Weekend At Hershey Park....

Saturday, June 30, 2007

We started off our day just as I do my usual week day. Alarm went off at 5:00 am. Got up and showered. Nicholas walked into the bathroom while I was drying off from the shower and asked if I was excited, because he was “really excited because we were going on vacation to Hershey Park.” He’s so cute. We got the car packed and were out of the driveway by 6:30. The first stop was at the bagel store for breakfast. We stopped by Jen’s parents’ house to say goodbye and eat breakfast. We said our goodbyes and started our journey to Pennsylvania with Grandpa Eddie, Grandma Janice, and Great Grandma Flo in the other vehicle.

We stopped in Easton, PA, to see the Crayola factory museum. It was really quite enjoyable for the kids. There were plenty of hands-on creative activities for them to do. I, on the other hand, was pretty disappointed with the demonstration they had on how they make crayons. I guess I’ll have to stick to watching “How It’s Made” on TLC.

After a quick lunch we hit the Crayola store and the kids made out like bandits. Grandpa Eddie just couldn’t say “no” to whatever the kids threw in the basket. We continued our trek to Hershey after cleaning out the store. The kids and I were in the pool within 10 minutes of checking in.

The visitor friendly policy of allowing guests free access to the park 2 ½ prior to closing if tickets are bought for the following day, we decided to go to Hershey park for a quick visit and to check out the weekly firework show. The kids went on a couple of rides and played a bunch of the games. As it got closer to closing time (and to the fireworks) we headed for the exit, and the parking lot. We sat on the grass and watched the 10 minute fireworks show. Afterwards we piled in the cars and tried to leave the parking lot. 30 minutes later, we succeeded.

On a purely logistical review, the park sucked. The whole layout of the park and the parking lot is terrible. Unless you’ve got handicap plates, you have a very long walk to the entrance. Once in the park, a lot more walking is in store. I’m not against walking, but I am against a poorly laid out amusement park. It’s basically a long and narrow park with one path from one end to the other. I’d much prefer a lay out similar to the Bronx Zoo where the park is more similar to a squareish shape with a path around the perimeter with various paths throughout the middle of the park connecting all areas of the park. It’s much more convenient and you’re never that far from your exit. But I digress….



Sunday July 1, 2007

After a very full day and a late night for the kids yesterday, they all slept until about 8:00. We took advantage of the continental breakfast offered here at the hotel and the leftover bagels and we ate in our room. Jennie and I took the kids and got to the park for opening time. We headed straight to the “Boardwalk” section and tried out all the water rides the kids were big enough for and were brave enough to try. I took each of the boys on a pretty simple tube ride where we sat in a small raft and went down a straight tube with a little bit of splash involved. Next Nicky and I tried out the flume ride and we got totally soaked. Next up was the little kiddie section where Thomas and Nicky ran around and went down a bunch of tiny water slides. After a while of this, I took Nicky on a big tube ride called the “Vortex.” It’s a two person blow up tube in the shape of a number 8 that goes down a winding water tube and shoots you out into a funnel shaped section that you go around a few times before going down the drain in the middle. As big as Nicky is, he’s still too young/small to do some things. Our tube flipped over just as we got to the funnel section and had to finish the ride sliding down on our butts. One could argue that it wasn’t Nicky’s smallness but rather my largeness that caused the unbalanced tube causing us to turnover, but that’s another discussion.

After a few hours in the water, grandmas and grandpa arrived at the park and we met up for lunch. The boys and I changed out of our wet bathing suits and put on some dry clothes. We found a bunch more rides for the kids to go on and a slew of money-taking games for the kids to play. All of the kids “won” a bunch of stuffed animals at the various games and they all left happy. We stopped by the chocolate factory on the way to the cars for a pretty cool tour/ride and of course, the Hershey store.

Once back at the hotel, it was back in the pool for the kids and I. Grandpa Eddie even put on his bathing suit and joined us at the pool. Joining us at the pool was as far as he got. He never made it into the water. After an hour in the water, we ate dinner at the picnic table near the pool. Up next was a bath for the kids and then movie night in our room as the grandmas joined us to watch “Bedknobs and Broomsticks.”

Hopefully all this activity today will knock the kids out and they’ll sleep til 8:00 again tomorrow!

Monday July 2, 2007

No luck on the kids sleeping in two days in a row. Oh well.

After breakfast at Friendly’s the group of us drove to the outlets at Hershey for some shopping. 5 hours later and lots of dollars later, we finally broke down and went to a late lunch/early dinner at a local restaurant. Back to the hotel for more pool time and some naps then it was off to Dairy Queen for ice cream for dinner.

Tuesday July 3, 2007

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO NICHOLAS!!!

Nicky turns 6 today. Growing up and hearing the older people in my life say “time flies” never really meant anything to me, but as I’ve grown older, I’ve come to realize truer words have never been mentioned. I can still remember it like it was yesterday the day I picked up Jennie and Nicky from the hospital and brought them home. And here it is 6 years later.

This morning Nicky wanted eggs and pancakes for breakfast so it was back to Friendly’s. Afterwards we drove to Lancaster to check out an Amish farm museum. I didn’t pay too much attention to the details but it was either a recreation of a farm or an old farm turned into a museum. There was a horse and buggy ride that Nicky loved so much that he went on three times. They had a couple of cows, some sheep, pygmy goats, turkeys, and a few other animals. Everything was very hands-on and the kids really enjoyed feeding the goats.

It just so happened that there were some outlet stores across the street from the Amish farm so we stopped there quickly in a couple of stores then headed back to the hotel. On the way back we stopped at a Rite Aid to pick up some children’s Tylenol for Alexis who woke up with a stuffy nose and came down with a fever. Apparently they’re really strict about selling over the counter drugs in PA – Jennie was asked to show ID to prove she was over 18! The boys and I spent an hour or so in the pool while the grandparents and Alexis took naps. Pizza again for dinner and an ice cream birthday cake for Nicky afterwards. Cleaned up and put pajamas on the kids and now were half way through “Lion King 1½.”

All in all, it’s been a very good vacation and the kids have had a lot of fun. Tomorrow we’re heading back home which none of the kids are happy about. They all want to spend more time on vacation. Definitely not a bad thing….