Vacation Adventure (Part 1)

Due to yet more camera technical difficulties, I had to buy a disposable camera at Hershey Park and since 35mm is an ancient form of photography, I have to wait DAYS to get it put on a CD. Hence, Part 1. Oh yeah, and since I don't have the right cords I am taking the photo card to the store and getting CD printed in order to use my photos, so there is no editing (unless someone has a tip on a free program I can download to edit them without downloading through the manufacture program).

Now back to the point of the post . . .

Rick's parents joined us for our mini vacation. The girls were thrilled to ride in Nana & Pappy's car. Nana bought crafts and activities for the 4-hour ride. (Looks like boxes, but pictured is a cork board they used it to have a flat surface to work on.)

"Pappy?"

Zaya wasn't so lucky. He got stuck with Mom & Dad.

Makenna is part fish. She loves to play in the water; however, swimming is another story. She was thrilled when the hotel pool cleared out, and she had an opportunity to get in the pool.

Madi -- different story

She prefers to be out of the water!

A couple times while we were at the hotel, Isaiah crawled between the pillows and would hang out. It was too cute. I had to take a picture.

One night for dinner we went to Texas Roadhouse. Mommy thought it would be funny to take pictures with the bull horns. The girls finally humored me, but they weren't happy about it. Their pics didn't turn out real well, plus they'd probably be scarred for life!

Pappy bought Zaya a "ractee" for the trip. It came in handy as we had a long wait for dinner.

The girls enjoyed eating peanuts and watching the servers line dance while they waited.

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(INSERT HERSHEY PARK -- pics to come)

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We had planned to go to Zoo America in Hershey on Friday, but it rained. We noticed there was a Chuck E. Cheese in the shopping center next to the hotel. The girls continually ask to go there at home, so we figured we'd kill two birds with one stone (nothing personal about birds you understand).

Isaiah was a little afraid to ride on this horse . . .

(This is him after we rescued him and he stopped crying. I told him Mommy wanted his picture with the horse.)

This might give you an idea why -- it was HUGE!

This horse was a little more his style.

This Chuck E. Cheese had a lot more games and activities than the jive store by us. They had a little section for Toddlers. It was so nice, and Zaya loved it (other than the fact that bigger kids kept chasing each other through there -- no worries -- I chased them out)!

The girls played lots of games, but Makenna loved the "Deal or No Deal" game the most.

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After game time, we grabbed a quick bite and headed home. There was a torrential down pour as we tried to get back in our car after lunch. Yea!

The view was overcast but beautiful.

We did have to drive through a lot of rain. (Mind you this was my view the majority of the time. Daddy doesn't believe in turning his wipers on very high! =D

The sun finally came out, but so did the traffic. We still don't know what happened, but we were at a dead stand still for over an hour.

There were quite a few people that thought it was appropriate to make the emergency lane a driving lane. Some people (see pictured semi) blocked part of the lane so they couldn't get through. Why should they get to drive past all this traffic while we wait our turn?? If nothing else, it added humor and made time pass more quickly.

The kids watched movies and tried to stay entertained, but the waiting did get old.

The kids & I walked on the highway for a while once a big truck behind us started blocking traffic. They threw gravel in the weeds and asked a hundred questions about all our fellow travelers -- still don't know why kids think parents have an answer for everything . . . where are they going? Where is their mom? Why aren't we moving?? (Kids really should come with manuals, and I apologize to my parents because I'm sure I did the same thing!)

On the rare occasion that we did move, we walked along side our vehicle. Once it looked like we MIGHT move significantly, we got back in but didn't buckle everyone in until we actually WERE moving. Zaya loved pretending to drive.

About a mile up from where we first stopped was an exit. Thanks to Daddy's new work phone's navigation, we took some back roads and bypassed the traffic. It was two-lane roads, but at least we were moving!

The back roads gave us a simpler view.

Once back on the highway Daddy humored Mommy, and we got off at the exit for the stadium where Penn State plays. It is huge and one of the largest college stadiums.

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Almost 3 hours behind schedule, we finally arrived home. Thankfully it was bed time, and the kids went right to sleep! It was a long day for all of us!