Our summer vacation started with a surprise 70th birthday party for my Uncle Bailey in the DC area. Great to catch up with family, many of whom we had not seen in years. Amelia had a virus on the way up, so the drive was less than pleasant, but each day she improved a little and by the time we headed up to Hershey Park in Pennsylvania, she was right as rain!
We arrived about 15 minutes prior to the opening of the amusement park. The attendant admonished us to "have a sweet day!" Boy, did we ever! The weather cooperated beautifully, the children were angelic (no, really!), the lines were non-existent, the chocolate people were out in full force.
The park designates each visitor as a candy, based on height. Becca fell into the "Reeses" cateogry, Molly was a "Hershey Bar" and Peter and I were, of course, both "Jolly Ranchers." Amelia measured in as a "Hershey's Miniature" and was able to ride several things with a sister or a parent and happily napped in between. Rebecca is our fearless 5-year-old--she did not disappoint and rode the roller coasters with excitement and fanfare. Molly surprised us by going on an upside-down roller coaster and LOVING it. Both girls couldn't get enough of old wooden coasters (a la Zippin Pippin, formerly of Memphis) and modern loop-de-loops. I am fairly certain we rode just about everything available, a few of them more than once. Even though it was Memorial Day, we never waited through more than 2 spins for any given ride, and for most, we just walked right on. In the late afternoon, we transitioned into bathing suits for a dip in the water park rides--a lazy river, water slides, and shallow spray pools for little ones.
Yes, this picture includes Peter and Molly upside down!Finally, we watched the sun set from atop the ferris wheel--all 5 of us, blissfully exhausted, slightly sunburned and happy as clams.
Yay for Hershey. A sweet day indeed.
