A Visit To Hershey

 Last weekend Ben had Friday off for some strange reason, so we decided to visit Uncle Scott and Aunt Ashley!  They have been good to make the drive a few times for Thanksgiving, and we've made it once for a family vacation, but it was time to do it again.  As I've told them, they were very brave to host our thundering herd.  (A term borrowed from my childhood when we'd pile out of the mini-van and my dad would tell us to act like fewer people than we were.  There were only 5 of us kids, but we learned how to act like 2 1/2 kids.)

We headed out Thursday afternoon and made it there right after Uncle Scott had left for his ER shift at 11 pm.  Poor guy had 11-7 shifts the whole time we were there, AND caught some stomach bug from one of his patients the last night.  He was a good sport and was lots of fun even though he was sleep deprived.

And what did our normal boy do once we got there?  Why he made himself at home under the ottoman, of course.

 This picture is so wrong, but there are so many great things about it.  The fact that he has morning eyes, the fact that he looks like he's trying to wake up with his morning coffee, the fact that he's wearing penguin jammies, and oh, the fact that it's an I Heart Intercourse mug.  What can I say?  They live in Pennsylvania.

 On Friday after Scott had slept for a few hours, we headed to Baltimore.  Ashley had to head to work, so we missed her.  There is this neat place called Inner Harbor where they have a bunch of historic boats, a children's museum, and an aquarium, plus lots of shops and restaurants.  We spent our time creeping up on seagulls.

 Also posing by big old boats.

 We also gawked at the ocean life at the aquarium.  It kicked Newport Aquarium's bum.  All I can say is, those fish were lucky they were safely sequestered behind that glass, because my daughter has lightning fast reflexes and surely would've grabbed one of them mid-swim.

 Emerson liked the fish, but he REALLY liked laying on the little platforms and got super excited about the escalators...Also, the prospect of getting more fruit snacks.

 Being pals with Uncle Scott

 Dad and Sammi being pals

 Sitting for a spell before the dolphin show.

 I would've taken pictures of the dolphin show, but there was nothing to capture really.  It was quite laughable.  They warned us we were all sitting in the "splash zone", and that turned out to be a bunch of crap.   There wasn't nearly enough entertainment going on to produce droplets of water that could actually fly out of the tank.  I wanted those dang dolphins to jump!  Jump, dang it!  And throw in some of that weird wiggling through the water on your tail while you're at it.

We then headed to Noodles 'N Company for some sustenance and rode the elevator to the top of the World Trade Center there to see the view.  We hit Charm City Cakes from the show Ace of Cakes on the way out, but they were lame and are open by appointment only.

That evening we had some great spaghetti made by Scott, and Ash and I headed to the store for probably the funnest store trip ever.  Seriously, so many laughs, and way too many treats.

The next day, we headed to breakfast and were regaled with stories from Scott's ER shift.  They were too graphic to go into detail here, but there may or may not have been a girl that had a braid in a weird place.  And it's probably not the weird place you are thinking of.  Cryptic enough?  Gross enough?  Yes.

E heard through the grapevine that we were heading to a place called Chocolate World, and promptly took to calling it Chocolate LAND.  He corrected anyone who said it otherwise.  Did you know there are many trains to spot at Chocolate Land?  I didn't either until I went with E.

 Very pleased to have discovered a train.

 We tried to get a picture of the kids in front of Chocolate World (LAND!) but it was one of those awkward moments where your kids won't cooperate and there are lots of people standing behind you, trying to be polite but are a little annoyed you are taking so long.  This was the best we could do.

Sammi fascinated by the cows on the ride

E "choo-chooing" as he spotted another hidden train on the ride.  This was just after he proclaimed that the chocolate mixers were actually traction rods.

Aunt Ashley helping him hold the World's Largest Hershey's Bar.  It was very heavy for a 3-year-old.

Taking a picture with the "chocolate clown" as Emerson called him.  He said he was a clown because he makes people laugh.  Fair enough logic, except clowns make me nervous.

Now off to enjoy a Reese's sundae!  So good, I'm still fantasizing about it.

We rode the ride twice to appease Emerson, and they got to go with the cool people in front.

One last stop at the trolley for E

After attempted naps that afternoon, we headed to a fun park called Cocoa Castle where Scott and Ashley have been wanting to go, but didn't have any children to take with them so as not to appear creepy.

Fun on the slide

Fun on the swing

Fun in a little boat.  (For Scott anyway)

Cocoa Castle

After the kids went to bed, the adults stayed up to enjoy gourmet chocolate chip cookies made by Ashley, and Maple Hazlenut pie made by Scott while we watched Clifford.

Our last morning there, we had a yummy breakfast made by Ashley while poor Scott was sick. :(  She's the coolest because she made chocolate chip pancakes for the kids, and amazing breakfast potatoes.

Sigh...it's so hard to get a normal expression out of this child.

Sammi was much too engrossed in her pancakes to smile

Thanks again for the awesome trip!  We miss you already.