Hershey, PA

Hershey, PA here we come...

In the evening of our first day we were able to get a sneak peek of Hershey Park.  We quickly went from ride to ride to see how much we could do in a couple of hours.  It was awesome!

I love this picture, and I love that he rides with the kids!

Kavan had the best time being in control, when his big brother took the back seat!

Nothing better than star ships at night!

The next morning we started early with the Chocolate World Tour.

Oh, the amount of chocolate in one day!

WOW!

Look at all those kisses!

Then we got an early entrance to the park and were off and running... and riding!

Kyler was so excited!

Karlee "out rode" all of us this year!  She is a roller coaster junkie!

This roller coaster was my favorite!

Karlee was a little nervous at first, but by the end she was like "ROCK ON!"

After we rode, Kyler and Karlee knew they had to take grandma and grandpa...

 



Check out my mom and dad in the back two seats.  I love it!  My dad is like "Whew, I made it!"  And my mom is just laughing!

YA!

Over in the "fair-like" part of the park the kids rode rides over and over again.  Karlee and Kavan loved the wooden roller coasters, but us older folks (even Kyler) found that the wooden coasters rattle our bones too much!  :)

Taking a break while we wait for the little kids to get done with the coasters!

Then there was a little competition!

Guess who won!?!

Oh wait...another competitor?

Need another try?

Yep, another try!

Still the winner!!! :)

I love Karlee's face!  I don't know how she got so competitive!  :)

So much fun!

Then we hung out in the water park!  It was hot!  This was our favorite slide!  We would almost come off the tube when we shot out of the whirlpool!

At the end of the day,  I had been outdone!  So, I became the official holder of every one's "stuff!"

Oh, the anticipation...

Ahhhhhhh! :)

The next day we went to the Hershey Chocolate Lab and Museum.

Making chocolate bars is serious stuff!

Ok, maybe not that serious!

(A cocoa bean pod.)

"Beach bars" with graham cracker crumbs, sea salt, and Hershey's chocolate!  YUM!

The museum was really neat.  Who knew Hershey started with a caramel factory!?!

They had a lot of interactive stuff too - that helped keep the kids interested.

Chocolate makes everyone happy!

So, Hershey is much more than chocolate and roller coasters!  It has some of the neatest shops!  We spent...okay I spent hours in a pharmacy, because they had this really cool jewelry section with really unique stuff.  It was so fun!  And I could have spent hours in this antique place, but they were just about closing when we got there.  However, Layne did find a Yankee screwdriver!  :)

So many fun memories made in Hershey, PA!  I loved it when my mom said, "They better remember that grandma rode all these rides."  What a cool grandma she is - even if she has to close her eyes!  I think that's how she rates a ride.  She got off one and said, "I was able to keep my eyes open on that one!"  HeeHee!  I love you, Mom and Dad!  :)  Hey, those cookies were good, huh?!  :)

Next Stop...Ohio!

(My blog has been down for awhile so now I'm really far behind!)

We were all excited about Ohio because Ohio means family!

(prepare for a lot of pictures)

While in North Carolina we got word that there had been a huge storm in Ohio and many people had lost their power.  My Grandma was one of them.  We arrived in Ohio expecting hot, dirty, grumpy people - that was not the case!  They had hooked up a generator, used water sparingly, and kept busy.  My aunt and uncle had power so they pulled a camper (thanks Fran and Henry) to their house, and set up space for us to come stay!  It was great!  They are great!  And we had some good fun over the next couple of days!

  

My mom took this picture "A Beautiful Storm", before we got there!

During summer vacation at Grandma's house, my brother and I would play games (my grandma has a stack of games up in the attic) to pass the time.  So, we played games with my grandma!  And she is quite tricky at this age old game of "Hands Down!"  She got us all and we laughed - and I can't help but smile every time I think of it.  What a great memory!

See my grandma's hand - it was always ready!

Look at Kyler's face - he lost that round!

Sarah and Brian had us all over for dinner.  It was so fun to visit them in their cute home and see their cute little kids!

Kavan and Eme had a great time together!

That little Briar  is so cute with his little grin - you can't help but kiss him!

John and Annie's new puppy!

Kavan and Eme swinging...

and jumping!  And they ran everywhere!

My Aunt Patty always keeps busy, so she brought us an activity.  We made flip flops!

Flip flops for Sarah.  (and her shirt cracks me up!)

For Kenzie

Cute, right?!?

For me, but Karlee has acquired them, hmmm! :)

For Annie.

For Eme!

For my mom...

See!  :)

And where there is a baby, there will you find my dad! :)

This picture makes me laugh!

 We went shopping, cause that's what girls do with their moms, and we had 4 generations so we went shopping 2 days in a row!  (I love how we have pictures of shopping, because who does that?)  Of course we had to try on shoes!  When Kenzie was little we could not go to the shoe department... because we could not leave the shoe department without blood curdling cries!  It was painful when she needed shoes!  She's outgrown the crying... but not the love for shoes!

I love how they still pick the "highest, brightest and sparkliest" shoes!

Kenzie had to show my mom how to walk in them!  :)

Look at my Grandma checking out Karlee's shoes!

Love them! :)

We went over to John and Annie's for some amazing food and fun!

Kyler causing trouble I'm sure!

And then there are Brian and Kavan, who are always causing trouble!

Ready for fireworks!

It got cold and I think Layne was making fun of me!

Fireworks and homemade ice cream!

Oh, to sleep through noise like a baby can!

Eme gettin' her uncle!

Eme givin' hugs!

In an earlier post, I talked about this place we ate at after Brian and Sarah were sealed in DC, and Brian ate a "big ole' burger"...

this shirt came from there!  My aunt gave it to me, because she's awesome like that!  It was a great day and such a fun memory! (I love my shirt, thanks Aunt Patty!)

And talking about a fun memory... For Kenzie's birthday, Layne had "commissioned" my uncle to make her a hope chest.  She didn't know about this beautiful surprise!  So as they were bringing it up the stairs we started singing Happy Birthday and since it was past her birthday, she was singing with us, because why not?  When we got to "Happy Birthday, dear McKenzieeeeee..."  this was her reaction.

The Confusion!

The Surprise!

The Hope Chest!  It's just beautiful and smooth as a baby's bum!

The Hug!  So much love and thanks to my uncle!  What a special treasure!

We went out to my aunt's mom and dad's farm, and once again had some good fun!  Oh and some good food.  Someone brought this Mexican Vanilla Cake.  Oh man, it was to die for!  I have got to find that recipe!  Also, my aunt made this really great treat - A package of oreo cookies (generic work great) crushed and mixed with a package of cream cheese, put on a sucker stick, dipped in chocolate, and enjoyed by all!  

I love this picture of Henry and the kids!

And I love these two!  They make me happy, because they are so darn cute together!

"Come on, Kyler!"

And get a load of those cheeks, could this picture be any cuter!  Eme had Kyler's hand and heart!

Look at these two cuties!

Shooting skeet!

The girls had to show us how it's done!

Kyler likes Annie's gun...A LOT!

Look at those guys!

Go, Kenzie!

I love this picture!  I wish I had a picture of John shootin' from the hip!  He cracks me up! :)

Go, Patty!

Go, Dad!

And Uncle John shot "clean up!"  :)

Next stop, Hershey!