One of the most magical things about visiting family in their homes, is the little times, breakfasts, bedtimes, down times. Things you have no way of planning for. The best you can do is put yourself together and let the good times roll. Like this morning with sweet Simon. It was after breakfast, and Simon was on the balcony, playing with the recycling. Total stud, looking like he is in heaven. I love him so freaking much.
Today we are closing out our three day Hershey Tour by going to the Faux Factory experience at Hershey’s Chocolate World. On our trolley tour, they said that they had stopped doing factory tours here in Hershey back in the 70’s. It made me feel grateful about the Hershey factory tours we did back in the 80’s and 90’s in California. They had Hershey lights outside of the building and you could smell chocolate from miles away as you drove by. My mom used to say that she wondered if they put chocolate in the fertilizer to make it smell so strong! Belle says that there are days that she can smell it at their house some days.
That factory and it’s visitors center closed back in 2007 and moved to MEXICO!!! Not the Hershey Spirit at all!
But back to Pennsylvania, we were here, in this beautiful building, and this super fun place!
We got there, and ran right through the line, and on to the factory “tour” ride.
The kiss shaped cart had two rows. Karl and the kids were up front, and Belle, Simon and I were in the back. Each row had it’s own little screen with an actress “factory worker” giving us explanations about the process of making the chocolate. There were singing cows, which was everyone’s favorite part.
After the tour, we were sent right into the gift shop, and I wanted to buy everything. Karl…protested. 🙂
We got tickets for the 4 D movie, and the kids had fun looking at all the Hershey images in the waiting areas.
The show was lead by Hershey, Kiss, and Reese, and it was a MYSTERY 4D adventure.
Afterwards the kids posed with the characters and I got my picture at Hershey’s Chocolate World!
We did buy a few things, and got a personalized candy bag.
After the factory tour, we went out to a park, that is at the trail head of one of Belle’s favorite places to walk in her area. It was a warm summer day, the first really HUMID day of the trip. As we got out of the car, a butterfly landed on my hat. It was such a beautiful place. The trail was well maintained, and right along a stream. It reminded me of the PRT in a few places. Ruby was living her best life.
The kids were just happy to do an activity that didn’t require a mask. Talk of checking for ticks, lead us back towards the car, and Lucas decided he wanted to wade in the water. Mirah was just interested in looking at the pictures she had taken on her phone/camera.
When we got back from our outing, we had some quiet time on the couch. It’s so fun to see my sweet baby sister with a baby of her own. She is such an attentive and loving mother. These moments are priceless. I couldn’t help but take a picture.
