Our Trip to Pennsylvania- Day Five: Hershey

Our first stop today was Hershey's Chocolate World. We hopped right on the ride through the "factory" as soon as we got there. Jackson was amazed at all the chocolate, and Adam liked the singing cows. It just made me want some chocolate. It was a good thing they gave us all a miniature Hershey bar at the end of the ride. We then walked through the gift shop and drooled over all the candy they had. I never knew Hershey made so much stuff. Some of it wasn't even chocolate!
Next, we went to a new attraction called "Make Your Own Chocolate Bar", and you really do. You decide what you want in your bar and watch it go down the factory line being made. It was really cool.

Then we headed with our homemade bars to buy some of the stuff we drooled over earlier. I think we ended up with one of each! Sorry, Aunt Jamie we couldn't find any Nestle stuff anywhere!

We went to a diner to eat lunch and then headed over to Hershey Gardens. They had a Butterfly House, a Children's Garden, and many rose gardens. It was awfully hot, but a neat place to visit.

It was getting late which meant it was time to start our journey home. We have arrived in Harrisonburg, VA and will be back in Mebane before we know it.

We visited with the Hershey Kiss at the store. Jackson really wanted to buy one of the world's largest chocolates- Hershey Bar, Hershey Kiss, Twizzlers, you name it! He settled on some Jolly Ranchers, not even chocolate! Adam wanted everything he saw no matter what it was.

Here we are in the Make Your Own Chocolate Bar factory. As you can see we had to wear the Factory Worker get-up. Haitnets, aprons, and gloves. I even had to take all of my jewelry off. Adam and Jackson are scanning their ticket and choosing the ingredients they want to add to their chocolate bar. You could even put sprinkles on top.

I think this is Jackson's bar. He chose chocolate cookie bits, vanilla chips, and rainbow jimmies, i.e. sprinkles. They said they used some kind of vibration system to get the right amount of insides added to the bars. This is how they get the peanuts in the Mr. Goodbar.

The bar is getting chocolate poured over it to "close it up". The screens vibrate to get all the extra chocolate off.

Sprinkles get added on top (if you wanted them- I opted out.) and the bar heads through a cooler. While your bar is being cooled, you head over to another computer where you design your wrapper. Once the bar is cooled it gets sent through another machine where it is boxed, a laser prints your name on the box and then the box is sealed. A lady on the end takes your bar, puts it in a tin box and then wraps the tin box with your designed wrapper.

Here we are in our chocolate factory attire holding our finished products. It was a pretty cool experience.

Jackson and Adam sit on a cow in the Children's Garden at Hershey Gardens.

There was a "Spa Garden" which had a claw foot tub full of flowers and these big stone slippers.

Adam had to try the slippers on, too.

This has been a great trip. I think Sesame Place will stand out in Adam's mind as he is still looking to go back to Elmo's House. He also been looking forward to each new hotel visit. Jackson seemed to enjoy everything we did, and I hope he will remember it all. I have loved having the chance to see "the world" and these new experiences through the eyes of a 7 and 3 year old. You never know what they will get out of something, and it's usually a completely different perspective from what I see. It's been a lot of fun, but I am definitely ready to sleep in my own bed and am ready to send the kids to their own room. At 10:30, we are still waiting for Adam to fall asleep. He has just now stopped turning flips in the bed and has finally quieted down. This has given us some insight as to what he must do up in his room each night after we tuck him in and head back downstairs. I miss my Sarah and can't wait to get her back either!

Our Trip to Pennsylvania- Day Four: The Crayola Factory

We left Langhorne, PA and traveled northeast to Easton, PA this morning. Google Maps sent us on the scenic route through hills, mountains, and along the river. It would have been a much prettier drive had it not been raining...again. We went into the Crayola Factory where they showed us how they made crayons, markers, and silly putty. I had no idea Crayola made silly putty, but they do! They make 1200 crayons every 30 minutes there at the factory. Today they were making red crayons and orange markers. This wasn't the "real" Crayola Factory- that one was down the street. This factory makes the crayons and markers they give to you. The boys got 3 markers (orange, purple, and green), a four-pack of crayons (red, blue, green, and macaroni and cheese), and a small bag of Model Magic. After the show we went to various stations and completed many art activities. We colored with the Color Wonder markers, sculpted and colored our Model Magic, made crayon rubbings, drew an underwater creature and then painted bubbles on it with bubble wrap (we put those through the dryer to dry them so we could take them home), and colored with special markers on the wall.

Our ticket to Crayola also included a visit to the Canal Museum which was just upstairs. The boys learned how to harness a mule, drive a boat with a rudder, operate the locks on the canal, and much more. After exploring the museum we went for a stroll through the Crayola Store. Kevin wanted some glow-in-the dark Silly Putty, but the line was all the way to the back of the store. He decided it wasn't worth the wait and we were all starving. We did get to see the world's largest crayon though.

After eating a disappointing lunch at McDonald's- we just knew there would be a great restaurant nearby since we were in downtown Easton. They were all bars and weren't open for lunch. McDonald's was all there was- we got back in the car and headed to Harrisburg, PA near Hershey. Our hotel is right on the river so we took a walk down the river front and then went to look for something to eat. (Same thing here- bars and pubs. They must really like to drink in PA.) After dinner the kids and Kevin took a dip in the too cold for me pool and then headed to bed. It is 9:47 right now and I am still waiting for Jackson and Adam to go to sleep. It's going to be a toss-up as to who goes to sleep first- me, Kevin, Jackson, or Adam!

Jackson and Adam with Tip, the Crayola mascot.

Kevin helping Adam flatten out his Model Magic. He made a bear with a cookie cutter.

I made a flower, some bugs, and a caterpillar. Jackson made a hippo, a sunshine, and a basketball.

Adam coloring his second bear.

Adam decided he wanted to make a bug like mine. He is really concentrating.

Kevin and Jackson drawing on the wall.

Jackson and Adam peeking out of the train at the Canal Museum.

The Canal Museum had a 90 foot canal. We started in Farm Town and carried our cargo all the way to Port City. Here, we are collecting our coal that needs to make it to Port City as well. We had to use locks all through the canal to get our boats through. They allowed the water to rise and fall so the boats could go.

The largest Crayola Crayon in the world. It is made of real wax and had a real paper cover on it. I checked!

Our Trip to Pennsylvania- Day Three: Sesame Place

We weren't really sure how this day was going to turn out this morning, but in the end, it was a great day. We got up and headed over to Sesame Place for breakfast with Elmo. None of us looked out the window as we were getting ready to head out. When we got to the car the skies were all gray, and it started to sprinkle. I checked the weather right before we left and there was no rain in sight. It was supposed to be partly sunny all week. So much for forcasts. By the time we got to the parking lot, it had started to rain a little harder. I grabbed the umbrella and we all used it to walk into the park. We had to wait at the gate for about 15 minutes again today, and it started to pour. I almost didn't get the umbrella (I didn't want anyone to think we were wimps in the rain. ) and I am so glad I did. Luckily Breakfast with Elmo was just a short distance from the entrance so we didn't have far to tromp in the rain.

The breakfast went great. We did a little meeting and greeting with the characters, had our picture taken with Elmo, and then went through the buffet line for food. Once seated, the characters came around to visit as we ate. We saw Elmo, Big Bird, Bert, Ernie, and Zoe. Adam and Jackson both were disappointed that Cookie Monster wasn't there. He was having his own separate breakfast, and you know, if I had made reservations with him, they would have wanted to see Elmo. Go figure! Adam now has a fascination with Abby Cadabby, (I think he just likes to say her name) so he was disappointed that she wasn't there either.

While we were eating it began to pour and looked like it wasn't going to clear up. Looking outside, it looked like the park was under 3 inches of water. At 10:00 they made an announcement that the park was open and we could go out if we wanted. The doors didn't open. We weren't crazy. We all wanted to stay put where it was nice and dry. The next announcement was that they couldn't make a decision to close until 11:00, once it has rained for an hour, but everything was opened and we should go enjoy our day. Only a few brave families left at that point. They then told us that we could stay in there until 11:00, and then after that we had to leave! Jackson decided to say a prayer at that point for some sunshine. Kevin remembered that we had ponchos in the car and he was all paranoid about the camera getting wet. So, he left and went to the car to get ponchos and drop off the camera. Once he got back (around 10:45), and we got the ponchos out, it had stopped raining. Jackson's prayer worked! It really looked like we were in for a wash-out and that the rain was not going to stop. Not many people showed up at "Elmo's House" in the rain, so we could pretty much walk onto any ride. It was like that the rest of the day. A few more families ventured out but not many. Yesterday Adam just went along with us and rode every ride we did that he was tall enough for. Today he started protesting on a few of them. He did insist that we ride the horsies again (the carousel) and the sippy cups (the twirling tea cups). He and I also rode the Flying Fish Elmo ride two more times today while Kevin and Jackson rode some more waterslides.

We headed back to the car around noon to eat a snack and leave our clothes in the car. It was time to get wet! Around 3:00 the sky started to get dark again. Kevin and Jackson went down one more waterslide while Adam and I played at the little slides. Then we darted into a show just as it started to pour...again. By the time the show ended it had stopped raining. We left and went to Chick-fil-a for a late lunch or more like an early dinner and then headed back to the park for more fun.

This was as close as they would get when we first got to the breakfast. They would both give high fives. I could not get Adam to stand and face me with the characters.

Jackson is giving Elmo a hug.

Adam just buries himself in Elmo. The people there took a picture of all four of us but I didn't buy it. 1- because it was horrible quality and 2- we were supposed to get a free one somewhere else with the package deal we got.


Ernie came to visit Adam. He started to pretend to eat Adam's tater tots and then tried to feed them to Adam. Adam was going to have no part of that!

Ernie made Adam cry...

...and cry and cry... but Ernie tried to apologize by patting Adam on the head. Once Ernie walked over to Jackson, Adam got over it.

Jackson with Ernie.

Bert sat on the chair with Jackson and just about pushed him off.

Big Bird is so big that I don't think he can move around easily. He just sat on his stool and we had to go over to him. Jackson was really curious about the strings going from his arms to his beak. I think that was what they used to get his head and beak to move. Jackson being as analytical as he is, figured out how they did all their "magic" at Sesame Place. He had trouble not wanting to share it with Adam though.

Adam just loves Zoe. He kept wanting to touch her. This is the only picture I got of his face with Zoe. All the other ones were just of the back of his head.

With no one around, right after the rains stopped, we had a lot of photo opts on Sesame Street. There was the fire station, Hooper's Store, the Fix-It Shop, and Big Bird's house where his nest is. Here they sit in front of the stoop at 123 Sesame Street.

Kevin, Jackson, and Adam rode the tea cups this morning and then Adam and I rode the sippy cups this afternoon.

Adam and I rode the horsies (the carousel) again this afternoon, too. I thought this was a good picture of him.

There was a game where you fished for the big fish that pop up and open their mouths. Adam and Jackson have a game just like this at home, and Adam loves it. We couldn't not play the big version here to win a prize. He won a dolphin.

The sky started to get dark again, and of course, it began to rain. After winning the dolphin and zipping into the store nearby out of the rain, Adam was ready to go home. Jackson and Kevin took a few more turns down the waterslides in the rain, and then we headed back to the hotel. The rain actually let up just enough for us to get back to the car without getting soaked. Another fun-filled day at Sesame Place! Crayola Factory awaits us tomorrow.

Our Trip to Pennsylvania- Day Two: Sesame Place

We arrived at Sesame Place about 15 minutes before they opened this morning. I think that was the longest 15 minutes in Adam and Jackson's history! Lucky for us the park didn't seem very crowded. We didn't have to wait for very long at each ride. Sesame has two different rides- the dry ones and the wet ones. We rode the dry ones first and then had lunch. After lunch when we were hot and miserable we changed into our swimsuits and hit the wet rides. Adam called all the waterslides Slip 'N' Slides and loved every single one of them. He was too short to go on a few and didn't quite understand. He and I went to some of those shallow pools with water squirting out everywhere and then he was satisfied not wanting to leave those areas. We didn't have our camera with us for the "wet activities" as it is not waterproof, but here are some pictures of the "dry activities".

We all rode Big Bird's carousel first.

This was the Flying Fish ride. Jackson was excited to ride by himself. Adam wanted to ride with Jackson, but the rules said he had to ride with an adult. We had to go find an Elmo fish just like the one Jackson chose and then Adam was OK. I know this picture of me and Adam is blurry but it's the only one Kevin got with us looking towards the camera.

This was in a section of the park called Elmo's World. They have bushes and topiaries of the characters everywhere.

We went to see Elmo's World Live. They asked for audience participation, but Jackson refused to raise his hand. Adam was excited to see Elmo and Mr. Noodle. It was exactly like an episode from Sesame Street. This picture was taken on the set. We tried to get one with Dorothy the Fish but there were too many people in the way.

This was Jackson's favorite thing- the Climbing Nets. Adam and I went to do something else and could not find Kevin and Jackson anywhere, but we knew they were going to be in this area. We just forgot to look up! These nets were four stories high, and when I finally spotted them, Kevin was trying to squeeze through one of those tubes. He just barely fit through that one and thought he was stuck for good a couple of times. Adam and I joined them on the climb. It was a little freaky. I was OK as long as I didn't look down. We all 4 climbed across (which was a major workout) one section until we got to a tube. The boys went on and I turned back! I think Adam and Jackson would have gone back and forth through those nets all day.

After we rode all the wet stuff we could, (and it got cloudy and the wind picked up) we changed back to our clothes. Adam really wanted some popcorn, so we got a bucket to share and sat down to watch the parade. Adam's spot was on Kevin's shoulders for a little while.

Cookie Monster could really boogie. He was dancing like crazy and doing cartwheels down the street.

This is Zoe. She came over and Jackson and Adam both gave her high fives! No screaming, no running away, no tears. I think Jackson has finally conquered his fears of big furry creatures. Tomorrow will be the big test when we go eat breakfast with Elmo and some of his friends.

Our Trip to Pennsylvania- Day One

Today isn't going to be the most exciting day of our trip- I hope. We left around 9:00 this morning and arrived in Levittown, PA around 7:00 tonight. ONE LONG DAY OF DRIVING!!! We did get to see some pretty exciting things from the car. We saw lots of beautiful rivers and other bodies of water with tons of boats. Some were HUGE navy boats. We saw several train yards, shipyards, and ports. We saw the Washington monument and the top of the capital building. I was excited to drive under Van Dusen Road right before we got to Baltimore, MD. They even spelled it right! The boys liked the tunnel we went through. We did have to explain that you only scream in tunnels from trains at the park not cars! Once in Philadelphia, we saw football, baseball, and basketball arenas all in one area. We went over a two story bridge (we were on the bottom) over the Delaware River. We drove very close by an airport and saw several planes landing. Adam pointed our every yellow car on the road.
Once at the hotel, we had a picnic dinner and then went for a swim. Well, the boys swam. I watched. It's been quite a busy day. The boys are finally asleep. I wonder what time they will wake us tomorrow morning all excited to go to Elmo's House! As Adam goes to Ivy's house everyday, he thinks he is going to Elmo's house this week instead. I hope he doesn't get disappointed when Elmo doesn't have a house- just a world!
The boys were exceptional travelers today. Those Color Wonder markers are the best. They colored, read books, and only watched one movie. They did a great job of entertaining themselves.
Oh-you are probably wondering where Sarah is in all these travels. We did not bring her this time. She is with Gramma and Granddad. When we started planning this trip, Mom said, "We shouldn't take Sarah. It will be too much trouble." I think this was her ploy to get her all to herself for a week! Remember not to spoil her too much!

Some things Kevin and I will remember from today:

• I've never been through so many big cities in one day. I do not like them. There is too much traffic- and this was a Sunday! I can't imagine a week day.
• There are a million 95 Interstates. I-95, 295, 395, 495, 695, and 895. They all take you to the same place. Amazing. We did use this to our advantage though- if one had traffic all backed up we'd just pick another!
  
• The people up here go the speed limit. If it is 55mph, they will drive 55mph. They do not go and get out of the way. And they think we are slow in the south!
• We have never been in stop and go traffic as many times as we have today. Kevin said that they were all slowing down to look at the sites. It did seem that way, which was so we could get a good look at all the things we saw.

Well, off to bed so I can be ready to greet Elmo tomorrow! I'll have pictures to share tomorrow, too.

It's Been a Long Time...

It's been what, like 3 or 4 months since I've posted. We've got a lot of catching up to do! Sorry, I haven't taken the time to update this blog. I'll try and do better from now on. For this entry, I'll catch you up on all of our happenings through pictures.

Jackson finished his soccer season in the middle of May. His team met at the park near the soccer fields to play, have cupcakes and get their medals. This was Jackson's last season with this team. He will move up to what they call the U8 division. Boys under the age of 8 will play together on a longer field and with goalies. I think they even keep score. We're hitting the big time now!


Jackson and Adam celebrated their birthdays with friends at Bouncin' Around. It's a local place that has tons of bouncy houses and obstacles to jump on and in. We combined their party this year but each got their own cake! The next weekend we had a party for family at our house. We had "make-your-own sundaes" with all kinds of toppings.

Adam gets a ride to the house after the big birthday bash!

They wouldn't give me any cake! All I got was this tasty toy!

Sarah turned 8 months and started crawling all over the place. If left on her own she will follow us wherever we go. There is still no sign of teeth and just a little hair starting to grow. We are still waiting...

At the beginning of June, Jackson had his field day at school. This was a picture taken with his friend, Regan. He ran races, jumped on the bouncy things, and tried his hand at throwing the baseball at the dunking booth. Unfortunately (or maybe that was fortunate for Mr. Allred in the booth!), he missed!

I think this is just the cutest picture of the three of them. This is also our only picture of Jackson in his baseball uniform. I know, we are slack. We always seemed to be rushing to his games since they were so far out in the county. I never remembered the camera. He really enjoyed playing, (this was his first season) and Kevin even got some experience as an assistant coach as he helped out where he was needed.

This is Sarah's latest trick. She claps her hands and raises them over her head. She'll do it again if you acknowledge her and say, "Yeah, Sarah!"

Sarah is now nine months old and can pull up to a stand. Lately she has been known to let go and stand on her own for a minute. I think she will be walking before she has teeth or hair!
She loves the swimming pool. We thought Adam had no fear- Sarah has even less fear. She prefers to be swimming on her own without her float and tries to push your arms from around her so she can be "free". I really do want to let go just to see what she would do. As much as moves, she would probably just start swimming!

I just love this picture! Sarah loves her big brothers and Jackson loves holding her and playing with her. Adam is starting to tolerate her a little more. He likes to touch her head. Come to think of it, he pretty much pets her like a dog but does ask permission before doing it, which is good!

Adam got sick at the end of June with a virus. He ran a fever for about two days and was only puny (as you can see above) when there was no Tylenol in him. He bounced back pretty quickly but ended up giving it to Sarah by the end of the week. Her case wasn't quite as mild. She was a miserable girl with a higher fever for about three days.

Mine and Kevin's Fourth of July weekend wasn't an exceptionally relaxing one. We didn't once go to the pool or see the fireworks. While the kids were at Gramma and Granddads (yes, they took all three and survived!), we slaved over their bathroom. We pulled out about 500 short little nails that had once held up some OLD fabric wallpaper (I guess that's how they hung it 100 years ago) and then plugged the holes so that the walls would finally be smooth. Kevin took the exposed plumbing and tucked it behind the baseboard molding and then 3 days later I could finally paint. When I get the shower curtain and the towels hung, I'll post another picture. We only had a slight mishap with the water (We failed to make sure it was turned off before we turned it back on...oops!) but other than that, I think it's going to look great!

Oh, our little Sarah! She is going to be full of mischief ! I was in the kitchen preparing dinner the other night and she was in her "cage" in the living room with Adam who was watching TV. Adam ran into inform me that Sarah took her clothes off. When I came into investigate she just stood there and smiled and laughed like there was nothing wrong with what she had just done, which I guess there really wasn't! She was wearing a sleeveless top with skinny little straps and somehow shimmied out of the arms. The shirt was just sitting at her waist. I just helped her out of it the rest of the way, so she looked like a bumpkin the rest of the night. Later I was loading the dishwasher and she was crawling around the kitchen. I turned to the sink to rinse a dish, and when I turned to put it in the dishwasher, there sat Sarah on the door, smiling and clapping her hands. My first thought was to take a picture, but she was naked, and I refuse to have pictures of my children with no clothes. So, I just picked her up, put the dish in closed the door, and off she went. Well, even later, Kevin caught her climbing up to the second step and throwing the blankets down (that he had just folded up) so she could have a seat. And what did he do? Yep, he snapped a picture. You have to admit though she is so darn cute even if she is naked!

On Friday Adam pulled out his tool belt and asked me to put it on him. Jackson tried the construction vest on and then went to get the safety goggles and the hard hat to add to the outfit.

Well, now that we're all caught up, you know what's been going on in our ever so crazy lives! I promise to take so long to post the next entry!