Hershey Park Happy!

The only times I have been to Hershey Park in the past 20+ years have been for their Christmas Candylane, and during those events none of their many roller coasters are in operation. A one day ticket in the summer is rather expensive, and unlike Knoebels, parents have to buy a ticket even if they just end up putting little children on and off kiddie rides all day long. So we've never taken the kids there in the summer. This year when I was looking into the Candylane dates, I discovered they sold a combination ticket for their Hersheypark at Dark and Christmas Candylane. The combo ticket was more reasonably priced than their summer tickets so we decided to give it a whirl because for the "at Dark" dates they were running all dry rides. We were a bit concerned about the weather. We knew it would be cold (unlike last weekend), but for awhile they were forecasting a lot of rain for tomorrow. Thankfully the forecast improved yesterday morning. Our prayers were answered, and it didn't rain a single drop while we were there.

 Nadia was measured as a Peanut Butter Cup. Hershey is definitely stricter with height requirements. She couldn't even ride the bumper cars with an adult whereas even Ian is tall enough to ride them at other parks (with an adult). I thought Ian would be measured as a Hershey Kiss, but the official measurement was on the generous side, and they said he was also a Peanut Butter Cup. Who knows at Christmas they may say he's a Hershey Kiss. I was hoping that Oliver would be a Kiss, but he was measured as a Miniature, which meant there were rides (like the Tea Cups) that he couldn't ride that he has ridden at other parks. Of the 12 roller coasters they have, Ian was tall enough to ride two (with an adult), and Nadia was tall enough to ride four with an adult. The fact that the kids each needed an adult for many rides (not just roller coasters) was problematic when we started out with 2 adults (Paul and I) and 3 kids, but that became even more of a problem with Joe and his dad showed up with six more kids (three who were smaller than Nadia).

 We arrived at noon, right when the park opened, and at that time we were just walking on the rides (including the roller coasters) because there were so few people there. Several rides they rode multiple times in those first 2 1/2 hours. We met up with my brother-in-law Joe and the kids at 2:30. They were SO excited to see their cousins. We hadn't been at an amusement park with these cousins since I was pregnant with Ian in August 2009. Nadia's favorite rides were the two bigger roller coasters she was able to ride with Paul. One of them had a loop. It was her first time going upside down on a roller coaster! Ian's favorite rides were the Reese's PB Cup Extreme Challenge (a video game type ride like the Toy Story ones at Disney World) and the Hershey's Chocolate World ride (which is free - it's not inside the amusement park). He and Oliver also loved the ladybug ride. The probably rode that ride about ten times yesterday. Paul and I were very tired when we got home. We were one from the house for 12 hours (3 1/2 of that was driving time). The boys fell asleep almost as soon as we got in the van. Nadia fell asleep after she ate a very late dinner from McDonald's. Oliver didn't have any accidents while we were at Hershey Park, but he did pee in his clothes while he was sleeping in the van on the way home. I haven't been bringing diapers anywhere for the past almost 7 weeks, but I should have thought to bring one for the ride home in light of the fact he's used to wearing one in his crib at night.

We got home about 9:30pm and put the kids right to bed. Yesterday was the first day in Oliver's life that he stayed awake for 12 straight hours without a nap. Paul's dad is usually the one who makes sure Oliver gets a nap at amusement parks. They boys were up at their usual time, which given the clocks had changed meant they woke up at what was now 5:30 and 5:45am (Ian woke up first). I was definitely exhausted today as I went to bed a little later than usual (11:00 the old time), and I had been awake since 4:00 because my body often wakes up at 5:00 since Paul gets up at that time on MWF. Oliver and Nadia had fevers today (around 100 degrees). I went to bed when the kids did even though the Steelers were playing the night game because I was so tired and figured they will probably get up too early again tomorrow. People at church kept talking about that "extra hour" of sleep, but that sure hasn't happened for us the past seven years we've been parents. Oliver started to have a bad cough in the night so I got up at 10:30 to give him a nebulizer treatment, and then I proceeded to stay up for an hour watching the football game (which went very well!). All in all we had a great day yesterday. It should be easier at Christmas time at the park since the roller coasters won't be operating and even Jenna (who is turning 12 in 3 weeks) counts as an "adult" in riding rides with younger kids (like Nadia). My parents might also join us to help with the adult to young child ratio. We are looking forward to another day at Hershey Park with the cousins at the end of the month!