The Fire Horse: Vacation Irene

So far, the hardest part of our family vacation was getting through the Lincoln Tunnel on a Friday afternoon. I guess that's a good thing considering we also had Hurricane Irene to deal with, too. No family vacation is complete without a hitch, right?

For our ten year wedding anniversary, the husband and I decided to take the kids to Pennsylvania. Most people who know me are thinking, what's with you and Pennsylvania? If my dad were still here, he'd bring up the time I took off to Philly just because I could afford the bus ticket. My father said to me then, "What are you going to see - the Liberty Bell?"

The truth is, Pennsylvania is a very family friendly state. We discovered this two years ago, when we took the boys for a weekend getaway to the Crayola Factory in Easton. Pennsylvania also has awesome beer. Fun places for the kids, breweries for Daddy and Mommy - who could argue with that?

This year, we tagged on two extra nights and started off at Lancaster. All I knew about Lancaster was they are famous for their quilts and strange looking Amish people. After visiting, we noticed they have a lot of cows and horses in their backyards, too..

Our plans to go to Dutch Wonderland were squashed thanks to Irene but our boys didn't mind. They're still at that age where it's easy to divert their attention with something shiny. We took them to the Toy Train Museum instead and they were happy. On the way, we also stopped at the Red Caboose Restaurant - they have goats, chickens and horses out front and our four-year old got to see his beloved farm animals up close.

He found out first hand that animals may be cute but their poop smells like shit.

He's got a thing about stinky shit.

"Can I have a turtle?" He once asked me.

"Well, you know...they really stink."

"You can put him in a Ziploc bag when he goes poopy." He suggested.

Yeah. No.

And then he wonders why we don't allow him to have pets.

Anyway, the eve of the hurricane turned out to be...not so bad. The boys were happy we at least took them some place. Daddy was happy to have lunch at Stoudt's Brewery. The food was excellent, the beer was Stoudt's - one of PA's tasty microbrews. If you're ever in the Tri-state area and come across a six pack, I highly recommend the American Pale Ale or their Fat Dog Stout.

Thus far, I'd say the score is Family Fun: two and Hurricane Irene: zero. It was kind of a blessing really. All our boys cared about was staying at a hotel and playing in its swimming pool and if there's a hurricane going on outside, what else is there to do, right? Besides, they got to see livestock - that's a bonus.

The night of the hurricane, we hung out at the hotel's banquet hall. They posted a big sign at the entrance that dubbed it "Hurricane Central." Guests were invited to use the facility in any manner they wished and were we savvy enough, we would've ordered a pizza and hunkered down earlier. Regardless, we watched the big screen TV they set up in the center of the room with some after dinner drinks. What do we care? The hotel bar was open until midnight and the boys had a full fledged dance floor to get their Ya-ya's out.

As the news broadcasted reporters in New York getting whipped around by high winds and pelted by rain our boys danced some crazy Power Rangers choreography on the dance floor and had a grand old time. Now that's a positive attitude, if you ask me.