auntie elyse comes for a visit

Dearest Elyse came down on a train from New York City last weekend for a visit, and boy, it was good to have her. Annville and NYC are about as different as you can get, but I think that's part of what made her visit so fun.

Here Elyse is arriving and then leaving our blessed little neck of the woods. I'm hoping we can take the train up to see her again in a week or two. That would save us the hassle of trying to find a parking space again on Broadway. That was a grand pain.

When she arrived we went to dinner at a Mexican restaurant (which is rare in this part of the country) in Harrisburg and then took a walk along the Susquehanna River and the foot bridge across to City Island. It was such a beautiful night.

 

The next day (Friday) Elyse and I took Bob to work and then went on a walk/jog around the trails near his office, which are lovely. I then took her to Chocolate World where you can go on a little ride where they show you how their chocolate is made. It's pretty entertaining and Min is in love with the singing cows. Later, we picked up Bob from work and went to the Mennonite family dairy we'd been to before to get ice cream and feed the goats. Minnie was slightly less scared this time.

It was a serious scorcher, so we headed to the pool to cool off a little.

Hershey Park has a deal where if you purchase a full day ticket you can go the night before for 2 1/2 hours for free. Dream! My friend Shana said she'd watch Minnie for us so we wouldn't have to trade off staying with her at the park. Bob was like a kid in a candy store. The lines were super short and all of the rides were really close together so we got a ton in. It was amazing.

The next morning we went to a little indoor farmer's market where we got candy instead of fruit. They were fruit flavors though, doesn't that count? The spread of candy was irresistible. They had gummies I hadn't seen since I was a kid and some I'd never seen at all.

That afternoon Elyse and I went to the movie "Moonrise Kingdom" at the little theater downtown while Minnie snoozed and Bob relaxed. It was SO hot all day, so we decided to wait until early evening to go to Hershey Park. I think Robert was dying inside a little, but when we got there clouds started rolling in and it got really cool. After one or two rides lightening started up and many of the rides closed. Depressing! Half of the people in the park decided to quit so it really quieted down. We decided to wait it out and get a bunch of kiddie rides in for Minnie, which was almost more fun than anything else. The girl was a total natural. I mean like hands up in the air, screaming at full volume kind of natural. There were a few rides where she had to ride by herself and I was nervous to let her go. Bob convinced me that the seat belts would hold her in well enough, so I decided to resist my over-motherly nature and let her go. I cannot begin to express to you how funny it was to watch her ride those rides all by herself. Not only because she looked so tiny, but also because she was the only one on most of them because everyone had gone home. Robert is quite pleased that his daughter is a fan of rides. I have a feeling we'll be going on lots of amusement park family vacations in the future.

Minnie and her new best friend with a painted face. I'm not sure what she enjoyed more...the ride or the girl behind her. She couldn't stop staring.

After about an hour, the rides opened up again and since most people had gone home, the lines were really short. It was the perfect amusement park experience and Elyse was such a champ to put up with me and Robert racing from ride to ride and going strong until the park closed at 11 PM.

The Hershey Kiss kissing tower that overlooks all of Hershey.

It was so much fun to have Elyse here. It was weird how quiet the house felt after she was gone. I love me some visitors. Anyone else want to make the trek out here? I promise, we're great hosts. The mattress you'll have to sleep on may be a little hard (so says Elyse) but we'll make it up to you in a complimentary ticket to Hershey Park. Think about it!