Hershey

My family grew up going to Hershey Park in Hershey, PA with a visit to Friendly's afterwards, every year. I haven't been since I was married, about 6 years ago.

Although I will admit going to an amusement park as a parent rather then a kid is a lot less fun. As much as I love seeing my little ones on rides with faces lit up with excitement and thrill, the fussing and whining that comes with waiting in lines is tiring to say the least. We managed to have a whole lot of fun though. 

Here are some highlights:

Tilt-A-Whirl

We each had a turn on this one :)

Bella was in love with the rides! Throughout the whole day she was well behaved well as good as a 2 yr old can be, Connor on the other hand, well he could have done better and he could have done worse. 

Sydney was well . . . just plain perfect, our silent sleeper the entire time. 

Fresh Kettle Corn, Blue Cotton Candy, and Dippin Dots were all family favorites and big hits with the little ones as well!

As we drove into the park the first thing Connor saw was a HUGE roller coaster and of course my dare devil child wanted nothing more than to go on "that one". So all day as he went on rides he kept insisting "that one next" as he pointed earnestly up at the closest roller coaster. Fortunately, the Cocoa Cruiser had just opened a small roller coaster that he could just barely go on. And although the line was long he waited anxiously but diligently, even though many kids left because the line was too long or because the ride looked too scary and we even witnessed a few breakdowns before, during and after the "scary" ride. For a side note, I was surprised at the amount of adults (unaccompanied by children) that went on (it made the line quite a bit longer when only one adult could go in each car).  Right as we got up to the ride Connor grabbed my leg and held on tight asking "you go with me?" I assured him I would if he wanted even though Uncle Joe was waiting in line to go on as well. As soon as it was finally our turn a girl (about 7 or 8) in front of Connor burst into tears and insisted she couldn't go and ran to her Daddy. Well that didn't stop Connor he ran to the first car so he could be in the front row and Uncle Joe sat next to him and when I asked if he needed me he shook his head with a big huge grin as he waited giddily to begin the ride. And off he went with screams of one happy boy leading the coaster.

While Connor was waiting in line, Daddy and Bella went on a bunch of rides. Her favorite being the laddybugs, and the beloved carousel.

We all squeezed in for a ride on the ferris wheel. Which Bella adored. And Daddy well not so much.

The Swings are another crowd pleaser that almost everyone enjoyed, except the sleepy young ones.

Shea and I even managed to sneak away and go on a few roller coasters at the end!

Side note: Shea and I were stoked about going to an amusement park and having so much fun on rides, but we've never taken the kids and boy oh boy things are sure different with kids. And I'll admit it taught us a lesson in sacrifice :) 

As a Martin Family tradition we always went out to eat at a Friendly's after Hershey Park. And even though it was late and we were all exhausted we were all also famished. Connor fell asleep during dinner but I promised that boy ice cream and ice cream he got, very first thing. Along with a special shark drink Daddy insisted on getting him. (Although I think Daddy was more excited for it then he was.)

What a special day.