Our Graduation Trip

Bare with me, this will be a HUGE post. But I really wanted to include this because this was a great opportunity for our family.

So, this trip started the beginning of what I felt like was one whole month of straight going, going, going. Nate's family left our house Wednesday morning early and we took off for Pennsylvania around noon. Here is a quick synopsis of what we did over our 5 day VACATION.

Hershey, PA

Wednesday evening.

We got to the factory 1 hour before it closed. We were able to take the tour and look around enough. It actually was just about the right amount of time.

Headed to hotel near Sesame Place

Wednesday evening - even later.

SESAME PLACE

We spent Thursday and Friday at the park.

Scranton, PA

Friday evening.

This is Chris and Kristal's fault for getting us hooked on The Office. When we were planning our trip, I noticed that Scranton was literally RIGHT off the freeway on our way up to the Potter's in NY. So, we took the 10 minute detour and drove through the city.

The Potters - Syracuse, NY

Friday evening late - Sunday morning.

We got to their house late Friday night and spent all day Saturday and left for home Sunday after church.

Kirtland, Ohio

Sunday right at 5 p.m.

In all our time in Ohio, we hadn't been to Kirtland. So, we decided (Sat. night) to leave right after church and try to make it to Kirtland. We are very proud to say that our family has now been to Kirtland Ohio (by the skin of our teeth - 2 weeks before we moved from the state, but who's counting?)

Columbus, Ohio

Sunday night, late.

Late Sunday night. Exhausted and glad to be home!!! We sure packed a lot in, but we had a GREAT time.

So, here goes the photo album of our trip:

HERSHEY, PA

We got here an hour before they closed, but with plenty of time to ride the tour and have some fun!!

There were singing cows that told us all about how chocolate is made. They actually did a really good job with this - it was very cute and well done. Even Linz who doesn't sit still for more than 30 seconds (no she doesn't watch movies yet AT ALL) was captivated by the singing cows.

They had a great representation of the process to make the chocolate. Here are a few pics of that.




Since we were on vacation, (and we were trying to let our budget minds go somewhat) we let the kids EACH pick out a treat from the store. I know, a big step for us.


The kids loved the ride SO much that we had to go one more time. (It may have had something to do with the fact that we got a handful of chocolate treats at the end of the tour, who knows????)

We got out of the factory when it was dark, so this is actually inside the building, but all along the streets in Hershey the street lights look like this. It was very cool to see.
We would highly recommend this trip to anyone. I'm not quite sure it's worth the trip just for this, but if you are heading out this way - well worth the stop. There is an amusement park right there in Hershey also, so that could make it worth it. I also hear that the Crayola Factory is not too far from Hershey. So that could make a fun trip.


SESAME PLACE
This is the first ride you see while you are waiting to get in the park. The boys were VERY brave and both went on their FIRST roller coaster ride.
Melinda and Ethan went first. Ethan was very brave and loved it.
Luke and Nate went next. I think it was a little scary for Luke, but he did great also.
And around the turn.

There was a huge trampoline that the kids got to jump all over in. Linz got in, but wouldn't jump. She just held onto the side and looked at me.

Nate took Linz on the balloon ride while the boys were in the trampoline. She had fun.

The park was set up very well. There were water rides and small pools all throughout the park, so you were never very far away from getting wet. It was VERY hot the days we were there.

Nate took the boys on this ride. They climbed A LOT of stairs to get to the top and had a fun ride down. They both LOVED it. We did this one several times.

Luke and I tried this ride first. I was very impressed with the amount of rides Luke was able to go on. There were several he couldn't do even with an adult, but there we still MANY he could do.

Ethan was very brave and did this one ALL BY HIMSELF.

He even had to show off and show us that he could do it backwards too.

Linz was even able to go on this ride with an adult. She did great!!!


We had to try the roller coaster one more time. This time Ethan went by himself and Luke rode with me. So brave they both are. That is Ethan in the very back and Luke and I right ahead of him.

The classic airplane ride with an ELMO twist. We rode on various flying Elmos. Linz took a good nap in the afternoon. That sun wears you out. We all slept well that night, well, except for Nate and Luke....

Nate bribed Luke with his very own slurpee if he'd ride on the roller coaster. As you could see, Luke did it and we got slurpees Thursday night after the park. A combination of not eating much, TONS of sun, not drinking enough water and a WHOLE slurpee to a four year olds' self was not a great combination. He threw up Thur. night in the hotel. He was just fine the next day and had lots of fun at the park again.

(Nate was up with him cleaning it up, with me being near throwing up at any given minute, the combination of me cleaning up his throw up would have been sure to be a multiplied disaster.)

Thanks Nate for being such a good sport about cleaning up after Luke.

The timing of Nate being without work and school is working out really well for me and this pregnancy. I have been spoiled this time for sure. Nate deserves a HUGE reward for all his help this summer. He has been used to being gone all day every day and then to be home all day every day for two months with a cranky, pregnant wife - he really has been a good sport and I think he was very ready to start work!!!!

This, I thought, would be the scariest ride for the kids. The drop ride. It didn't drop quite as far as the ones just for adults, but for a kid...it's kinda scary.

This was one I almost couldn't believe they let Linz ride on. She was brave, at first, but it really was scary for her. You could see her legs out straight and stiff and Nate said she held on to his finger for her life. Poor kid...

I would even have been scared to go on this one, in fact I didn't go on it. This is one of those slides that shoots almost straight down. Ethan rode it several times. He is our little fish.

A fun little climbing wall for the kiddos. Ethan got creative and went down head first.

At the end of the day, we went to a Sesame Street show. Here we are waiting and ready.

Linz watched like this the whole time (leaning up against the bench in front of us) until the characters came out to shake hands with the audience. She quickly pulled back and joined us in our seats.

Nate wore just the right shirt this day and got picked as one of three dads to show us the moves of the Hawaiian dancing. He did great and the kids thought that was pretty funny.

SCRANTON, PA

This is for all you Office fans. It was kind of a fun stop. Not much to the city. They don't do the filming here, but it was fun to see.

The Potters - NY

Saturday we headed to a beach near Mike and Summer's house. It was a lot of fun.

Ethan had fun building an island for himself. I didn't take enough pictures of us with the Potters. I didn't even get a picture of Mike and Summer while we were there. I am very sad.

We had a fun time though. We played Rock Band and Guitar Hero (both of which Ethan loves and wants to buy every time we see them in the store.)

We got a babysitter Sat. night and went to dinner with Mike and Summer to a Japanese Steakhouse. It was our first time there and it was a lot of fun.

Summer put her lens (that I'd love to buy) on my camera and took these pictures of Linz. Aren't they just adorable. I love the look on her face in the second picture. That pretty much says who she is right there. She loves to tease and that is her teasing look right there.


KIRTLAND, OHIO

We got to Kirtland right before 5 p.m. which is when they stop giving tours of the temple. We took one wrong turn and didn't make it to the temple in time to get a tour. But, we did get to tour around the LDS sights. It was very nice to be there on a Sunday (and Father's Day for that.) We basically had a private tour and had a fun time. Sorry Nate, we'll have to make up for Father's Day next year!!! At least we got to be with you ALL day long.

WOW, now that was a lot.

It was SO much fun to be together as a family. We had a great time in the car traveling the East and I am so glad we were able to do this to celebrate the end of our student days and to welcome in the next chapter of our lives.