During one of our nomadic weeks the kids and I decided to drive up to New York to see my sister. To make our drive a little more enjoyable we decided to stop in Pennsylvania at the Hershey chocolate factory. I felt so brave taking my kids on this road trip and even braver when we decided to make an unexpected stop and spend the night in Pennsylvania instead of continuing on to New York. The night in the hotel was not planned, but it turned out to be one of the highlights of our trip.
We ordered pizza, jumped on the beds, filled the tub with bubbles and had fun experimenting with lights and the camera. It was a fun and much needed night of rest.
The next morning we woke up and headed straight to Hershey for the factory tour and then the create your own candy bar tour (the pricey highlight of our Pennsylvania trip). I was the only one with kids on the tour. It was the real deal. We all had to wear aprons and hairnets the whole time. I felt a little over my head keeping them all (mostly Ruby) in line and appropriately covered.
Reed was in heaven listening to all of the details of the process.
Max was pretty engrossed as well watching his creation go by.
The boys even got to design their own chocolate bar wrapper while the chocolate cooled. It was pretty neat.
Ruby mostly just wanted to be free and roam the factory without her hairnet. I'm thinking they don't get very many 1 year-olds on this part of the tour.
When we were done Ruby made it very clear how she felt about the hairnet and apron. She was OK with the cap.
All around there was candy as far as the eye could see--amazingly enough we were able to leave without any of it.
After our quick stop in Hershey we headed straight for New York. Actually I'm pretty sure "straight" is not an accurate description. We took many a wrong turn between Hershey and New York including an hour long loop in a very Korean area near the New Jersey border trying to avoid a toll. I ended up giving up and paying the toll. That was certainly one of the more frustrating moments of the trip. Our delay also caused us to drive though Manhattan at 5:00 p.m.. I think I calculated that we traveled 3 miles in one hour---not the best way to end a road trip. Needless to say we were thrilled to finally arrive at my sister's apartment.
Whitney's family lives right on the East River. I think the view of the city is truly breathtaking.
The kids did not appreciate the view as much as I did, but they did enjoy spending time with their cousin Olivia and checking our her stomping grounds including...
The pier
The New York City Library
Gigantic cupcakes at Bryant Park
The Manhattan Temple
and of course the subway.
The one thing Reed really wanted to do in New York was to go to the Empire State Building. I was planning on just taking Reed, but when the time came Max really wanted to go even when I warned him about the long lines we would have to stand in. As I anticipated, about halfway through the waiting process, Max was wishing he has stayed home. Thankfully he also had to go to the bathroom really badly so one of the attendants rushed us up to the front where the bathrooms were. Thank you Max! The attendant was helpful in getting us through the line and even let the boys borrow his hat for a picture.
When we did get to the top of the observation deck it was cold and windy and Max was D-O-N-E. We took one lap around the deck and did the rest of our observing from inside.
Reed was not disappointed by the trip..
I can't say the same about Max.
Our gypsy living was mostly fun while it lasted, but, like this post, I'm glad it's over.
1 comment:
We loved having you guys in New York, thanks for coming!
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