Sweet Hershey, PA

We had the wonderful opportunity to take our family to Hershey Park this weekend thanks to Rick's boss giving us tickets. Since the saying goes "Half the fun is getting there", I'll start from the beginning . . .

Not realizing how crazy it would make our lives, we scheduled to have carpeting put in the day we were planning to leave for our mini vacation. Things like emptying closets, clearing dressers and bedding, removing shoes, toys and boxes from under beds while trying to do laundry and pack for five people (including a baby and all their accoutrements) never entered my mind! We also decided to ride to work with Rick on Friday and visit with his aunts for the day to save on travel time since he works an hour and twenty minutes in the direction we were headed. Again, not thinking that we would all have to be up, dressed and in the car by 7 AM! So that's were the 2 1/2 hours of sleep comes in.

It would have been great if the kids had slept in the car on the way to work, but of course when you are excited about going on vacation, who can sleep?!? After visiting, shopping and eating lunch, we headed over to pick Daddy up from work and began our journey to Hershey. It didn't start off too well when we hit traffic in Pittsburgh, but the girls enjoyed riding through all the tunnels. The kids were a little restless, but we pressed on toward Harrisburg stopping as little as possible so we wouldn't get in too late.

When we finally arrived at the hotel, the girls were so excited (most likely just because they could get out of the car). Makenna's face was beaming as we rode up in the elevator to our room, suitcase in tow. We dropped off our bags and headed for dinner since it was already 7:00 pm. We politely asked the waitress to request the kid's food come right away. She graciously obliged. Unfortunately, the kids were done eating and our food still had not arrived. At that point, we asked to have our meal "to go", and back to the hotel we went. Since it was so late, we told the girls they could go swimming in the morning.

After a half-way decent night's sleep, the girls and I went down to the lobby to retrieve breakfast for everyone. We stopped by the pool on our way and found out the maintenance man was there for a cleaning. The girls were disappointed, but quickly recovered when reminded of the day's events. Since it was vacation, Mommy let the girls pick out donuts which thrilled them to death. Makenna also decided she wanted to make a waffle which Daddy ended up eating since Makenna doesn't usually eat much breakfast. Then we packed up our things and headed to Hershey Park.

There was a lot of traffic on the road, in the parking lot and entering the park, but we finally met up with our friends, Sarah and Kevin, for a day of fun in the sun. Did I mention the forecast was 89 degrees?!? That's very warm for us north easterners! The kids did remarkably well considering it was hot and they were tired. We stayed in the front of the park where the family and kids rides were located. Madison was a little apprehensive about the rides while Makenna was ready to ride the big, wooden coaster (as long as Daddy or Sarah would ride with her). But since the line was over 30 mintues long, we convinced her not to ride it. Isaiah's favorite was the Carousel. He kept reaching out to it and "talking" (which being interpreted is "I want to ride on that".)

And again, not thinking, we planned to drive back 4 hours home that night, so we were only able to stay until the late afternoon. (Notice that 4 hours does not include potty and sanity breaks. Next time, we will definitely stay over another night when driving that far with small children.) On our way out, we stopped at Chocolate World. We took the kids on a riding tour of where chocolate comes from and how it is made. Then took a quick run through their HUGE candy store before hitting the road. We arrived home just after 11 PM -- exhausted, but we had a great time and made some memories that will last a lifetime!

PS: Since this is my first time posting pictures (and I didn't know they load in reverse order) and it is very late, please excuse the fact that they are out of order. If I have time later, I may come back to rearrange them.

Riding the tram back to the car -- Hi, Bubby!

Playing with the basketball Kevin gave him on the way home.

Taking a break from the drive at a rest stop.

Our day at Hershey Park (Milton Hershey pictured too)

Our friends, Kevin & Sarah

Our sweet kisses

The chocolate capital of the world and Makenna wants cotton candy!

Riding on the chocolate tour.
The kids' favorite was the singing cows (pictured in background).

Madi all wet from the sprayer.

Playing a little skeeball with Daddy.

Madi ventured out and tried a "big" ride.

She was scared during the middle of the ride when I moved around to get a different view and she couldn't find me, but she enjoyed the ride in the end although not enough to ride again.

This kind of ride was more her style -- Little Monkey Madi!

Riding on the Tiny Tracks

"Wave Hi to the camera" -- What a parent wouldn't do for their child!

One of Madi's favorite things, playing in the sprayer.

Kenna joined in too!

Thankfully Isaiah took a nap. Poor guy was so hot.

Makenna's a really good driver!

Once Madi found a riding buddy, she had a great time on the rides.

Rick, Makenna and Sarah on the Wave Swinger (3 along the bottom)

Isaiah wanting to ride the Carousel

High Fives on the Carousel