Our Mini Pennsylvania Vacation

We had planned to get away for a few days last week, but were unable to because of Aunt Susana's passing. Luckily we were able to reschedule for this week.

We left town on Wednesday, went to PA and took care of some business matters in Montgomery County and Philly, then drove to Harrisburg to our hotel. Basically, we spent all day in the car. Claire was a trooper! Thank goodness for our DVD player. Claire watched Lilo and Stitch about one hundred times in the car, so it really helped her to pass the time.

After getting settled in our hotel (Note for future trips: a queen bed is not big enough for tall people and always insist on a room away from the elevator.), we went to a fabulous restaurant, The Firehouse, then made a quick stop at Bass Pro Shops to pick up some men's footwear appropriate for a day at an amusement/water park. We would have loved to have explored the store, but we only had 10 minutes before closing time.

On Thursday we woke up bright and early (Okay, around 8:00.), grabbed some breakfast on the go and drove to Hershey Park. Following a friend's recommendation, we walked all the way into the park and secured a locker by The Boardwalk, Hershey's waterpark. The Lazy River, wave pool, Sandcastle Cove and East Coast Waterworks were where we spent most of our time. Claire's favorite was the little wave pool where we spent over an hour.

Several hours passed and, when we had had enough water, we went to a few dry rides, then packed up and went back to the hotel to relax in the pool and whirlpool. Without a plan for dinner, I suggested we go back to The Chocolate Avenue Grill where we had gone last year, so we drove 20 minutes back to Hershey where we enjoyed a delicious dinner. The Chocolate Avenue Grill was a good choice. Again.

When we woke up on Friday morning, we packed up our belongings and drove to Easton, PA to visit The Crayola Factory.

It was such a fun little place! Claire created many art projects while there -- a print of a fish, a seahorse stick puppet, crayon rubbings, sand art, a Model Magic sculpture, etc.

It was fun exploring the "factory" and we especially enjoyed the demonstration where we learned how Crayola makes crayons and markers. A visit to the Crayola store was the last stop on our journey. We saw lots of fun Crayola products as well as the world's largest crayon, but we didn't find the one item Claire wanted to get as a souvenir (something her friend, Ema, had gotten there). She settled for a paper doll art project and we promised we'd see if we can order what she really wanted to get online.

It was a wonderful, albeit exhausting, little family trip! When I put Claire to bed on Friday night, we had the following conversation:

Claire: Mommy, I liked going to Hershey and The Crayola Factory, but I really love being back at home.

Me: It's fun to go away on vacation, but it's always nice to come back to our home, sweet, home.

Claire: There's no place like home.

Disney Part 6

12/19 - Epcot

We woke up über early this morning to go to the princess breakfast at Akershus Royal Banquet Hall in Norway (Epcot). Akershus reminded me of my grandparents' house -- wooden beams on the ceiling, ornate furniture, old world feel. Belle was waiting for us as we entered and immediately recognized that Claire was wearing her Belle princess dress. After a brief photo op, we were seated in a small room in the banquet hall, which felt more like a castle. Claire paraded around Akershus with the princesses and other guests, then we enjoyed our buffet breakfast and hot plate (eggs, potatoes, bacon and sausage) as each princess visited our table. We loved visiting with Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Snow White and Ariel (We had been searching all over for Ariel and this was the first and only place we saw her!).

Afterward, we rode Spaceship Earth, then went to China to meet Mulan who was very gracious, spending time speaking with Claire and posing for pictures. We thought we'd get two more "rides" in, so we hopped on the boat rides in Norway and Mexico.

After a brief, frustrating snafu in the parking lot (Where the heck did we park?!?!?!), we had lunch at T.G.I. Friday's (a great, Claire-friendly restaurant) then went back to the hotel to rest and regroup. We spent our last night at Epcot. First we went to Nine Dragons in China for dinner. While sharing wonton soup with me, Claire mentioned how much she likes eating the "skeletons" in wonton soup. I'm glad she does, because I really don't care for scallions. After dinner, we waited about 20 minutes for the IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth fireworks extravaganza to begin. It was spectacular!!! It was the perfect way to end our vacation. We will definitely return for another Disney vacation in the future. It's magical!

Disney Part 5

12/18

It poured today! We slept in...very late! It was good to catch up on sleep after so many late nights and we were hopeful there would be less crabbiness as a result. We went to Downtown Disney to do a little shopping. We marveled at the Lego sculptures (Woody, a large dragon, an entire family and their dogs) and purchased a few souvenirs.

After we finished shopping, we headed back to the Magic Kingdom. It was super-crowded! We went to see Mickey's PhilharMagic, a 4-D movie. I loved looking over at Claire trying to reach out and touch things that were being "thrown" out into the audience from the film. She was amazed! We went on the Winnie the Pooh ride (Eh!) and rode the carousel, the teacups and It's a Small World again.

When we first arrived, we passed Rapunzel and Flynn from the movie Tangled. The line was long, so we figured we'd come back later. We set off to find Jessie from Toy Story since Claire was dying to see her and heard she was only in the Magic Kingdom. Three different cast members told us three different places where she was and when we finally found her a little before 5:00, we were told that the line was closed. I argued that she was supposed to be there until 5:30 according to the schedule, but the cast member assisting Jessie said the schedule was incorrect and they were leaving at 5:00. Hearing this, Claire began crying. Real tears. She was inconsolable. A sweet, older cast member came over and tried to comfort Claire and this cast member couldn't understand why Claire couldn't just get a quick picture with her. We went into the little store where this cast member worked and she wrote out a little certificate for Claire to make her feel better. It was very sweet.

We ended the evening by going to see Mickey and Minnie's country houses in Toontown, then posing for pictures with them -- Claire was thrilled and it totally made up for the "Jessie incident of 2010." It ended the evening on a high note. We took the train back to Main St., USA, then headed back to our hotel.

Disney Part 4

12/17 - Disney's Hollywood Studios

We slept in, then headed to Disney's Hollywood Studios around noon. The first thing we did was see Beauty and the Beast Live on Stage. It was fantastic!!! We also saw Playhouse Disney Live on Stage and Voyage of the Little Mermaid. Claire fully enjoyed both. For lunch, we headed to Hollywood and Vine where we had lunch with Special Agent Oso and a few of the kids from Little Einsteins. It was a great surprise, since we didn't realize it was a character lunch until we were waiting for our table and we saw Special Agent Oso through the window. Claire was absolutely thrilled!

Later, we waited a little more than 40 minutes to see Buzz Lightyear and Woody from Toy Story. It was a long wait, but Claire's face lit up when she got to hug each of them and pose for pictures. She realizes that they, along with all of the characters, are in costumes, but she still loves meeting all of them. We finished our day at the Fantasmic show which was awesome - fireworks, lasers, Sorcerer Mickey fighting off villains. It was truly amazing and worth the 60 minutes we waited in the amphitheater to ensure we got seats for the show. Even at 60 minutes prior to showtime, 75%  of the seats were already taken! It is a very popular show!

We ended our day by having dinner in the Animal Kingdom Lodge at Boma, a buffet with an African influence.

Disney Part 3

12/16 - Epcot

Claire was so excited to see the large "golf ball" aka Planet Earth that she had seen on tv. We went on several rides including  Living on the Land (Claire really enjoyed this educational ride!), The Seas with Nemo and Friends and saw Turtle Talk with Crush. She loved Soarin' and Journey into Imagination with Figment. Mission: Space was spectacular and very realistic (In fact, I felt a little motion sick. I guess 2.5 Gs will do that to you!). I don't think Claire enjoyed it 100%. Next time we'll go on the "Green Team" for a "less intense journey."

We went to the World Showcase and headed to Japan for a late hibachi lunch at Teppan Edo. Our chef provided the traditional hibachi show. Afterwards, we went to France to meet Belle from Beauty and the Beast. Claire had a really nice chat with her. In Morocco, we waited for quite a while for Jasmine and Aladdin to return from their break, then met them. Claire was absolutely thrilled!!!

One of the things that really made the whole Disney experience great for Claire was how some of the princesses took the time to really chat with Claire (The costumed characters, obviously, did not because they don't talk.). An extra minute or two can really be so meaningful to a child. We were lucky enough to have so many princesses that were kind enough to do so.

Disney Part 2

12/15 - Animal Kingdom

We decided to visit the Animal Kingdom park today. The Lion King show was on our list of things to do, so we went straight to the theater. It was great!

Claire kept asking to ride rides (She had so much fun riding on the rides at the Magic Kingdom the day before that she wanted more, more, more!). We went on Dinosaur, a ride that Claire thought was a little too scary. The TriceroTops Spin was more her speed. We went on a safari to see animals in their natural habitat and walked through a trail to see lots of animals (fish, gorillas). We watched another show, Finding Nemo, the Musical. It was fantastic! Claire really seemed to enjoy seeing the story of Nemo adapted for this live stage performance.

The highlight of Claire's day was seeing so many Disney characters up close. It didn't matter how long the line was, she was willing to wait patiently to see characters. At first, we weren't sure if this was the best use of our time, but the excitement in Claire's face showed us it was. We were able to visit with several characters including Minnie Mouse, Chip and Dale, Pluto, Lilo and Stitch, Winnie the Pooh, Tigger and Eyeore. It really brought us such joy to see Claire's face light up when she interacted with each character. Later she would say, "Mommy, I think [insert character's name here] was just someone dressed up in a costume." Funny, but she never said that about any of the princesses we met later on our vacation.

Disney Part 1

We stayed in a beautiful villa at Kidani Village in the Animal Kingdom. Our villa had great amenities and the two room, two bath layout was the perfect amount of space for us.

12/14 - Magic Kingdom

When we walked into the park, Claire was immediately drawn to Cinderella's castle. She wanted to go inside, but there really wasn't an "inside" to go into (Since Claire loves to see others' bedrooms, she was disapointed that she couldn't see Cinderella's bedroom in her castle.). When we walked around the back of the castle, we happened to run into Cinderella's fairy godmother. It was exciting!

We went on lots of rides - Claire especially loved It's a Small World and the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. We rode each of them twice!

After spending a good amount of time at the Magic Kingdom, we left to search for some winter hats and gloves (It was unseasonably cold in the Sunshine State. One cast member used the words "freakishly cold."). Visits to Target and Walmart did not yield winter gear, but we were successful at Cracker Barrel.

That night, we returned to the Magic Kingdom for Mickey's Christmas Party which was billed as an "exclusive" event. We, along with thousands of other guests, enjoyed watching a Christmas-themed musical show performed on the stage in front of Cinderella's castle, then lined the streets of Main Street USA to watch a special Christmas parade. It even snowed!! Despite the crowd and the freezing temperature, Claire loved every minute of it!!

Hershey Park

We went to Hershey Park in Hershey, PA on what seemed like the hottest day of the summer!! At the end of the day, the thermometer on our car's dashboard screamed 102!

When we first arrived, we teamed up with a little girl (Lily) and her grandparents so our girls could ride the rides together. They were so cute! Claire went on a bunch of the kiddie rides and she enjoyed each and every one of them! Luckily, there were hardly any lines because it was the first day of school for many districts. As we walked to the bigger rides, we each took turns riding with Claire. One of our favorite (air conditioned!) rides was the Reese's Xtreme Cup Challenge.

Since it was my first time there, I didn't realize how big the park was, so I left our bathing suits and towels in the car and figured one of us would run out and get them when we wanted to go on the water rides. Big mistake. By the time we were far into the park, I realized that it was too hot and too far to walk all the way back out to the parking lot. Next time we will bring a stroller to carry everything!

We had dinner at a GREAT, kid-friendly restaurant (The Chocolate Avenue Grill) and spent the night at a local hotel where we swam in the indoor pool.

All in all it was a great mini vacation!!!!

OBX

We just returned from 7 days in OBX (aka the Outer Banks in North Carolina). It was a wonderful week! We stayed at a great house with 5 bedrooms, 6 bathrooms, pool, rec room and an elevator. It was very comfortable for the 9 of us. While I wanted to spend every day lounging on the beach with my feet in the sand and swimming in the salty sea, the kids had other plans. They wanted to spend every minute in the pool jumping, swimming and splashing around. We
did manage to go to the beach twice, as a group, but in all honesty, schlepping beach chairs, umbrellas, towels, sand toys, a cooler and other beach necessities 2300 ft. was a bit of a hassle. Next time we will definitely plan early so we can get beach front accommodations!


Our days were spent relaxing and enjoying being together. We also ate some amazing meals: Homemade pizza, coxinha, lasagne, shrimp scampi linguine, grilled chicken and crab, mango and avocado salad.

We ventured out to a local racetrack where the daddies and kids raced go karts around a small track. A stop at Dippin' Dots cooled everyone down afterwards.


It was an awesome vacation with my fun, fabulous family! I love them sooooooo much!

All our Bags are Packed...

We're ready to go to OBX! We are so excited to be leaving for our first big family vacation with Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt C., Uncle R., Ryan and Peter. We rented what looks like a super-fantastic house complete with lots of bedrooms, a pool, a jacuzzi and an elevator! After packing the car, I think that elevator is going to come in handy - the kitchen is on the third floor!

This is going to be a fabulous family vacation! We are all ready to spend time together and R-E-L-A-X!!!!!!