Crabby

We've had a long summer....a memorable one full of lots of incredible experiences and lots of fun visitors....

But wow, we are tired.

And (blue) crabby.

So we're taking a break for a few days and headed home to the 'burgh.

Until next time friends.  Hope you have a non-crabby weekend.

Puddle-Wonderful

“The world is mud-luscious and puddle-wonderful.”
                                            e.e. cummings

Yes, definitely puddle wonderful.

Sweet

That's a good word to sum up our day at HersheyPark with Mike's sister, Lisa, and our nieces, Julia and Kaleigh!

I don't have any pictures to document it because I couldn't ride much (except kiddie rides with Lucy) but Brady rode his first upside down rollercoaster!  At age 4!!  I don't think I rode an upside down roller coaster 'til late elementary school if not later!  Kids these days  :)

We didn't take that many pictures because we were split up for 90% of the day to accomodate all ages and heights!  So I spent the entire day with my little Lu.  Here we are on a train ride, rode this one 3 times.

Driving the fire truck.  I sat in the back while she drove me around.

One of many rides on the carousel.

And this was the first ride she did by herself.  She lived it up too....rode it 6 times.....in a row.  The retiree who was operating the ride just let her stay on, most times she was the only one riding.  She kept signing and yelling "MORE" so more it was!

Brady's favorite ride, The Pirate Ship.

Water park fun!

Another little train ride, Brady and Lu rode this one at least 4 times in a row, if not more, until they shut the park down due to heavy rain and thunderstorms in the area. 

The rain forced us out of the park so we made it to the Chocolate Factory.....my kids love Herhsey Bars and Hershey Kisses and lucky for them, the candy they were handing out at the end of the tour was the standard (mini) Hershey Bar.

Brady had 3.

I forgot how lovely HersheyPark is, we could have easily spent another day there I think.  There were lots of rides that we didn't do because of time, an interest in going to the water park and rain....lots for Lucy to do too, she slept in her stroller for 2 hours though so she could have done more. 

Thanks for the fun Lisa, Kaleigh and Julia, we can't wait to go again!

check!

We can check another activity off of our summer to do list! 

Yesterday we went to Larriland Farms to pick raspberries, blackberries and peaches!

Raspberries first!  These were the most difficult to pick, we only came home with about 1.5 lbs of these beauties.

Or was it because Lucy ate the other 1/2 lb we picked?

"Mama, more"

On the way to the blackberry patch we came across this beauty of a butterfly.

My littles were hungry by the time we got to the blackberries so I picked, they "picnic-ed"

Then on to the peach orchard.

If you've never gone to pick your own fruit, I would highly recommend it.  It's so peaceful and rewarding.  And the kid (at least my kids) sure do love it.  Looking forward to apple season in a few weeks!

Dog days of summer

No words needed.

DC Cupcakes

Have you seen it?  Fun reality food-themed TV show and you too can experience the craze like my sister, Mike, kiddos and I did! 

Here's the storefront

And here, my friends, is the line.....

A 90 minute line!

We studied our menu when we weren't using it as a fan.  It seemed to be 120 degrees outside.

Lucy slept (smart)

Finally after the cupcake bouncer let us in the door, this is what awaited!

And perhaps, the best part of the afternoon, we met these gals!  Katherine (brown hair) and Sophie (blonde), the owners of the store/stars of the show!  And FYI, it was kind of bizarre, but very kind, THEY approached us and asked if we would like a picture with them.  Brady and Lucy of course don't care, Brady just kept asking where his cupcakes were!

Here they are!  6 cupcakes for $16.50, thank you very much.

They were delightful and delicious though!

Lucy preferred smashing her face into the cupcake!

So I guess that means that overall, it was a smashing success!