Hershey Park

Each year at the end of the school year, the neighborhood kids get together for a fun, rewarding day to celebrate the beginning of summer. The past few years, we have gone to Dutch Wonderland, and we have had a wonderful time. But some of the kids are getting a little older now (I have the youngest kids in the group), and a little more adventurous (my kids included!), so this year we decided to try out Hershey Park.

It's about the same distance away, and has a very large selection of kiddie rides as well as some great rides for older kids and adults. We had a great time! The weather was gorgeous, and the crowds were not bad at all. The boys loved riding on the rides, and I am beginning to see that somewhere in the gene pool they have inherited a love of roller coasters. (I know they did not get this from me!) The park has a system of different height categories on each ride to let you know who can go on a particular ride. Sean was still too small for some of the rides, but for most of them he just had to be accompanied by a "responsible rider", which is someone from one of the taller height categories. Our neighbor Delaney was very good about taking Sean on the kiddie rides where he required a responsible rider, and this saved me from trying to fold up my very long legs to fit into the miniature ride seats.

Delaney has always been very good with Sean, and he adores her to pieces.

Rex was in a height category that often did not need a rider to accompany him, so he really felt like a "big kid". He loves all of the rides- fast, slow, spinning, up and down,- you name it, he'll ride it.

While Rex was off riding one of the bigger kid rides, Sean got to meet the Hershey Park mascot, the Hershey Kiss. He was a little unsure about approaching a larger than life piece of candy with arms, but eventually he warmed up and gave him?/her?/it? a 'high-five'.

Jack was not able to do much this year, but he was pretty content to hang out in his stroller and watch the scenery.

Hershey also has a very cool water park which is included in your admission. We headed to that part of the park in the late afternoon. Unfortunately, we didn't realize it closed at 6:00, so the kids did not get to play there very long. Sean had fallen asleep in the stroller by this point, so he actually missed the whole thing! I think next year, we may have to do a two-day trip in order to incorporate time for the water park, too. I really wanted to do a tour of Chocolate World, but I guess that will have to wait for next year, too. I did manage to purchase a very large chocolate bar at the gift shop on the way out. It's about the size of a license plate. While the boys did not inherit my fear of roller coasters, they did inherit my love of chocolate, so I'm just hoping this candy bar lasts throughout the weekend!