Hallo-Fun

The kids and I left the house at 8:10 this morning and didn't arrive home until 6:15 this evening. From 6:30 when Oliver woke up (which was a blessing as the previous two mornings he had awakened at 5:45) we were in high gear getting ready for our day - eating breakfast, putting on our church clothes, packing lunches, packing a change of clothes for Nadia and I as well as costumes for the kids, etc. The adult choir rehearsed at 8:25 and then the children's choir rehearsed at 8:40. I didn't know that they were singing right at the very beginning of the service so I wasn't able to see them at the 9:00 service because I was backstage at the time preparing to enter with the adult choir. Paul and I were able to see them at the start of the 10:45 service, and I took a video, which I haven't looked at yet but plan to do so tomorrow. Ian has come a long way over the past year. He actually sang some of the time and did some of the motions, and he smiled almost the whole time. There were about 20 kids in the choir and about 1,400 people in attendance between the two services. The kids missed their 5pm choir rehearsal this evening because we were at Knoebels until 5pm, and we didn't arrive back at the church until 6pm (that included a stop for dinner at the drive-thru of McDonald's).


We hadn't been to Knoebels since June; over the past four months they had put in another new kiddie ride (we already had ridden on another new one in the spring), taken out the bumper boats ride, and begun construction on a new roller coaster that is supposed to open next year. It didn't rain at all, which was wonderful, but it was definitely a bit brisk out. When we arrived it was about 48 degrees, and the high temperature ended up being 54. Next weekend it's supposed to be in the 60's, and a few days ago it was in the mid 70's. The temperature changes quite a bit from day to day this time of year. The kids wore costumes because they had stations set up around the park where kids under the age of 12 who were in costume could get free toys (inexpensive things from Oriental Trading) or free candy (Tootsie rolls and such). I let Nadia pick which costume Oliver wore. She picked the bee costume. I suggested that Ian wear his spider costume because it is one of the warmest costumes he owns. Nadia wanted to wear her Sofia costume, but we picked out something more suitable to riding roller coasters and such - her Jessie costume (cowgirl from Toy Story). I thought the kids all looked cute!

Ride attendants told us the park was very crowded yesterday, but the crowds were very light today so the kids rode MANY rides during the five hours we were at the park. Many times they were able to just stay on a ride 2-3 times in a row because no one was in line. Nadia rode several roller coasters. I think she rode the Phoenix about ten times - three times with Paul, once with me, and about six times by herself. It was the first time she ever rode it by herself. She likes to sit in the very back row. Ian rode the kiddie roller coaster more than five times. We got the kids hand stamps, and they definitely got their money's worth even with taking a break from rides to watch a 30 minute magic show. We weren't sure whether to get Paul a hand stamp. We ended up just using tickets for him, but in hind sight we would have saved a couple of dollars if we had gotten him a hand stamp. Live and learn! I only went on two rides (tea cups and Phoenix); I didn't even consider buying a hand stamp for myself. Paul's dad met us at the park, which made the day even more fun. We're planning on visiting Hershey Park two times in November so the kids should be able to ride more rides in 2014. As we were leaving the park Oliver kept asking to ride the train again. Hopefully he'll get to ride one in Hershey! Although I'm exhausted, I am very grateful for opportunities like this to make special memories with my three kids! Here's less than 10% of the pictures I took today.