The Great Cousin Visit Day Four

We spent our last day together at Hershey's Chocolate World. We went to the 3-D show, on the Great American Chocolate Tour, and did the one thing I think was the highlight of Faith's WHOLE trip - we "made" Hershey kisses. Faith is a kiss FIEND, and she was so excited to get to work on the kiss production line. She kept saying "I made kisses all by my own self!"


Even Juli was an honorary worker! (Still smiling!!)
Then, we heard singing. A chef had broken into song and then asked for a volunteer to tell their favorite Hershey's topping and get a free cupcake decorated with that topping. Guess who he picked??

Yup! Baby Faith! And what did she pick? Kisses, of course!
Lucky for everyone else, she shared!

Finally, we had a complete surprise on the way home - we were driving down the highway, when what should we see but the Knight Bus, headed to NYC for the release of Harry Potter Seven!!! How cool is that??? Thanks, sis, for driving like crazy just to let us "stalk" the Knight Bus! You ROCK!

The Great Cousin Visit Day Three

On our third day, we headed for Dorney Park and Wildwater Kingdom. Let me take a moment here to talk to you about my youngest niece, Juli. This was Juli at the start of a LONG, HOT day at Dorney. She was in her stroller, giggling and laughing, with big beautiful eyes. Stay tuned for updates... Obviously, we rode on a lot of rides. But it's WHO we rode with that made all the difference. Cyndy got to ride with Barry - a rarity when you're parents to young children.

Hannah, Nicky, Faith and Kairi got to ride together. A rarity when you live far away from your cousins.

And Aunt Jenn (that's me) got to ride with Baby Juli. Who, as you'll notice in this update is STILL laughing and smiling. Faith LOVED the Little Laser and the Dragon Coaster. Hannah rode with her on the Little Laser, but I got to ride with her on the Dragon Coaster... and hear her giggling and shrieking with delight all the way around. Too cool.By then, everyone was pretty hot. So it was off to Wildwater Kingdom, after a picnic lunch in the parking lot.

Hannah loved each new attraction in the water park so much, she never wanted to move on to the next one - and then she wouldn't want to leave that one! She's such a daredevil, too - she has no fear, and went on waterslides that I'd never attempt!

Baby Faith was a little sunbeam once we hit the water - and no, I could never have caught her in that sunglow of light if I had tried for a million years - but by accident, all sorts of photo effects happen.


Uncle Scott was thrilled to pieces to take Baby Faith everywhere. He thinks she's just so neat - like the way she told him this waterfall was just like it was "waining".

Faith had a blast in the kiddie fountain area. She liked to stomp on the water to stop it from spraying, and then let it spray up in her face and run away shaking off.

Even Juli (STILL smiling!) got in on the action. Is that not the CUTEST bathing suit you've ever seen??I just love this picture of Hannah and Barry. No explanation necessary! And that brings us to the end of our very busy day two. And where's Juli??? You guessed it! Still in her stroller, still smiling and laughing and being a complete sweetheart. You NEVER met such a happy baby!!

The Great Cousin Visit Day Two

On the second day of our family visit, we went to church, and then Cyndy and I worked on a very special housewarming present she had planned for me. I knew my bedroom would be the LAST room in the house I wasted time on, and said so on this blog several months ago. So, she planned to make me a soothing and beautiful beach themed room (I ADORE the beach) and on Sunday, I helped arrange all of the beautiful things she had brought me (and distress some of my existing furniture). She did SUCH a beautiful job! I love my new room!!

Then, we had yummy pulled pork BBQ for dinner, followed by "THE WORLD'S LARGEST SUNDAE BAR!!!" (At least, that's what the kids thought it was....

We ended the evening with some pinochle. Scott's playing was SOOOO boring, it even put Baby Juli to sleep! Just kidding! We played partner's best, and both sets of married couples won once. Sounds fair to me!

The Great Cousin Visit Day One

We've been pretty silent on the blog for a while now. That's because Grandma STOLE our children!!! But one day after our kids came back home (finally!!) we not only had our kids, but we stole three ourself - their cousins Hannah, Faith and Juli. They came for a visit with their mom (Cyndy) and their dad (Barry). Our first stop on a wild weekend? The Philly Zoo.

It should come as no surprise that I'm a sucker for face paint, so here's three of the cousins in full regalia:

We also enjoyed the free rides our new zoo membership gave us. That membership may be the best deal going! If you look close at the draft horse pic, you'll see that Nicky was squeezed between Hannah and Kairi. He was definitely the odd man out this weekend with all those GIRLS!
I know Kairi loves frogs, but letting one eat her and Hannah is going too far, I think!
This is too precious... Oh, and of course, we saw animals! (Yes, I took WAY more pictures of children than animals. I got the animals LAST time!)

Last, but certainly not least.... MOM!!!! Cyndy and I FINALLY found the zoo this tire track.... I mean ARMADILLO escaped from!!! Good thing you didn't hit it!! ;-) (In joke... we're gonna get yelled at..... ignore if you're not Mom, lol.)