Day Four-Science Center

Today was our last day of special toddler events. It rained all day so after an unsuccessful trip to the indoor pool (it was closed-she played in the bathtub instead) and lunch at a restaurant (where Ella ate NOTHING) we headed to the Harrisburg Science Center. They had a lot for Ella to do and it was a perfect way to spend a rainy day. As usual, we're picture taking fanatics on this trip so here ya go...

This Huge Bubble Blowing thing was super cool-Chris wants to build one at our house :-)

Ella played in their 10 ft by 10 ft water table forever! I've NEVER seen anything (besides TV) captivate this girl like water does! Chris also got a kick out of building dams and making the water flow in different directions in the "upper level" area of the table. They also had little seats in the table where you could strap babies in and they could put their hands in the water but it wouldn't flow into their laps-it was pretty cool (I should have taken a picture).

Ella spent a lot of time in this ambulance playing doctor and pushing all the buttons that made the lights flash and sirens sound. Somehow we didn't get any pictures of the grocery store where Ella shopped for food, put it on the working conveyor belt and then got to scan it (when it beeped she'd say "I paid, I paid!")

We got to listen to the Mr.Stuffy body parts show where the lovely gentlemen in the picture explained most internal organs by pulling them out of Mr.Stuffy. It was actually pretty amusing and Ella got to hold the large intestine!

As you can imagine, we're exhausted. Lots of events, no naps, greasy food...we're ready to come home but it's been a GREAT trip. I need some rest now from our vacation though!

Day Three-Dutch Wonderland!!

The Hershey people were really smart when they decided to help out the underserved toddler population by creating a whole amusement park where Ella, at 2 1/2, could go on almost every ride. There were enough "cool, big kid" rides that this park will be totally worth it for another 8 years or so. We had a lot of fun and I was SO impressed with how much Ella was willing to try!

This was the first ride that Ella went on by herself-I admit I was a little nervous and kinda surprised she was willing to do it (she's not really the dare-devil type). She did great and went on every "kids only" ride she could!

This was a fun one! I almost hit the ride attendant when I tried to stop but it worked out..

Ella LOVED this slide and went on it at least 5 times.

The Carousel was surprisingly fast and fun!

Ella didn't like this ride. It was one of the "kid only" rides. She sat in the little box by herself and looked pathetically bored the whole time. When she got off and I asked if it was fun she said "nope." She needed a pint sized friend.


"Choo Choo Charlie" was a cool ride where the kids hold on to little handles and it turns the wheels and scoots them around a track. She was a little bit too small so they gave Chris a big rod to push against the back and scoot her around (a bunch of parents were doing this). The ride was a little stop and go as Ella kept saying "No, Daddy, don't help me! I do it myself!" but overall, they made it around without getting hit by the bigger kids :-)


Our little Amish girl

This log ride was too scary for me (I DO NOT do roller coasters) but Ella loved it!


After a long day, Ella, completely by herself, ran over to this bench and told us "Hold on a minute, I'm sweepy, I need a nap." Asking for a nap means it was a good day in toddler world!

PA Vacation Day Two

Ok, so our second day in PA was a busy one as you'll see...


Our first stop on our lovely drive through Amish Country was a petting zoo that turned out to be free and AWESOME! I LOVE creatures-touching them, feeding them etc. Oh, and Ella liked it too. This little goat was our favorite. All the big goats pushed him out of the way when I tried to feed him but I waited them out and fed him in a little corner :-)

Ella was skeptical about actually touching any animals. She didn't actually "pet" a single animal at the petting zoo (I more than made up for it). We saw an enormous yak, llamas, a kangaroo, donkeys, a parrot that said "hello" extremely loudly, a turkey, rabbits and even a binturong (we had to google it). Lots of fun!

We also went to the Strasburg Railroad and played on working trains and in their store (every Thomas the Tank Engine toy you could EVER want).

We also spent some time in some Amish shops and then went on a great buggy ride where Lloyd, our 80 year old driver, told us all about each farm we went past, pointed out his neighbors and family members who were out plowing or sweeping or playing and let us ask any questions we had about the Amish. He has lived in a 4 mile radius his entire life! It was very informative and he was a SWEET old man and really liked Ella. She even went and sat in the front with him for most of the 30 minute ride!




From the back of the buggy-my new favorite picture of Ella.

Chocolate World!

We are having a great time on our vacation! I can only cover day one in this post but more will be coming. Our first day included the drive up to PA (uneventful) and what Ella has been talking about for days-CHOCOLATE WORLD!


The Singing cows on the chocolate world ride (which we went on twice-very toddler friendly). Ella saw them on the website before we came so she was SUPER excited to see them in person.

Then, Ella got to help "make" chocolate kisses in the factory.

After catching them, closing them, and shaking them, Ella got to put them on the conveyor belt and kiss them good bye :-)

Ella kept turning this wheel and saying "where is it?" and waiting for chocolate to drop from the sky which in this chocolate-lovers dream world, wouldn't be too much to expect.

Enjoying her chocolate milk shake :-)

Ella insisted on pushing our luggage to our room-she's strong or maybe just hopped up on chocolate! The timeshare is awesome (two bedrooms is the way to go when traveling with a kid-now we don't have to go to bed at 8pm! Thanks mom!) The only bad part is that the "chocolate train" a REAL, LOUD train bringing ingredients for the Hershey factory passes about 20 yard from our WINDOW! ALL NIGHT LONG. I've been leaving the radio on in Ella's room with loud static so she doesn't wake up every 2 hours when the train passes. So far so good-for her anyway. I'm up every 2 hours thinking-WHO BUILDS A HOTEL 20 YARDS FROM A TRAIN TRACK??? ARE THEY KIDDING?? Thankfully, it's been a great, busy trip so I've been exhausted and had no trouble falling asleep right away after the train whistle stops. More soon...next stop Amish Country!

Update...

I haven't blogged in a while...that's what the end of a semester will do to you. Here's some of what's been going on in pictures...


This is how we found Ella at family dinner at Nana's house (a 17 person affair each week) where Ella managed to slip away while the kids were playing outside and make a deposit in her diaper and then stand in the corner and take it off. This was just one public place where she took off her diaper that week.


A fun day at the Park with her good friend Lexi.


Baby Hope turned one!! I LOVE this picture of our little Hope-y.

Chris and the Birthday Girl

Ella earnestly singing "Happy Birthday" and enjoying her cup cake :-)

Chris got to take Ella to the zoo for free while I was in class a couple weeks ago-they had SO much fun!

Baby Caly, Lexi's new baby sister was born!!! She's SOOO adorable!

So precious! She was about 8 hrs old in this pic.

A drugged-up, happy new mommy enjoying a donut :-)


Ella's new favorite activity (sometimes the horse is a horse, in this case, it was a donkey)