop.  But we made great time on the way home.  It only took us an hour and a half!  Perfect for a weekend away with two kids. 

Second of all, affordability.  We stayed at a great resort (the Eden, also highly recommended) and had a 2-bedroom suite without breaking the bank.  They also had a great breakfast buffet that Fionn (who is eating like a champ these days) simply adored.  "Mom, can we make our own food again today?"  Yep, that's Fionn for "order the buffet."

Third, there was tons of stuff to do with the kids.  Tons.  I'll quickly walk you through some of the highlights.

First up on Friday morning was the Amish Village.  Despite being extremely excited about the Amish culture in general, I have to admit that this was very underwhelming for me.  It was basically just a patch of land with a few "Amish" buildings and a bunch of horse and buggies randomly arranged in the grass.  Oh, and a super stern tour guide who clearly hated our children.  He demanded that they sit on the wooden benches while he completed his lecture.

Yeah, um, have you met my children?  It was an utter fail.  Dex bucked like a horse in Conor's arms and cried bloody murder while Fionn whined loudly about being hungry.  The tour guide finally threw his hands up in the air and said, "Do you just want to take them out to see the pigs?"

Yes, please!

 

Dex was all about some pigs.  He kept trying to stick his fingers into their snouts which they actually seemed to like.  When we tried to discourage this activity, he and his rascally brother just grabbed some hay and stuck that into their snouts.  Sigh.

Yep, we left shortly thereafter.  Methinks the Amish folk are not ready yet for the Crimmins brothers.  

But you wanna know what is ready for the Crimmins brothers?  The Strasburg Railroad which is where we went next.  Oh, Fionn just loved it, folks.  We took a 45-minute ride on an old train through the Pennsylvania farmland which was simply beautiful and very peaceful.  So peaceful, in fact, that Dex curled right up into my arms and passed out.  Poor baby, he hasn't napped in his own crib in over a week with all this open house craziness. 

The following morning started out a little chilly and overcast, so we felt a little less guilty about our next activity.  Antiquing!  Yep, we drug our two boys to a handful of antique stores in the PA countryside.  It was actually awesome...at least from our perspective.  And we found a bunch of great items for the new house.  Very exciting!

Once the sun came out, we headed over to Cherry Crest Adventure Farm for some down-home family fun.  

It was just perfect.  During the 4 hours that we spent at the farm, we enjoyed tractor rides, potato sack slides, and trampolines overlooking the corn stalks...just to name a few things.

And then...then we did the corn maze.  Have you ever done one of these things?  It was truly incredible.  We took the "beginner" course which was basically just a stroll through the corn fields, and the boys still had a blast.  But for true adventurers (read: no small children), there was an "advanced" option that can take upwards of 2 hours to complete.  You find clues, draw your own map, and use your navigational talents (read: I'd be screwed).  I would love to go back sometime when the boys are bigger, and we can do the real deal.  But for this trip, the beginner course was just our speed.

And then on our last day...well, let's just say that we saved the best for last.

Dutch Wonderland.

Prior to booking our trip to Lancaster, I had never heard of Dutch Wonderland.  In fact, when people first started recommending "Dutch Wonderland," I thought they were just really, really excited about Amish people.  Now I know.

Dutch Wonderland is an amusement park that was built in the 1960s...and it shows.  It is definitely dated and pretty cheesy.  After all, the ride operators literally say, "Have a Dutch Wonderful day" as you are leaving.  But that's part of the charm.  Yes, there are shinier and fancier rides and parks these days. But really...is it all necessary?  My husband, Conor D. Crimmins, would say "absolutely not."  He was completely taken with the whole experience.  Anyone who is aware of his affinity for National Lampoon's Vacation would quickly understand why.  Dutch Wonderland is basically Wally World.  So much so that we contemplated recording Conor and Fionn's race to the front gates and setting it to the Chariots of Fire theme song.  We didn't, in case you are wondering, but only because I really needed to use the restroom facilities.

Conor wasn't the only one who was truly charmed by Dutch Wonderland.  It will not surprise most of you to learn that our eldest son is an amusement park fanatic.  He experienced his first roller coaster while at Dutch Wonderland, and I can definitely say that he is addicted.  Seriously.  It was a little disturbing actually.  Here is a picture of him whispering in my ear, "Mommy, can I please go one more time, and then we can do WHATEVER YOU WANT!  Whatever you want!  I promise!" 

C'mon, Ma!  I can stop ANYTIME!

I'll have you know that I never got to do whatever I wanted (Of course, unless there was a tiki bar and babysitter service at Dutch Wonderland, there wasn't much chance of that anyway).  But the same promise was still issued after every ride.  And when it was time to go, Fionn flipped out.  Seriously flipped his lid.  His fingers curled up, his eyes looked desperate as a wild animal, and he wailed, "Nooooo!  Just one more time!"  We had to promise him that we would come again in order to pry his sticky fingers away from the gates of Dutch Wonderland.  Geez Louise.  What do they put in those funnel cakes?

All in all, fabulous trip.  Thanks so much to everyone who recommended it.  We will return for sure.

Okay, before I close out this novella...a quick update on Fionn's inpatient stay so far.  He is doing great.  True to his word, his is putting away massive amounts of hospital food.  Today was Taco Day, and he could hardly contain his excitement.  I think he is single-handedly raising the self-esteem of the food cart folks.  "Hooray!  Tacos!" cried my son, bouncing up and down.  The other people in line turned to stare for a moment before they continued trudging toward the food cart to receive their own Mexican feast.

Fionn continues to receive high-dose methotrexate until 4 pm today.  After this point, we will just be monitoring him to see how quickly he clears the drug from his system.  They will also be giving him Leucovorin at regular intervals.  Leucovorin is a "rescue" medicine to help rescue normal cells from the effects of the methotrexate.  Hopefully, it will help Fionn clear the methotrexate and get us our walking papers soon.  I'll close with a picture of Fionn in the art room yesterday.  "I built a city," he said.

Have a great week.  More to follow soon.