Hershey Park Vacation - Part 1

I started this post about our vacation the week after we returned home - the first week of July - and I just never had the time to finish it.  But I have decided to go ahead and share it, if only for our own memory-keeping!

This is actually a picture from the trip home, but it is the only picture I took in the car.

We booked our trip to Hershey Park about 2 months before the date we were going, which was a big deal for us, because we normally don't make concrete vacation plans.  But then we barely thought about the trip again until 2 days before we were due to leave.  So I made a big list of things to bring, called the hotel with last minute questions, printed the directions, and checked out the websites to try to make a plan.  I wished we had started preparing before Sunday, but our lives are just always so jam-packed, we often live by "triage" - dealing with the things that need the most immediate attention first.  So, this means things like this get put off until it is absolutely necessary.  And on top of our schedule, a head cold that had passed between Josh and Elias had finally caught up with me, so I spent most of the weekend before we left in and out of bed. 

But we made no plans on Monday and Tuesday and I began to feel better, so we were able to get everything packed and ready by Tuesday evening.  We even had time to have an impromptu play date with some friends we don't get to see nearly enough on Tuesday afternoon.  
We left early on Wednesday morning.  The kids were a bit cranky before we stopped for breakfast, but the weather was great for traveling and Josh and I had actually went to bed at a decent hour the night before, so the trip was pretty enjoyable overall.

As a side note - our hotel offered slight discounts on the Hershey Park tickets, but we were looking for other deals online, but didn't find any that we didn't have to join something or put in our personal information, etc..  But we stopped for breakfast at a random Chick-fil-a in Cumberland, Maryland, and there were discount tickets sitting right inside the door for the park for $12 off of the admission price.  Now there are several things that make this such a huge blessing.  First, we had planned to stop at a Denny's or a Bob Evans to have a sit down breakfast, since we were going to be having a quick lunch in our hotel room when we arrived.  We couldn't find a Denny's and the kids voted against Bob Evans.  So we were trying to think of where else we could go.  We had stopped at a Chick-fil-a in Cumberland on another trip and knew there was a play place (which is a great way for the kids to get their wiggles out), so we decided as we were passing the exit to stop.  This restaurant is not even on an exit with lots of other tourist stops - like gas, other restaurants, etc..  Also, Cumberland is more than 2 hours away from Hershey.  We never saw the coupons that we got at any other restaurant we stopped at the entire trip - even those closer to the park.  When we gave the coupons to the ticket booth attendant and she said that those were the best coupon discounts they offer.  At $12 off of each admission, we saved $46 dollars!  I was so thankful.  Since we hadn't read them well, we had taken a coupon for each of us, but we only needed one.  So I tried my hardest to give the coupons to others who were standing in the lines, but many of them had already purchased their ticket.  But I was able to make a family of 8 people very happy, which made my day!

Anyway, we had a little trouble finding our hotel.  I started getting a little nervous as we turned into a little neighborhood that either the hotel wasn't as close as they had advertised or we were severely off track.  But we found our quaint little motor lodge right in the middle of this little neighborhood street.  There were beautiful shade trees and a gazebo in the front courtyard and it just felt homey.  When we got to our room, I was thanking Josh profusely for his hotel finding skills.  Our room was seriously almost as big as our first apartment.  It had a full kitchen, minus a stove, and three beds!  I wanted to kiss Josh for this!  One reason we hate staying in hotel rooms together is because our kids do not sleep well with others, especially each other.  Because the room was so big, it was easier to control the temperature of the room also. Our room was on the top floor and everyone had their own little entryways to their rooms.  There was obviously no hallway noise, which I really have trouble sleeping through, so we all slept the best we have ever slept in a hotel together.  I will share a little more on our hotel experience later, but it definitely put us all back in a good mood from the "travel crankiness" that had crept in.

Since we still had a full day ahead of us, we ate lunch in our room of food we had brought from home and prepared to leave.  Right before we walked out, the electricity went off because of some work they were doing on the lines, so we had to take all the food we had put in the full size fridge and put it back in our coolers.  We were glad to hear that the power was supposed to be back on by the time we got back and the temperature was very mild that day, so the room wouldn't get too hot - this was especially a blessing because 2 days later, was the weekend that the whole East Coast was having temperatures over 100 degrees!

Look for Part 2 (hopefully very soon) - The trip to Chocolate World

2 + 2 = 4

I got the idea to have them hold up pieces of paper with their grade on it from others, so we would be able to readily remember what grade they were starting in the future.  Unfortunately, I didn't make the grade big enough or dark enough, so all of their pictures look like they're holding blank sheets of paper.

So this is the only really good "first day of school" picture I have, without the crazy blank sheets!

Today is day 4 of school.  We have had 4 1/2 morning meltdowns over clothes and one meltdown over homework - 1 clothes meltdown and the homework meltdown came from Elias and 3 and 1/2 of the clothes meltdowns came from Bella.

Bella did this last year at the beginning of school for over a month.  At the time, I was so frustrated by it and felt at my wit's end because I thought it would last forever and I didn't understand what was causing it.  But around mid-October I realized that it was her release of the anxiety over starting school and being in a new environment, etc.  So, since I know that this year and it is her second year of school, I am hoping that it won't last nearly as long.  I know that I have handled it better this year than I did last year.

Now Elias' homework meltdowns were more of an on-going thing and were still happening well into Spring.  This year, he already LOVES his teacher and he said she makes learning fun, so I am hoping that it will be a little better this year. Of course, she'll be leaving in November for a maternity leave for the rest of the year, but the teacher who is taking her place is a man who has a temperament a lot like Josh's, so I hope that it will be an easy transition for Elias.

But, overall, the kids are adjusting to school much easier this year than they did last year and it feels like it will be a good year.

I have one 1/2 day of work under my belt - at a school where I have never subbed before.  It was a good day and it sort of got me over my "first day of (teaching) school" anxieties.  Yesterday, before I went to work, I took a quiet walk around my neighborhood, weeded my landscaping (which I secretly enjoy), and then took my time getting ready. Even though I did dishes and a couple loads of laundry too, it was a restful morning.

Today, the world is my oyster - at least until 3:30!  I don't have any appointments - though I have lots of things to do here!  But I have turned on my Harry Connick, Jr. Pandora station and I am going to enjoy the little blessings of this day, even in the midst of my "to dos". I have so many blessings. 

Time keeps on ticking into the future

The kids have been back to school for 1 and 1/2 days now.  I have already been called in to sub! I said no.  Maybe not my best choice, but mentally I am just not ready to start working already when I feel like I have gotten so little done around here. I am already scheduled for 2 days next week.
Yesterday, my day was spent catching up on emails and bills and shopping for school supplies. I did get to have lunch with Josh, which was a little bonus to my day. Today, my day has been spent so far filling out my name, address, phone number, emergency contacts, etc., on about 20 different forms for the kids schools.  - Seriously, isn't this the information age, can't they use a scanner or a copier or something?
I have a load of laundry to put away, more clothes that need to go into the washer, a sink full of dishes that can't be loaded until the dishwasher is unloaded, and I am still in my pajamas.  I am not off to a good start so far! 
I had every intention on catching up on my blog - recording what we were up to this summer, which was a lot!  But it seems like I won't have as much down time as I thought.  Sports are starting and work calls are starting. (I thought I would have a couple weeks before I started getting called at least.  I am glad that work is available, but I hate having to say no already!)
So, I guess I better get off of here and get started.
Oh, and did I mention that I haven't been sleeping well? My "to do" list swarms around my brain at night and it is like a mosquito that won't go away until I get up and take some swats at it. So, I have been becoming a night owl, getting back up when everyone else is sleeping - but unlike owls, I don't sleep during the day either.
It has only been 2 days.  No pressure.  There is plenty of time, right?