Our First Trip to Hersheypark!

When I say “our first trip” to Hersheypark, I mean it was our first trip there as a family, and my boys first time there. Fred grew up going there since he’s originally from PA! I actually went there when I lived with my dad in the 6th grade. Don’t try figuring out how long ago that was, it was basically in ancient times!

We headed up to PA early in the morning and stopped at Fred’s parents’ house to have breakfast. They gave us 4 tickets to get in! What a blessing. It’s a 2 1/2 hour drive from the house in Maryland to the Hersheypark parking lot! I went with big expectations of doing everything: amusement park, ZooAmerica, and The Boardwalk. Silly little lady. Getting up there around 11:30 makes it hard to do anything other than the amusement park.

  

Having not been there for over 30 yrs, I had no recollection of what the park was like. Fred said we had to start the day with the tour. When we walked into the Hershey’s Chocolate World, it was a wonderland of chocolate everything!

From there we started our first ride of the Comet roller coaster. The guys got in line and I decided to scope out the food options. The guys started out behind the 1 hour wait line. Needless to say, it was just over an hour for them before they had their turn.

Did you know they have an app that tells you how long the wait is for each ride? Yea, we didn’t know until they were already in line for the Comet! I tell ya what, they should have wait times listed for the food too, because it took almost 45 minutes to get our family meal at the place we chose to eat. Little did we know if we’d gone to the back of the park we could’ve gotten in and out of one of those food joints. Next time!

The rest of the time at the park we looked at the app for every ride we got on. Now I use the word “we” very loosely. I only rode a couple of rides because I like walking around with the family watching them ride, and holding their things. It’s the role I like at amusement parks. lol

As the afternoon moved on I found one of the T-Mobile charging stations. None of the chargers were working and there was even a broken charger line that was still “hot” and I burned myself on it. We found a station later on in the day, and that one wasn’t charging either. We did have a backup charger in the car, but none of us was desperate for a charge that we wanted to go back.

I was actually shocked at some of the rides my boys went on. Fred’s a pretty good sport and rides pretty much all of them. Doodle wanted to do the Storm Runner and I wasn’t so sure about that for him. I finally relented because of how people are restrained on the ride. Standing there watching the people who ride in the front two seats is probably the best part of the entire amusement park. It was hysterical.

 

Now, I have to say I was impressed that Buddy wanted to go on the Fahrenheit! That bad boy goes straight up, and then straight down. I was horrified just watching that! HA! Fred got off of it saying he was done!

While the two guys rode the Fahrenheit, Doodle and I rode the Howler. That ride was just my speed, but the one thing I couldn’t do was look away from the pole between us. We were spinning so fast, my equilibrium was thrown off the moment I glanced away. From there, the guys were still in line for their ride, so we headed over to the Funnel Cake house. The entire time we were at the park, I never saw that line shrink, and it was no different when we got in line around 9:30.

We got our funnel cake as the guys joined us from their ride, and we headed out of the park. Oh, I forgot to mention, I had a moment of weakness and bought a Christmas ornament at the S. Clause & Co. Gift Shop! Everyone knows I don’t “do” Christmas anything before Thanksgiving…if possible.

 

I really want to go back…and soon. I know Fred’s kids go up during their Christmas Candylane, and always love it. My plan is to spend a weekend up there next year at some point. Hey, a girl can dream!

What’s your favorite ride at an amusement park?

House Building Has Slowed to A Crawl #FredNMimiBuildAHome

Before Fred and I got married at the end of June, I knew that if the house was going to continue at the pace it was going, I would have to pretty much have everything picked out before I left.

Do you have ANY idea how stressful that was for me? I’m learning that I’m a control freak, and when I’m not in the same state as the house we’re building for a month, I pretty much melt down.

I knew going into the building process, I’d want to pick out our own fans and lights. I figured if they had the sheetrock up and everything was ready, I’d better have those things ready to go. Holy cow, THAT was an expensive trip to Home Depot. It took me forever to pick out everything for each room in the house! Thankfully there’s a tiny allowance for us replacing what they’ve planned on supplying.

I don’t know why, but I’m really excited about the interior doors! The ones above are in one of the other houses that was being built.

I even made sure to pick out a kitchen faucet because I received an awesome gift card to Lowes from one of my bridal showers. The great part about the kitchen faucet? I saved nearly half of what I paid for the original one when we headed over to my mom’s for my dad’s birthday. I ran over to the Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore!

Have you BEEN to one of those? It was so great. I was like a kid in a candy shop. The ReStore is where builders, contractors, and brands send their stuff if they don’t need them. A lot of it is used, but a ton is new! The Delta kitchen faucet I ended up buying was about $75, and it retails for over $300! The new faucet I bought at Lowes, which was a different design was $139. Score!

I can’t wait to share, hopefully next month, about the faucet that Delta sent me to review for one of our bathrooms. It’s a motion detected faucet, and we’ll be having it installed in our guest bathroom. I can’t wait to try it out!

I didn’t realize at the time that the shingles were going to be black. I would’ve preferred a dark brown, but oh well…next time.

If you look at the photo above, the area closest to the bottom is the entry and living room. Where the sliding glass door is, is where the dining room will be. Below is our kitchen. I’m still kicking myself for making the window above the sink smaller. You see the two wood slats on either side of the window space? That’s how big I was going to have it originally. Blah, should’ve stuck with that. Next time, right?

Ok, I’ll say this out loud, I don’t like pillars. Not even a little bit. There are pillars all over the place here. Well, let me clarify, I like front porches with railings that are wood. I don’t like white pillars. Granted, these aren’t the massive pillars you see on many houses here. I would’ve put my foot down with that. Maybe if they’d have been stone or a more decorated wood? These I can live with.

This was after our big haul at Home Depot. We were missing a couple because they were out so I ended up having to do more running around after this little trip. I also ended up purchasing a dining room light from Menards when we were back there in July. Thanks to my boss I have a nice light now!

Little by little we’re working our way to getting things done for this house. For now our purchases are done. Until we’ve been in the house and know what little touches we want to make, we won’t know what else we want to do.

What would be the hardest decision in a house building process for you?

How Many Floors Can One House Have #FredNMimiBuildAHome

We have four kids who will be living with us. I’ve got two who have already flown the coop, but I want to be sure they always have someplace to stay if they come here. My oldest son had the smallest room in our last house in MN, and here he’s had to share a room with his little brother.

With the house plans we were able to choose from, Fred was good enough to use, to choose a house that has a 3rd floor.  Now, let’s not go crazy here when I say “3rd floor.” It’s basically a finished attic. A finished attic that will be the oldest’s bedroom. Not only will he have a bedroom, he’ll have his own bathroom!! At one point when we were walking through one of the other houses that was further along in the process than ours, I told Fred WE should take the 3rd floor. I mean, it’s stinking big! The boy wanted no part of that idea. HA!

We recently went back to the house after not seeing it for almost a week, and the second and third floors were all framed in and the roof was on! I couldn’t believe it! It was SO exciting to see. This means we have REALLY got to get connected with all of the subcontractors.

Fred and I went to the hardware store to look at light/fan fixture as well as faucets. Yes, I want the best of the best, and we truly don’t have the money for that, but oh it’s fun to dream. And down the road, we can switch things out as we have the money.

Mom had another bridal shower for me, and we were given more gift cards, so those will absolutely be going towards things we want for the house. Our first purchases will be for ceiling fans. Next will be the faucets for the house. A cool piece is that Delta is going to work with me on an amazing faucet as we’re building so you don’t want to miss that review AND giveaway! I know, those have been missing quite a bit here at my little ol’ blog.

Now that our house is under roof, we’re going to have the cabinet people come out to measure so we can pick what we want for the kitchen and bathrooms. I’m also excited to pick out the color of the siding, and front door. Yes, I’m excited about a front door.



Our plan is to write scripture in all of the rooms. We’ll be doing that as we go. I loved this one that Fred picked out to write on the door frame into our home. I’ve got ideas of what I’d like to write on the other rooms, and the youngest has already chosen the one he wants for his room!

If you’ve ever built a home, what was the most exciting part for you?

We Got Married! #FredNMimiSayIDo

So, it’s been a month and a half since my last blog post. Life has been absolutely nuts since the end of June. Actually, as my blog posting shows, the past year has been crazy!

At the end of June, June 28th to be exact, Fred and I tied the knot. It was a whirlwind of a weekend to be sure! My daughter and my best friend flew in from Minnesota. What a treat to have them both here. I was sad that my second daughter wasn’t able to make it. The ladies stayed at my parents for the four days they were here. The boys and I went to join them for a couple of days. It. Was. Awesome!

On June 29th, we headed over to Annapolis, Maryland where Fred and I said our “IDos” in front of friends and family. I’m so thankful it was a beautiful day on the docks. Getting married in Historic Maryland, by the water, was a gorgeous choice for location! I knew our room above Federal House was going to fit our small group perfectly.

Our wedding was super relaxed, and just such a chill day. We had a good time with good food. I have to say, I loved being surrounded by my family. I’ve always known how fun they were, but I have to tell you, when you have us all together, we’re the loudest bunch in the room. We laughed hard, and made some great memories!

I have to give a shout out to my dad for taking a ton of pictures at the wedding. In fact, just today I finally went through them. He even took a few videos, but I haven’t had a chance to view them yet. He was my photographer, and I can’t thank him enough! Love you dad!

LP (my bestie) showed up and made sure everything was finished. We went and had our nails done thanks to my mom! While I was still getting my nails done, LP and Baby did some running around, and when they came back to get me, she had flowers to make for décor and for me to hold. I totally wasn’t planning on having a bouquet, and here she is, surprising me.

Mom, what can I say about everything she did to make sure I had a beautiful wedding. She got the boys shirts and ties (Baby added her touch with the suspenders). She made sure the ladies and I were pampered with our nails getting done, and then Sunday before the wedding she set it up for Bill, our hairdresser, to do everyone’s hair. She wanted to do tons more, but I knew she’d empty her account if we let her. I actually had to do stuff behind her back so she couldn’t pay for it. I love that woman! Thank you mom!

For me, the pièce de résistance was our wedding cake. It was apropos that it was the shape of a Twitter bird and had our wedding hashtag! And no, that image wasn’t on the cake. It’s just my watermark. lol

I’m hoping I’ll be able to get back in here to blog more regularly. It “should” be easier now that Fred and I are in the same home, not always having to GO somewhere to spend time together. I just have to organize my time better. I’ve been spending too much time sitting around catching up on tv programs. I need to catch up on my blogging! I certainly have missed it.

My next post will be about our super fun trip back to Minnesota!

How has your summer been? Have you done anything exciting?