Vacation wrap up

So I thought it was about time to wrap up our vacation pictures. Instead of driving through the night like we did on the way to Myrtle Beach this year, we decided on the way home to try to get some rest after the first ten hours in the car and we stopped at a hotel in Chambersberg, PA. As we were settling in for the night, Brody and Ella enjoyed some snuggle time just the two of them playing with Ella's Leapster. That thing was quite the handy companion throughout the travel portion of our trip as it kept for hours of entertainment and happy little children which of course comes along with happy parents.



Ella and Cassidy certainly did not want their vacation to end. To break up the long trip and help transition them for our return home, Patrick and I took the kids to Hershey's Chocolate World in Hershey, PA. While there, the kids got to go on a chocolate factory tour, operate an actual Hershey's Kisses packaging line and visit the Marketplace Shops in search of Hershey memorabilia and souvenirs.



The tour was in the form of an actual ride that took us through a simulated chocolate factory where we got to see cocoa beans transformed into milk chocolate. We encountered many singing cows on our journey (the kids got quite a kick out of that) and one just happened to be named "Gabby".



After the tour, the kids entered the Hershey's Factory Works where you can create "Everything Hershey". They became quite the factory workers, fully equipped with their own hats and photo ID tags. They were taught how to operate a Hershey Kisses packaging line and created their own package of Hershey Kisses to take home with them.



To complete our visit at Chocolate World, we took the kids to the Marketplace Shops to pick out a souvenir. Cassidy chose this Hershey Kisses playground ball and insisted on keeping it with her for the remainder of our trip home. I told her that as long as she kept her hands on it, that would be fine with me. And hands on it she did...even when catching a snooze, Cassidy held onto that ball like it was her new little treasure...the whole ride home.