Alaska, here we come!!!

Hello Everyone!
   I'm sure my post title surprised all of you!  Yes, we are en route to Alaska.  A few weeks ago Daddy said he had some vacation time coming up, and wondered where we would like to go.  Mommy mentioned that she would like to go to Alaska...so...we are going!  Since we fly standby our seats are not guaranteed until the last minute.  The flight out of Philly was quite full so we weren't even sure that we would be able to get to DFW.  When we boarded the plane, it finally was confirmed, "We're on our way to Alaska!"  This afternoon we left the Philadelphia International Airport at 4:15 p.m. and arrived in Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport around 7:30 p.m.  Daddy got a hotel, with a pool, and so we are enjoying that.  Tomorrow we leave from Dallas at 3 p.m. and arrive in Anchorage, Alaska around 7 p.m.  If all goes well we should be headed for a few days packed with excitement and adventure and hopefully some good photos! 

Until next time, God bless!
~The Sangers

Landis Valley Museum

   On Thursday the Keepers Club members arrived at Landis Valley Museum in Lancaster.  Sis. Kim had decided for her meeting that she would like us all to learn about the history behind the Germans who settled in the area.  There are many different buildings that you can visit and see how people lived and worked in the early 1800's.  Our first stop was the Tavern, the modern day hotel.  At the cost of 40 cents a night you got a  meal, a place to lay your head, and a place in the barn for your horse.  That was a lot of money back then because the average working person made a dollar per week!  

Deciding where to go first

 We all participated in a workshop making corn husk brooms. 
The pioneers didn't waste anything!  The corn husks were used for
filling mattresses, making brooms and rugs, and for
the bedding of animals, to name a few.

 Joy and her corn husk broom.

 We got to learn all about how the pioneers made their clothing.  Here, Hope is

skutching the flax, which helps the extra chaff to fall off, and for the strains of flax

 to become softer.

   The Weaver's profession was a man's job.  The women would spin their wool and flax and then bring it to the weaver for him to weave into a sheet of cloth which they could then sew into clothing.

Then we went and saw how the average family cooked and lived.
Middle-class families had two rooms and a loft.  The main room was the kitchen, the other
 a bedroom/living area.  The loft upstairs was used as a storage room for the foods they
had dried for the winter and as a bedroom for the children.

David and Elainah looking at the garden

 Grace and Elainah  :)

Friends Forever!

 We all got to go on a wagon ride throughout the grounds!

In the General Store

Zoe, Elainah, David, and I

Abigail, Me, Emily, Grace, and Zoe

 There was an old one room schoolhouse that we toured.
We even got to experience what a real day of school
 would have been like in the 1800's.

 Joshua

 Lillia, "totein' water from the crik"

Joy was so little, the buckets were almost dragging on the ground!

Hope, Faith, Lillia, Anna, Joy, and Elisabeth

GROUP SHOT!

Back Row left to right; Zoe, Me, Abigail, Grace, Emily

Middle Row; Elainah, Hope, Joy, Anna, Faith, Lillia, Elisabeth, Lincoln, Joshua

Front Row; Bethany and Matthew

   If you would like to find out more on Landis Valley and it's history, check out  http://www.landisvalleymuseum.org/  

Thank you, Sis. Kim for another awesome Keepers meeting!

Cherry Crest Adventure Farm

   On Monday Daddy and Mommy said they were taking us on a field trip to Cherry Crest Adventure Farm in Paradise, Pennsylvania.   Cherry Crest is a fun family farm that has lots of activities for all ages.  This week is Homeschooler's Week so the admission is practically half off!  There are Pedal Karts, Rubber Ducky Races, Wagon Express Rides, Straw Bale Maze, Bucking Broncos, Post Pounder, the Amazing Maize Maze, and much more.  There is also a petting zoo with farm animals that you can feed.

 We're here!

 No Left Turn Maze

This was pretty funny to see people trying to figure it out!

   Rubber Ducky Races

There are four pumps with four rubber ducks, you set the ducky under the spout of the pump

and on "GO!" you pump as fast as you can so that the water pushes your duck to the end of your lane.

David on the 'Bucking Broncos'!

Hang on, Hope!

David

The Sanger Kids...

The Strasburg Railroad runs right through Cherry Crest
Joshua holding back the trains for his sisters to cross the tracks! ;)

Joshua doing the Giant Slinger
You get 3 tennis balls to shoot at the four targets up on the hill
if you hit a target you get a prize!

Hope doing the Giant Slinger

Me doing the Giant Slinger
The farther you pulled back, the farther your ball went. I was trying to
hit a target, but the ball never went were it was supposed to! :)


Joy

 Mommy and David

David loved the slide!  He wanted to go over and over and over,
until the person carrying him up the hill was plumb tuckered out!

Joy, Elainah, and Lillia

 Lillia, ready to go again!

Three of us would line up and race down the silde.
Lillia, Mommy, and Elainah racing.

Joy and Joshua going down the Straw Bale Racer

Daddy, Lillia, and Joshua

Joshua in the Big Ball Corral
This ball was so huge!  The game was sorta like volleyball,
except you couldn't see your opponents because of the straw bale net.

 Daddy doing the Post Pounder

If you hit the hammer hard enough the little weight
would be launched up and hit the little bell at the top.

 Elainah getting ready to go through the Hay Tunnel

 David thought the best part was playing in the straw!

::haha::

 Elainah guided us with her trusty map
Thanks, Elainah!

David and Elainah playing Corn Hole

   We all started out together for the big maze (5 acres of winding trails and dead ends) and then Mommy took David and Elainah back to the park to play.  Then Daddy and the five oldest all ran through the maze and finished in record time, 1 hr 6 min.  (The record of the day was 52 min.)  When you think maze, you might think, oh, a few trails and they're done, not in the case of Cherry Crest's Maze!  There are 15 mailboxes with a map puzzle piece inside each one.  When you find the #4 puzzle piece you tape it into the #4's spot and so on until map is completed and that is how you find your way out!

   Thanks for taking us on this awesome field trip, Daddy and Mommy!  It was a lot of fun!