Chocolate World

Today Addy, Ave, and I headed back to Hershey to take on Chocolate World! We rode the Chocolate Tour...



We met three very happy singing cows...



We drooled over Hundreds of Hershey Kisses in the making...



Yummm!



And then we ate lots of Chocolate (and a bottle of formula) in the shade outside...good stuff!

Hershey Gardens

Yesterday the girls and I went to Hershey to meet Tammy and Evan at Hershey Gardens. We spent most of the morning in the Childrens Garden. The Childrens Garden has lots of fun things to do including a Butterfly house with over 300 of the little guys flying around and a hedge row maze shaped like a huge pretzel which we ran around in for a while.



Hershey Gardens is full of beautifully landscaped open spaces as well as lots of little nooks for kids to explore like this sleepy creek.





After climbing to the top of this friendly pig...



...Addy and Evan found a quiet place to regroup, check out the map, and grab a much needed snack.





Evan loves the train and would have played there all day if the girls hadn't convinced him we would come back later.



He is also a master at spotting all the fish in the pond.





Here are two of the pictures Addy shot in the Butterfly House.

Dogs, Cats, Alpacas, oh my!

Today we decided to have another adventure to a working Alpaca Farm. This is just our second time to the farm but it is by far the highlight of Addy's week each time we visit.

We also really dig the drive through the seemingly endless corn fields with all the windows rolled down along the way...



Addy really likes being welcomed by Patches the Dalmatian! He's a really sweet, gentle boy and he reminds Addy of our Monty. (Monty is spending some time with my Mom in Virginia while we look for a home here in PA with a backyard for him to run in)



Alpacas are very sweet too. Addy really likes hanging out at the farm and playing with all of them. They seem to like having her around and will actually follow her from pen to pen now.



I think this guy is called Ozzie and he has a penchant for Addy's hair.



Today we were able to stay inside the barn pens during lunch.

The youngest of the Alpacas on the farm is just three weeks old. Hopefully we will get a picture with him in it next week. Addysen has decided that we need to return once a week to visit the baby Alpaca and his mommy. Too funny.



(I took these two pictures on my phone outside the Alpaca path and barn during our visit last week, sorry they are a bit blurry)





Next week we are planning trips to a Butterfly House, the Alpaca Farm, Children's Lake to feed the Swans and Ducks, and two new playgrounds. Keep your arms and legs inside the car at all times and hold on to your hats...

Much love,
d.
a.
and
a.

Gelder Park

Today we headed east to Hummelstown, PA which happens to be the home of a fantastic playground at Gelder Park. In Addy's words "yes, so cool". Addy loved going down all the big slides while Ave enjoyed a snooze before getting on the swings...
Later on we took Addy's scooter for a spin around the park and got caught in some rain. After about five minutes under some trees we decided to run back to the car and we got soaked!

Everyone had a great time and Addy wanted to stay and play in the rain puddles, so we did.

We drove back to the Marriott and jumped into the pool to finish off any dry spots.

Good times!

Just a taste...more to come...

Here's a taste of what we have been up to:

Avery at Possibility Place "a playground for all kids" in Harrisburg that we love going to already (we've been three times in a seven days)...



Addy loves to take pictures with our camera...(Possibility Place is in the background)



Addy apple picking at Curiosity Connection inside The State Museum of Pennsylvania.



Tammy and Evan met us at the Museum for a day of fun.



Ave likes crawling through the tunnels at Curiosity Connection...



The slides at the Cocoa Castle Playground in Hershey are super fast!



But Addy likes the tire bridge most of all...



So far so good from PA! No worries.

Under New Managment

Hello,
If you are reading this then you're probably wondering where we have been and whats going on with us. Well...we have recently moved away from the Washington area. Lyndsey has taken a position in Chambersburg, PA and we will be looking for a new house in South Central PA just as soon as we can sell our home in Virginia.
Addy, Ave, and I have been checking out all the local parks and playgrounds and such and we've decided that this blog will be a great way to document all of our fun times together and also let Mommy know what we are up to during the long summer days ahead...and you as well.
So, look for more posts every couple of days while the girls and I adventure through the summer in PA!
d.
a.
and
a.

The 19 Hour Drive to Florida

We were actually in Florida when I took this picture. I believe we were past Jacksonville and not quite to Orlando. We were still about 3-4 hours from our destination. But, it was just another of our many stops on our way to our family reunion/Christmas celebration in Fort Lauderdale. It took us 19 hours to drive from Northern VA to Fort Lauderdale. It should have taken us 15 hours. But, hey, we made it!

Doug and I both worked on Tuesday the 23rd and I made it home at 4:15pm. Doug having just arrived home before me, was waiting and saying we should leave because he had heard from the traffic reports that I-95 South had no traffic. If any of you are knowledgeable about the DC metro area...it's a nightmare attempting to get anywhere during rush-hour traffic. So, after this report, we were thinking: Awesome! We were actually on the road at 5pm and headed quickly down HOV-3 on I-95. Problem. HOV merges with I-95! Our 30 min of pure joy at the speediness of our travels soon turned into 1 1/2 hours of traffic! The girls made it until 7pm in which we had to stop for an hour and get dinner, bottles and pj's on. And, we were now only about 45 miles outside of the city. Ugh!!! Things brightened up after that as we got on the road. The roads seemed more clear, we popped in a DVD, and I hung out with the girls in the back until they fell asleep. Avery did amazing. She slept the entire night. Addy did better than I expected but did wake up every couple of hours distressed as she just couldn't get comfortable. It's just not very comfortable to sleep 8 hours sitting up!

The following morning Doug was still driving, the girls were waking up and it was getting warmer and warmer...yea, we're in Florida!! We stopped at a Rest Area and changed, got breakfast, and looked forward to arriving at our destination. That's when I snapped this picture. Everyone was in high spirits!

It all went quickly downhill at this point. The girls were tired of sitting strapped in carseats. Doug and I were tired of crying and tired in general. And, we still had a couple of hours to go, which for us, was about 3-4 more hours on the road. As you know, Fort Lauderdale is near the southern tip of Florida and it was at this point I was verbally wishing Audrey and Steven lived in Orlando!!

Oh, we finally made it though...around 12 noon on Christmas Eve. And we were soooo happy to arrive!! We were greeted with open arms, freshly made beds, warm showers, and the best family company I could ever ask for! :)