Adventure Aquarium

We decided that the last day of our trip needed to be spent inside so we went to The Adventure Aquarium in Camden, NJ. Mike's family got there early and took a ferry on the Delaware River but we were less prompt and missed out on this fun. We did, however, take a couple pictures outside of the beautiful Delware and the view of Philly on the otherside:

At first Penny was a super crabby child and I thought this Aquarium was going to be a very expensive bust...

But after seeing some Little Blue Penguins get fed, Penny started to get mesmerized  by all the cute fishes and the Aquarium became a hit with all my kids! Sea Horses, Sea Turtles, Sharks, Jelly Fish, Hippo's! All sort of cool sea life to see and experience and there was a fun play area just for little ones! I enjoyed not only seeing all these cool sea animals but also getting to do it inside where it was nice and cool!

After the Aquarium, we went back to the hotel, let the babies get naps and then wore the kids out swimming in the outdoor hotel pool. It was the perfect end to the perfect trip.

Philadelphia

Thursday was a super warm and humid day and we spent that day sweating as we explored Philadelphia. 

Rather than dealing with traffic and parking, we paid for a bus tour and it was totally worth it. A shuttle picked us up from our hotel and then dropped us off at the bus. We went on top of the double decker bus and enjoyed our view from the top:

After a bit we hopped off the bus and walked over to the United States Mint. This was a free tour where we got to learn (and watch) how money gets made. Both the kids and us adults seemed to enjoy this and the added bonus is that it got us out of the heat for a bit. The only downside is that we were not allowed to take pictures inside the US Mint building so we could only document our fun with one outside picture:

After the United States Mint tour it was about lunch time so we found this awesome little picnic area behind this awesome gigantic Benjamin Franklin head where we sat down to eat. We had brought food for the kids so they ate and played while the boys went and picked up some yummy Philly pizza for the grownups.

After stuffing our faces we took a short walk over the Elfreth's Alley, our nation's oldest residential street. It was really cool to visit and document but I can't imagine being an actual resident there. I wonder what it's like to have people constantly taking pictures of your home! At least they don't have front yards to maintain!

Next we walked down to the Betty Ross House where we took a picture with this lovely TX donkey (throughout Philly they have a donkey for each state) and then waited for our bus to come pick us back up. Thankfully it was only a short wait!

The next stop we got off at was at the Chinatown Friendship Gate: 

We snapped some pictures of the Gate and then walked over to the Reading Terminal Market. The Reading Terminal Market is an indoor Farmer's Market of sorts that was insanely crowded and overwhelming. There were lots of things I would have loved to try (and lots of things I had no desire to try) but it was so hard to maneuver around the bazillion people with our kids that we just ended up getting some ice cream and then sitting on a non crowded bench by the bathrooms to eat it.  

The crazy busy Market left Poppy and my brother's family exhausted and done with Philly so they walked back to where the shuttle was to take them back to the hotel. However, I was not done with Philly, there was too much we still hadn't seen! Grandma agreed so she hopped on top of a double decker bus with my family and we finished our bus tour of Philly. It was exceptionally hot with the sun beating down on us but there was a nice breeze when the bus was moving that made it bearable.

R-L, Top-Bottom: Joan of Arc statue, Eastern State Penitentiary, City Hall, the Skyscrapers of Philly, City Hall, Benjamin Franklin Bridge, Chinatown Friendship Gate, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Rocky statue

A part of me wanted to get off that bus and run down the Rocky steps but the sweaty (and much smarter) part of me said "no way!". All my kids were hot and sweaty and tired, Lucy ended up falling asleep on the bus and I was glad we didn't get off early. But I am equally glad that we stuck around and finished the tour, there were so many cool things to see!

When we got off the bus we were all ready to get on that shuttle and get back to the hotel. We had a bit of a hiccup when we were told there wouldn't be another shuttle for us for almost 2 hours. I about cried. I pleaded with them telling them I have 4 hot and tired kids and is there any way we could get one sooner? We got SO lucky (because apparently they NEVER do this but their heart bled for my hot little munchkins) and they were able to put us on a shuttle back to the hotel just a few minutes later. 

After exploring Philly we were all pretty pooped for that day. Someday I would like to go back when the weather is cooler and when my kids are older and could appreciate it all a little better.

Visiting the Amish

On Wednesday we made our way to Philadelphia and on our way there we made a couple stops in some Amish areas. Our first stop was at The Lil Country Store and Miniature Horse Farm in Ronks. On our way there we got stuck behind a horse and buggy and that was pretty fun. The farms we passed on our way there were green and beautiful. 

At the Miniature Horse Farm, there were miniature horses of course. The kids had fun petting them and getting to feed them, although Benny got a little nervous about them licking the food pellets out of his hand. 

They had a little shop there with lots of cute homemade things that I should have bought but didn't (a purse for the girls that I am still mourning and beautiful kid sized brooms). Tyler did buy some homemade Root beer that was very genuine and I think he decided he's not a fan of genuine.

Our next stop was in Intercourse. I was told this was a great place to get yummy Amish food so the first thing we did was get some soft pretzels to snack on. We had to wait a bit but that meant they were super fresh and they were really yummy. Here I am photo bombing my parents from inside the shop:

Then we went to Kitchen Kettle Village in Intercourse. I was hoping to find more shops like what we found in Ronks but I found nothing of the sort. These were super fancy feeling and not authentic Amish feeling shops. It kind of bummed me out but we still took a picture to document that we went to a place with a super fun city name!

As we headed back to the car from our disappointing shops we saw some goats that Ben and Lucy just had to feed.

Our last stop before getting to Philadelphia was for our traditional birthday lunch for my dad and Tyler (dad's birthday the day before and Tyler's the next day) at Red Robin's. Dad thought he would get some sort of discount so he told them is was him and Tyler's birthday. Bwhaha, he did the dirty work for us! So they got sung too and then got to enjoy some ice cream. 

Then it was onward to Philadelphia where we checked into our hotels and had a chill rest of the day.

Hershey Park

On Tuesday my awesome parents paid for us to go to Hershey Park. It was by far one of my favorite days! We got to the park a little early so we had plenty of time to park and take the shuttle to the entrance.

We also had plenty of time for the kids to measure themselves so they would know what rides they were allowed on. Steven was a Hershey, Benny was a Reese's and we measured Lucy as a Kiss but when the professionals measured her later, they determined she was right on the line of Reese's. Penny isn't pictured but she was a Miniature. 

Once the gates opened I thought it would be smart to hit rides that might get busy as the day progressed. I was wrong because the park never really got busy (maybe because it was so stinking humid and hot!) and this just made us bounce around and do more walking then we really needed too. It also caused us to get separated from Mike's family and we ended up not getting to spend much time with them that morning.

We started off with the Reese's Xtreme Cup Challenge. This was a good starter for all the kids, not fast and scary at all and it had fun laser guns to shoot with. After that we went on the Coal Cracker and this was a big hit with ALL the kids the first time we went on it. The Coal Cracker was a boat ride through water canals that ended with a big plunge. I was really worried that Penny and Lucy were going to freak out when we hit that plunge but they loved it and were probably less freaked out then me. They all requested to go again but as soon as the ride started the second time, Ben started to cry and said he was too scared to do the plunge again. Too bad it was too late and he had no choice, but thankfully he survived without too much more drama.

After that everyone but Ben and me went on the Kissing Tower. Basically they sit in a room that goes up and down. 

Since Ben was done with thrill rides we decided to hit some kid rides: The Twin Turnpike Speedway, The Convoy (pictured below), the Red Baron, the Frog Hopper.

Then we finally met up with Mike's family only to be separated again as we chose different places to eat lunch at. I think we chose the better place because we got some fun live entertainment.

After filling our bellies, Tyler rode on the Storm Runner by himself. It was a super speedy coaster and I just don't do speedy coasters. He had also done the Great Bear Roller Coaster earlier in the day, another one that I was just not interested in. 

Then we did a couple family friendly rides: The Dry Gulch Railroad, and Monorail (picture below). And then Steven and Lucy went with us on The Trailblazer. Benny was done with coasters but Steven was still being brave (much braver than when we went to Dollywood) and he had a blast on the Trailblazer. Lucy was our little daredevil and she loved every minute of it too!

By this time we were all sweating to death and decided it was time to cool down so we headed over to the water park area. Tyler took Steven to some big water slides while I stayed with the rest of the kids at the Sandcastle Cove. I immediately regretted letting him abandon me because I was not so smart and didn't bring a swimsuit and it was really hard managing the kids in the splash area without getting wet. Thankfully Ben was a super helper and took Penny down the little water slide lots of times for me. 

When Tyler and Steven made there way back to us, they were soon abandoning us again to go to the wave pool (Oliver & Mike went to the wave pool with them too). This time they took Lucy with them but I was stuck behind again with Penny and Benny. We did a lot of boring waiting (since I was done getting wet), and some walking that helped Penny do some napping and then when we were all together and awake we did the Merry Derry Dip Fun Slides (the girls loved this), Tyler & Steven went on the Wild Mouse Coaster (which apparently jerked them around), and then at long last I got to go on my kind of roller coaster with Mike & Tyler, The Lightening Racer. It was a wooden coaster that was not too scary and so much fun!

By this time it was late and everyone was hot and tired and hungry for dinner. We squeezed in one more ride, The Cocoa Cruiser. This was a tiny roller coaster that Ben could handle and absolutely loved. It about killed my back though. And then it was time to say goodbye to Hershey Park!

This was honestly one of my favorite days on the trip. It was so fun to see what daredevils my girls are and it was fun to see my boys get brave. We all just had so much fun and I know we could have easily spent a whole another day there seeing how we didn't even get to the zoo that is there too. I am so grateful that my parents put up with the heat and hung out with us there (it was my dad's birthday for Pete's sake) and I am so grateful that they made the whole day possible. Hopefully we can go there again someday!

Hershey Chocolate World & Gettysburg

We spent Fourth of July morning at Hershey Chocolate World. There was a long line at the front doors when we got there but really, it wasn't long because everyone kind of dispersed inside. Here's Mike looking oh so excited to go inside and me and my kids posing with my favorite kind of candy (who totally creeped the girls out):

Family picture with all the Hershey Chocolate Characters:

A group shot of the whole Brady Family clan, it so perfectly reflects us all:

After all of our photo ops we got to go on the awesome Chocolate Tour. On the tour/ride, we got to watch how cocoa beans are transformed into delicious chocolate. There were singing cows and animated Hershey Chocolate characters and the kids loved it and the kids were able to go on it several times since there really wasn't a line.

Afterwards we spent way too much money on chocolate souvenirs: cute tins for neighbors and friends, a "chocolate" Lego car for Steven, a stuffed Hershey Bar character for Ben, a stuffed Pig for Lucy, a small tin purse for Penny, a drinking glass for Tyler and some extra long Twizzlers for me. Like I said, way too much money. Here are the kids with the giant candy that we did NOT buy: 

After Hershey Chocolate World we decided to make Poppy's dreams come true and took him to see a covered bridge, Sach's Covered Bridge. And to sweeten the covered bridge deal for my history buff father, the bridge was located in Gettysburg. It was really neat to drive through the fields of Gettysburg on our way there, so many statues and graves and history to be seen.

The bridge itself was beautiful and it was located in a beautiful area and I think the kids could have just stayed there the rest of the day throwing rocks in the river and exploring.

But alas, there was more history to be seen so we headed to The Gettysburg Museum. This was not a museum for kids because you just can't make a terrible battle kid friendly. I got to see some of it but me, Mecca and Grams ended up skipping out early with the kids and letting the boys enjoy the rest of it without our craziness.  

We waited outside for the boys under the awning because it was sprinkling a bit and then ended our Gettysburg visit with an appropriate Fourth of July photo op with Abraham Lincoln: