12.20.2009

Our Trip to Delaware & Hershey

We had Ethan's annual trip to Delaware to AI duPont Hospital to see Dr. Bober & Dr. McKenzie last month (I know, I am way . . . way behind!!). This year we tryed to make it a fun little vacation too. I really dont want him years from now to remember his doctors trips to be long unpleasant trips. It takes us almost 6 hours to drive down, someone always seems to get car sick, we have to make several potty stops, & everyone ends up gouchy! So this year I got ahold of Melissa & made plans to stop and meet her & Sonya on the way down since they live right along on our way. Many of you have probaly already read her post since I am way behind!

We met them at the Chic-fil-a reteraunt in their town. They have a great little play area for the kids. It was the perfect place for the boys to release their hours of pent up energy!



Ethan in the tube.


Collin in the tube!

Melissa & sweet Sonya sliding.

Our attempt at a group pic!


Collin being himself! A crazy little monkey!

Unfortunatly our visit didnt end well. Sonya insisted on going down the slide herself, and for those of you who know about her, you know she is very fragile! She ended up coming down the slide & catching her shoe, which caused her to fracture her leg in two spots! It was awful! I seriously dont know how Melissa does it but she handles it so well! Fred & I felt sheer panic, & she was so calm! We helped her get Sonya splinted & into the van, then she was off to the ER & we were off to Delaware.


Good news is Ethan saw Dr. Bober & Dr. McKennzie & got a "He's perfect" from both of them! YAY! This means we can keep this a yearly trip & not a bi-annual trip! This is great for us not only because of the long trip but also because we have to pay out of pocket for the doctors visits because our insurance will not cover them!


So on our way home we made a trip to Hershey to have some fun. People had told me that the town smells like chocolate & didnt believe them! But it really did! It was great! The street lights were shaped like Hershey kisses too!



We had a great time visiting the factory! The week we were there was the first week of their Christmas displays. It was beautiful!



The boys LOVED the factory tour ride! So much that we did it twice!



These are the singing cows.






This year they had a new addition to their Christmas display, a house made out of Candy! It was adorable! The roof was made of chocolate bars, the walls made of white chocolate, lolly pops for strands of christmas lights, & stained glass windows made out of sugar.



We went to see a really cool 3D movie all about Chocolate!






Later that day we took a trolley ride around the town.






The kids got a great big surprise while on the Trolley tour when Santa hopped aboard!! And Santa passed out ornaments to all of the kids & they were all shocked that he knew all of their names! Ethan said " wow, mommy, that's the real Santa! He know's my name!"







Daddy w/ the boys in front of the factory.




Some of the beautiful light displays in the Hershey gardens.




Here are my 2 lil monkeys jumpin on the bed!!



Ethan relaxing after a long day of fun!




Collin stealing a sip of Ethan's juice box!



Now for any of you that have see the show "my name is Earl" you will get a kick out of this! When we arrived at the hotel in Hershey Ethan took one look at the place & said " I wanna stay upstairs like Earl & Randy!" LOL!!




And here is Collin on our way home after he got car sick. I had to spend a 1/2 hour on the side of the highway, in the middle of no where, cleaning his car seat w/ baby wipes! I had to strip his cloths off & had no clean outfits left so had to put his jammies from the nite before back on! Seriously, why cant we take a trip w/ out one of these kids getting car sick?? But the good thing was after we got back on the road both of the boys slept for almost 4 hours! We were able to get home much sooner than expected!

7 comments:

The Wymers said...

What a fun Doctor's visit! :o) Glad you were able to make a mini vacation out of it...much more fun than just going and getting poked and prodded!

Melissa Swartley said...

I love how you guys make a mini vacation out of your visits to the doctors! Just awesome! Glad to hear that Ethan got a clean bill of health too! We will have to try to get together again next year too! Hopefully no ER trips though! Great pictures!!! Oh my gosh they still have the singing cows, the hershey kiss shaped street lamps and the 3D chocolate movie!!! I seriously haven't been there since I was about 13! I can't wait to get out there with the kids! So much fun! I love the candy house addition! So cute! Glad it smelled like chocolate for you! Sometimes the wind blows the other way from the farm and well, you know... LOL! I am cracking up about the "I wanna stay upstairs like Earl and Randy"! Too funny! Sorry to hear that Collin got so sick, but yay for 4 hours of sleeping!!!

Greene Family said...

Yay for great doctors appointments! We are just starting to get some appointments moved to once a year, and even though we don't have a long drive for Simon's appts, it is so awesome to know that he is doing so well that they don't need to see him every 4-5 months anymore!
It sounds like you guys had a fun mini vacation too! How exciting to be at Hershey at the start of the Christmas season! Simon's favorite part of Hershey was the factory tour ride with the singing cows! Ethan and Collin are special boys to have met the real Santa on their trolley ride! They are such cuties! Crack me up - they wanted to stay upstairs like Earl & Randy!
It sounds like you guys had a lot of fun meeting up with Melissa and Sonya (aside from the fractures)! I'm sorry we missed you guys that trip, but we are looking forward to meeting you in May!

Destini said...

Glad you got awesome news and a "see you next year" from the doctors! Hershey looks awesome! We love "My Name is Earl" too - Ethan totally cracks me up! BTW, I cannot believe how grown up Collin is - that picture of him standing in his PJs - he is so not a baby anymore! As a mom who has also stood along an interstate cleaning up puke, I understand the situation, luckily Trace grew out of the projectile vomiting, and we haven't had a kid puke in the car in probably 18 months.

Anonymous said...

Your post cracked me up! Ethan is too funny mentioning "My name is Earl." I feel your pain on the kids getting car sick. You poor thing.

Hershey is great, isn't it? We went in October, and Parker LOVED the singing cows.

Caden and Mommy said...

ugh Jenn~ 6 hours?! I guess I will stop whining about the 3 hours to get to Caden's appointments. And you have to pay out of pocket - uck! I'm glad the news was all good! That must make things a little better!
Hershey Town looks like SO much fun :0) Fun pictures!

Kim said...

I have not been to Hershey Park since I was about 13 years old. But I do recall the streetlights like Hershey Kisses very vividly. It appears that the kiddos had a great time and I love the family picture of you guys in front of the chocolate house. I will have to make the trip with Preston. YAY YAY YAY for you not having to go to the doctors bi-annually. That is wonderful news. I am so sorry that Collin got carsick. That is the utter worst having to clean with baby wipes, but on the road we have to do what we can! Merry Christmas to you all!