PA Holidays #3: Peddler's Village

Wow, I'm moving really slowly with these PA posts! Probably because we're all sick over here at Team Anderson, and all I want to do is lie in bed under the covers and feel miserable in the peace and quiet of a dark bedroom. But, obviously that's not an option with a cranky toddler in the house, so I'm up and blogging instead! Hopefully we'll feel better soon, but for your reading pleasure, here's the next installment of our PA vacation series.

After Christmas, the Anderson clan headed over to Peddler's Village to check out the gingerbread house displays and admire the Christmas lights. Peddler's Village is a charming outdoor shopping center, complete with historic Colonial-style buildings, windmills, walkways, bridges, grassy open areas, and lots of trees. There are a bunch of shops (selling candles, clothing, kitchenwares, baked goods, etc.), plus a few pricy restaurants. It's adorable!!! And it's very nice for wandering around aimlessly (unless the temperature happens to be below freezing, I have learned).

First, we headed over to the gingerbread houses, and then took pictures looking cool:

There was a long, slow line, so we were outside for quite awhile:
So, I asked Killian (Weston's cousin) to smile for a picture, and this is what he did (the "Killian Standard Camera Smile," or KSCS, as I like to call it):

Weston has NEVER smiled on command for me, but I asked him anyway, and guess what... he followed Killian's lead (this is one of my favorite pictures!!):

We waited and waited, and the wind became a bit bitey (to the point of disfiguring Brett's face a bit, unfortunately):

And finally we got in!!! There were over a hundred gingerbread houses on display in the gazebo, and some of them were really spectacular:

Although it was crowded inside the little gazebo, it was good times with gingerbread (especially when I quickly and secretly ate that last one... what?). Next we ventured back out into the cold to make our way to the shops:

Weston loved this tunneled path:

Check out this toy shop... oops, I mean, toy "shoppe." Isn't it darling?

And guess what was inside... YEP. A train table.

Here, Weston is eyeing Killian suspiciously. I'm pretty sure that he had a "MINE!" ready on the tip of his tongue, just in case. (Despite our ongoing efforts, the concept of sharing, especially with trains, remains far from his strong suit.)

Weston freaked out and bawled when we finally had to forcibly remove him from the train table, but Tim and I appeased him by taking him back to the tunnel for a few more passes:

And as it got darker, all the pretty Christmas lights appeared!!!

Aaaaaaand, here we are. Yeah Peddler's Village!!! (Thanks for the gingerbread houses and the pretty lights and the scenery. Next time, please provide chloroform at the toy "shoppe" train table for customer use on unwilling toddlers. Thank you.)