Well, our first night's stay at our hotel was less than exciting. Our beds were hard and uncomfortable, but at least the place was clean! I can't say that it was the worst hotel I've ever stayed in. And on a positive note, Aaron and Matthew actually slept in the same bed and didn't wake each other up all night long! That's a step in the right direction for us.
Hersheypark doesn't open until 10am (which I think is awesome because we didn't have to get up at the crack of dawn just to get there on time), so we tried to keep the boys in bed until 8. They woke up around 6, though, regardless of how late they went to bed the night before. We had breakfast in our room (we brought breakfast with us from home and kept it in the fridge) and then we headed out!
When we got to the park we had to park in the regular parking instead of the preferred parking (which was closed) like we did the previous day. So we took the tram from the parking lot.
Chris made sure we stopped to get a picture in front of this sign because I mentioned it like 3 times the day before. He's good at making sure I get what I want.
This is how the rides were categorized. You stand next to the sign and depending on how tall you are, you are a Hershey's Mini, Hershey's Kiss, Reese's PB Cup, Hershey's Milk Chocolate, Twizzlers, or a Jolly Rancher. Each ride had a sign like this in front of it and if your picture wasn't up there, you couldn't ride the ride. It was actually really cool because it visually let the boys know what they could and couldn't ride.
Matthew is a Hershey's Milk Chocolate...
Aaron kept insisting that he was a Hershey's Kiss until we showed him that being a Hershey's Kiss meant there were a lot of rides he would not be allowed to ride.
So he finally believed us and accepted the fact that he is a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup.
Chris and I are Jolly Ranchers. Matthew took this picture! He's a good little apprentice.
We went over to an area of the park that we missed the day before and rode lots of rides, including the Ferris Wheel.
Chris saw a Corvette Stingray and couldn't stop staring. I finally convinced Chris to stand by it so I can take a picture. He loved it!
This is apparently a place that was made just to take pictures. So here we are on the corner of Cocoa Ave. and Chocolate Ave.
We got a sample of chocolate after the ride. Chris was once told by someone who spent time in PA that the chocolate in Hershey tastes better than the Hershey's chocolate you would buy at the store. And wow. He was right! The chocolate there just tastes fresh and delicious! Also, there is a bakery there. I went online and saw the stuff the bakery has and couldn't wait to try it! We fell in love with something called a Reese's Peanut Butter Blossom. It's a peanut butter cookie that is rolled in chunks of peanut butter cups and baked with a full size Reese's on the top. I don't think I've ever seen Chris enjoy a dessert this much!
After Hershey's Chocolate World we went to the parking lot and had a picnic on the grass under the shade. We took a quick nap (the boys "rested") and then headed back!
We hit the water rides after lunch. We all loved the lazy river. It was shallow and fast. Something a bit scary happened, though. Matthew liked being able to go faster and be ahead of us. At the exit, you had the option of going around again or getting out. We told Matthew that we would go around one more time. So when we came to the exit and we didn't see Matthew, we thought maybe he went around again. Luckily we caught up with him and he was fine, but it was a bit scary for all of us. It was a good opportunity to teach him a lesson about making sure he stays close to us and why we try to keep him close to us when he's "fine by himself." Our next stop was the wave pool where Matthew and Aaron had fun playing in the waves. Matthew wanted to go on the Tidal Force ride, which is a boat that goes down a semi-steep drop and creates this HUGE wave the crashes over a walking bridge. Aaron didn't want to go on it, so we just watched.
On our way to the changing rooms we saw the Geico gecko!! This gecko is the first brand that Matthew ever recognized. He saw a billboard when we were in Phoenix when he was really little and said "Geico!" when he saw it. They both love the gecko! Can you tell by their faces?
We made a dinner reservation at the Hersheypark Place restaurant so we could go somewhere with sit down service. Matthew and Aaron loved coloring their Hershey coloring page. The food was promising, but Chris's burger was rare and had to be sent back. And then I noticed that the salad I was eating had a bug in it. Yuck! So the nice people there didn't charge us for mine or Chris's meal.
The boys had allowance saved and they did some extra chores to earn money to spend at Hersheypark, so we let them go into the gift shops and do some shopping. Matthew bought a Hershey stuffed animal, a Hershey keychain, and a giant 2 lb. Hershey bar. Aaron bought a little popcorn buck full of stuffed animals - a Hershey, a Reese's, and a Kiss. So when they saw the Hershey bar, they wanted another picture with the big Hershey bar and their little Hershey stuffed animals.
Later in the day we picked up some Dippin' Dots. The boys (including Chris) shared a sour patch kids flavor and I had rainbow ice later in the evening. This stuff is so good!
We rode a lot more rides towards the end of the evening. I got extremely sore and tired. My back was bothering me so much. But we kept on going until just before the park closed so that Chris could head back to Hershey's Chocolate World and pick up another Reese's Peanut Butter Blossom. Before we left, we took a picture next to the Milton Hershey statue.
We were so tired after 2 days! The boys were tired, too. They tried so hard to be good and for the most part they were great.
Right before we left the park, Chris let the boys play some games and he played a game to try and win me a stuffed animal. He ended up winning a small one, but he made the worker laugh and she let him pick a big one. So this cat (I think it's a cat?) is now sitting on my headboard because my awesome husband won it for me on a carnival game.
We got back to our hotel and after such a long day, the bed definitely did not feel as hard as it did the night before!
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