Summer Travels: Hershey Park, A Wedding in Maryland, and Lake Winnipesaukee, New Hampshire

Well helloooooo!  It's been awhile!  The summer has been quite packed with camps and sports leagues and work and potty training and driving lessons.  Phew!  I started the summer out by scratching my cornea (ouch, that hurt!) and then getting a tooth pulled (no pain there!) to prepare for a dental implant ($$$$$$).  But then we started our summer travelling, so I thought I'd get these memories written down while they're sorta fresh in my toothless head.  

We had to drive down to Maryland because Phil's sister got married!!!  So we packed up the kids and dog at 4 am one morning and drove to Hershey Park.  It was a sunny day (88 degrees) and the kids were a bit tired/hungover on Dramamine (car sickness runs in the family - even the dog!) but it was still a great day!  I took the majority of the kids on the tram ride into the park while Phil and Declan dropped off the dog at the Barking Lot.  How cute is that?

We met inside and got the tickets, then had to measure the littles to see what they could ride.  We had a delicious Hershey bar:

A freshly made Reese's:

And the cutest and thirstiest Kiss ever:

The kids know that posing and smiling nicely for photos is my love language, so I therefore  love everyone except Brendan ;)  JK B, you know you're one of the top three right now.

While the big kids headed out together (thank you cell phones!) we hung with the littles, and boy oh boy does Hershey Park have tons of rides for the younger set.  I love that they can go on a lot of rides with an adult, but then they have plenty of rides made just for the little kids - no adult necessary!  I tend to get motion sickness (hence why my kids are all the pits to travel with as well) so watching them ride, but not actually riding, is my cup of tea.

I'm not sure if Hershey Park has a policy on outside food, but we packed a lunch and they looked in our bags, and let us enter with tons of food.  I love that!  We sat in the shade and ate and drank before heading back out.  We rented that stroller for the day too, because apparently we are newbies and forgot to bring our stroller.  

The kids even had a sweet celebrity sighting!!

Because of the heat and full tummies, we went to watch the circus before riding again.  It was so good!  I reeeeeeeeally wasn't expecting much, but it was like a little performance from The Greatest Showman,  with lots of choreography and all sorts of recent songs.  The older kids met us there too, but no photo evidence.

OK, back to the rides.

The last ride we did before leaving was the flume ride, and I loved it!  (Video of me screaming here)  I wish we had gone on it ten more times!

We picked up Lucy, and rode the tram back, then drove to Maryland.  The next day was the rehearsal dinner, which included dinner of waffles with tons of toppings, donuts, eggs, sausage and bacon on the menu - the kids thought they had died and gone to heaven!  Then before we knew it, it was the big wedding day!

Doesn't Erin look gorgeous?  That's Phil's dad playing the dual role of Father of the Bride and Deacon Who Married Off His Daughter:

John-Paul and his cousin, Maura, read together:

The groom wore jeans and a vest!!  I would have killed Phil if he had tried that, but Erin is a much better person than me.  And we all love Sean no matter how he dresses!

The reception was a big barbecue themed party at Phil's parent's home.  It was in the nineties that day (hotttttt!) but everyone had a fun time, and now all of the kids from Phil's family and my family are married off.  Next family wedding will be the nieces and nephews, God willing :)

We drove home a few days later (after LOTS of fun cousin time and pool time), slept there for one night, and then headed up to New Hampshire for a little family vacation.  My parents rented a condo at Lake Winnipesaukee and it was tons of fun!  You know a vacation is going to go well when you stop for coffee and donuts on the way out of town, and the person in front of you pays.  So nice!

We spent the first day there just swimming in the pool, relaxing, and watching Johnny English (so funny!).  The next morning, we woke up early and headed into town to explore...

We went back to that beach above later in the day with my brother's family (who lives in NH) and it was fun being at a lake instead of an ocean.  No sharks! 

You can't really tell, but this was a pretty steep hill we had to climb up to get back to the condo, and Phil told the kids that whomever could run up the hill would earn themselves a chillzone from Cumberland Farms - and they were off!  We ended that day with a trip to Friendly's for dinner (kids eat free on Wednesdays) so they started their day with slushies and ended with sundaes - very vacationy!

The next day was July Fourth, and Phil and I went our early for a run, and could see the beach was packed already!  So we decided to stay at the pool  for the morning, then Phil took the kids to bumper boats while the little ones napped with mom (hey, it's a hard job but someone's gotta do it!) and spent the afternoon/evening at Fun Spot (huge indoor arcade) and the Kellerhaus for make your own sundaes (Gammy's treat!).

 

We left early the next day to beat the traffic, and were successful.  All in all it was a whirlwind of travelling, but a very sweet start to summer as a family.  I'm always so grateful for opportunities like this, and the kids love having the memories too.  Hope your summer has some fun family activities planned!