A pretty darn good weekend started off Friday with a happy hour, and this little lady gave out round after round of free smiles.

Celebrating St. Patty's Day a day late, I made these rainbow cupcakes (think Lucky Charms) and they were a big hit with the kids. They actually came out better than I expected, even though Nick thought they looked a little too "gay pride" for him and that we should tell people I made them in celebration of the Don't Ask Don't Tell repeal. Ha.

Moving forward to our weekend trip, inspired by a documentary we watched about the Amish. Being the nosy person I am, I just had to catch a glimpse of this very different lifestlye. So 2.5 hours later, we arrived in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Dutch Country. And I admit, I did get a little too school-girl excited when I saw my first horse and buggy with Amish kids inside. I wanted so badly to take pictures of these buggies but had to refrain, remembering that the Amish take great offense to having their picture taken.

Our first stop was at a Farmer's Market in Bird-in-Hand, Pennsylvania (what kind of name is that for a town?) and let me just say, the Amish know how to bake. Raisin bread, chocolate, and my first taste of Shoo Fly pie. Delicious.

After stuffing ourselves full of sugar, we headed to...drum roll please...Intercourse, Pennsylvania. No kidding. I will keep the jokes to a minimum, mainly because Nick and I had way too much fun with this name for the good part of the trip. Seriously? In Dutch Country of all places where the locals are expected to be reserved? But surprisingly, Intercourse did have this amazing pretzel factory where we learned how to twist pretzels like a pro. And did you know that 80% of the nation's pretzels are made in this region? Just a little tidbit of information.

Rolling out the dough...

Good job, Nick, one of your finer accomplishments.

We shopped a little (had to get souvenirs from Intercourse of course) and soon realized it was noon and had seen everything around Lancaster. Knowing Hershey, Pennsylvania was only 30 minutes away (hello, chocolate lovers!) we jumped in the car and followed our noses.

This place was AWESOME and so much fun. Big surprise, if it involves food, Nick and I are happy. We jumped on the chocolate tour and I don't know who had more fun between these two.

The coolest part was making our own candy bar, except for the fact that we had to don these ridiculous lunch lady hair nets and aprons. Not really good for my complexion.

Can you tell someone was getting a little tired after such a long day? Maybe the cocoa fumes were putting her to sleep. It was soothing.

Watched the entire process take place on this conveyor belt. Has anyone see the I Love Lucy episode where she eats the chocolates because she can't keep up? Yeah, reminded me of that.

Her very own candy bar. Ok, ok, I know she is too young to understand what is going on and won't remember this, so I can admit that Nick and I ventured to Hershey more for ourselves. Isn't everyone just a kid at heart?