Lancaster Pa trip 2011

Our trip to PA was a lot of fun. We left early Wednesday morning, and arrived there not long after lunch. Every year we stay at a Holiday Inn Express, which is right smack dab in the same parking lot of one of the major shopping outlets (yes!). We started our afternoon with hitting up the outlets. The shopping is fantastic there! Great shops, great prices, and clothing and shoes are tax free. I got a ton of stuff for the girls for spring and summer, and even things for next year (the Hartstrings outlet had some great stuff for fall/winter marked down to over 75% off so I stocked up on some things for even then). The picture below isn't even all of the stuff I bought laid out on the dining room table.

I did get a few things for myself, mainly some springy work clothes. I also got a Coach cross over style bag. This is a bag that is great when you just want something light and thin. It wont hold a lot, but there are times I don't feel like dragging around a huge bag. It's also great for traveling and a lot of people are actually referring to it as the new fanny pack. I will swear to you, you wont look like an idiot wearing it though like a fanny pack.

Besides spending money shopping we ate. We had breakfast twice at an Amish run restaurant called Dienner's. Super cheap, and the best freaking food EVER. Breakfast was served buffet style, with the usual, but all very fresh. They also had homemade sticky buns that were AMAZING.

We also visited a farmer's market where we bought some homemade jams, jelly's, pickles, etc.

We also bought homemade whoopie pies, and just walked around. They had great meats, and produce, but it would be hard to get that type of thing home, so we just looked at that stuff. My mom and my girls went on a Amish Buggy ride through the country. An Amish man gave us the ride, and told us more about their culture, and pointed out some things to us.

My girls and two other kids got to ride up front with him, and he let all of them steer the horses for a little while which was pretty exciting for them. This was Laura's 2nd trip, and Rachel's first. Next year Emily should be old enough to go, and I can't wait for her to see everything!