Adventures in PA

Part 3 (and the final leg) of our July vacation was our time in Pennsylvania.  The children and I have an annual summer tradition of spending a week in Harrisburg with Mimi and Grandpa while Mark returns to work.  One of the items that is always on our must-do list is a visit to Chocolate World in Hershey:  

After posing for silly pictures outside Chocolate World, we went on the ride that teaches us how chocolate is made:

Both kids loved checking out all of the goodies on display.  Leah was thrilled to be surrounded by so much tasty chocolate, and she rewarded us with her best cheesy smile:

Next it was time to taste our annual milkshakes from the sweetest place on Earth:

The verdict:  DELICIOUS!

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Another of our fun Pennsylvania activities was to return to City Island in downtown Harrisburg, where we rode the steam locomotive around the island.  While we waited at the train station to board, the children rode a miniature version of our choo-choo train, and posed for some adorable pictures:

Before we knew it, we heard "All Aboard"!  By a stroke of luck, we had the entire train all to ourselves, and took our own private tour:   

After the train ride, we couldn't resist an opportunity to ride on the City Island carousel:

What a fun morning it was!

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We also had lots of fun out and about during our week in PA.  Some of our favorite things were:

Eating ice cream cones at the Farmer's Market:

Exploring all of Mimi's knick knacks:

Visiting the playground across the street from Mimi's house:

Playing with Mommy's childhood toys and looking at photo albums:

Luke loved Mommy's old record player!

-and entertaining everyone with Patty-Cake, somersaults, and tickles:

After all of our PA adventures last week, we had very tired, happy kiddos:

 

I flew back to SC alone with the children on Saturday morning, concluding our almost 3 week-long whirlwind vacation. Despite my nerves about how to manage a preschooler and toddler on the plane, both Luke and Leah handled their 4:30 a.m. wake-up call cheerfully, were angels waiting in looonng lines at the airport, and the actual flight was a piece of cake. My secret was my carry-on filled to the brim with every snack imaginable, and I think that the kids consumed 2 ziploc bags of goldfish, 1.5 boxes of animal crackers, 2 bags of airplane snack pretzels, 2 granola bars, 4 Dum Dums, 2 packages of fruit snacks, and 2 packs of dried fruit... all before we landed at 9:20 a.m. 

 

And now we are Home Sweet Home, looking forward to a quiet August of pajama days, swimming at the pool, and more summer fun.     

Funland!

As promised, here is my annual Funland blog post.  It's a daily ritual during our week at Rehoboth Beach to visit this family amusement center on the boardwalk which has fun for all ages.    I love comparing my pictures of Luke as he rides the same firetruck, boat, and car rides each year... It's such a concrete way to see how he has grown and changed each summer.  This year, Luke seemed really big on all the kiddie rides, and I wondered if I'd have to explain to an attendant that my child really is just 4, despite the fact that he looks years older than all the other toddlers & preschoolers on the same rides.  Although Luke still asked to go on all the baby rides, he seemed a bit bored as they went around in slow circles and I can't even bear to think that this may be the last summer that he enjoys these vehicles:

However, we did get a glimpse of a fun new stage with Luke as ventured into the big kid area and discovered his new favorite ride:  Bumper Cars!!

What could be more up Luke's alley than bonking people and zipping around a racetrack in a car?!  The expression on pure joy on Luke's face each time he rode the bumper cars was priceless, and thankfully Daddy enjoyed this ride too:

Waving to Mommy.

Luke was also interested in several of the arcade games this year, including skee ball and the "claw game" (following in his Daddy's footsteps):

Then there were the fast cars.  Luke really wanted to ride the big kid cars that went around in dizzying circles.  Forward... and then backward.  Daddy insisted that he was too tall to accompany Luke on this ride, that his stomach wouldn't do well, etc.  By default, Mommy was the lucky one to go with Luke and was all smiles...

...until the ride started moving.  About a minute into the ride, I learned that since having children, something has changed with my vestibular system and that centrifugal force is no longer my friend.  Meanwhile, Luke was giggling uncontrollably and having the time of his life:

Mommy realized that if she kept her eyes on a still spot on the ground, didn't look up, and visualized a happy place, that she may live to see the rest of the day.  Luke asked Mommy to "please stop making that noise" midway through the ride (which I believe was a small, high-pitched squeak/moan that I tried to disguise as squeals of joy for my child's benefit):

 Lesson learned on this ride: We will need to take a fun, roller-coaster loving aunt or uncle with us if we ever go to an amusement park with our children when they get bigger. 

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Leah was much more tentative about Funland than Luke was when he was her age.  I could pretend that the below picture was taken of my delighted child on the boats, but in reality, it represents the 10 second period right after we plopped her on the ride (just before she decided that she wanted nothing to do with the entire thing):

Here is a more accurate photo of Leah's reaction to most of the kiddie rides (Don't worry, we rescued her from those mean old boats):

Leah did decide that she would tolerate the fire trucks if her brave big brother accompanied her, and the kids looked quite adorable riding together:

Here is a close up of Leah in the backseat of the firetruck, and an almost identical one of Luke at the same age (in 2009).  Such sweet babies!

Leah's favorite ride was the carousel and she shouted, "Neigh Neigh!" each time we saw it.  She rode it again and again, and was very proud of herself for riding on the big horses:

It was also fun when the cousins rode some of the rides together: 

Maya, Gabe, and Luke on the helicopters.

Gabe and Luke on the military airplanes.  Somehow, I just can't picture girly Leah on this ride next year!

Funland celebrated its 50th anniversary this summer, and is such a cute place, full of old-fashioned family fun.  It's neat to think that Mimi visited Funland as a child, that Mark and his brothers rode the very same rides the next generation, and that our children are still enjoying all that Funland has to offer! 

Rehoboth Beach 2012

Last week we spent Part 2 of our July vacation at our annual Winterhoff Family Beach Week in Rehoboth Beach, DE.  There were too many highlights to name, but here are some of my favorites:

-It is a family tradition that the Beach Witch/Fairy hides treasures for the children after dinner each night.  The kids go on a treasure hunt for these gifts, and it is something that they all look forward to and anticipate each evening.  And that Beach Fairy somehow knows EXACTLY what each child loves and gives some wonderful presents!!!!

Off on a treasure hunt.

Showing off their treasures.

-The beach itself was great this year.  The weather wasn't too hot, the water was a nice temperature for swimming, and the sand was just right for digging big holes.  Because of this, we spent lots of time at the beach each morning, and didn't even visit the pool in the condo complex (which has been a great alternative in years past when beach conditions have not been as ideal!):

Luke's thrilling beach sighting!

-Cousin time!!  The big girls were enchanted by little Leah, who was pretty clingy to Mommy, and not quite sure about being everyone's baby doll:

Leah and Maya in their coordinating froggy pjs!

Gabe pronounced, "She's a cutie!" when he spotted Leah! 

- There were special donut mornings with Poppy (for the girls and for the boys), and Gabe and Luke even had matching beach shirts that were just adorable:

-We also had a great, open grassy area in the backyard that was perfect for games, baseball & soccer, parachutes, and bubbles.  Mark's aunt/uncle and cousins were just a few houses down from us and it was fun to play with 2-year old Addie in the yard and visit with our extended family.  We had our annual Crab Night at their house, too, and what a delicious feast that was for the crab-lovers in our family! 

The kids far exceeded my sleeping expectations. In previous years, they have lived up to their reputations as precarious sleepers, but this summer, Luke crashed every night in a sleeping bag on the floor of our room and was not heard from for almost 12 hours, waking at such reasonable hours that began with the numbers 6 or 7 (vs. the year that he woke at 4:30 or 5:00 each morning b/c he was too excited to sleep!). Leah slept well for all nights except the last one, and she took long naps each morning while the big kids were at the beach, which meant that she was happy and cheerful for the afternoons.

-Luke did take a nap one day in the middle of the week, which was perfect, as it recharged him and we were able to have special Mommy and Daddy time with him that evening. Since we knew he'd be up late that night, we went to the boardwalk after Leah went to bed and had funnel cake as a special treat. My favorite memory from that night was looking at Luke's bright eyes, his face covered in powdered sugar, as he sat between Mark & me and exclaimed, "I LOVE this!". Not sure if he meant the bustling night life, having his parents all to himself, or the special excursion, but my heart swelled, and I loved it, too!


By a happy coincidence, one of Luke's favorite characters in the world happened to be at the bookstore in Rehoboth Beach while we were there. I spotted a sign that said, "Meet Clifford for Story Time" and when I told Luke that we were going, he asked in awe, "Mommy, is it going to be the REAL Clifford?.... the one that lives with Emily Elizabeth?!!" After Luke had such a great year in his Clifford-themed preschool classroom, this meeting was very exciting for all of us and did not disappoint:

The adults, although not party animals, still had some fun after the kids were put to bed each night. This year we had a Wii in the beach house, and shared lots of giggles watching the athleticism displayed by everyone who played. Most nights, the grown-up brothers stayed up well past every one else battling fiercely in competive Wii sports matches. And the week wouldn't be complete without our annual girls vs. guys Gestures game, where once again, the girls beat the guys (right, ladies?) Ok, I may be rewriting history there, but I can pretend...

-Then there was Funland, a Rehoboth landmark and tradition which certainly lives up to its name.  I am going to address Funland in a separate blog post because there are just too many great pictures and stories to organize right now.  Luke did ask if he could have his 5th birthday party there, and it is a place that he yearns for and remembers all year long.

-And for all of the adventure, excitement, and things to do, some of the most precious, snuggly times occurred during quiet moments with Bean and Poppy, who work so hard all year long to plan and provide a wonderful family vacation for us.  Thank you for priceless memories and for carrying on such an incredible tradition for our children to cherish!

Here is a slideshow of more of our Rehoboth Beach pictures: