Hershey Park, Chocolate World & Mark's Restaurant (Harvest)

Let's throw in a thunder and lightning storm to make the day even more interesting! That's not how it started off, however. We met Mark, Heather and kids, along with Jerry and Susan at Hershey Park about 10 am this morning. It was already getting hot and it was definitely muggy.

After a few rides we decided to cool off and have a small bite to eat. The restaurant area was air conditioned and even the native Pennsylvanians were anxious to get out of the weather!

Next to the eating area was an arcade with the ever popular Skee Ball game. The three kids tried their luck at playing it - it was hard for them to get the ball up the lane so Mom & Dad had to help.

Melah only likes the "baby" rides so she was very content to just sitting while Vera did the driving! Both Jett and Vera are more willing to try the 'bouncier' rides. Most rides had height minimums so they were restricted in most cases. Hershey Park does have a lot of kiddie rides scattered throughout the park.

Melah would have stayed on this Merry-Go-Round for more rides (she went 4 times in a row) but Vera started to fall asleep. We were afraid she would fall off the horse so we had the ride operator stop the ride so we could take her off.

Jett was hard to photograph as he was always on the go. It's nice to have the kiddie rides so that we could get up close to see him!

We decided to leave the park about 3 pm and go to Chocolate World to cool off. Shortly after we walked out of the park a lightning show started and all the big rides got closed down anyway, but at least we were ahead of the crowd. I think Gary and I will go back later to the shops outside the park or Chocolate World to get a souvenir or two.

We had a great dinner at Mark's restaurant, Harvest. It was the first time he had eaten in the restaurant as he is always in the kitchen. This picture turned out dark because of all the light in the background, but at least we have something to remember it by. Mark had already pre-ordered appetizers when he made the reservations so they were ready almost immediately upon arriving. We had our entrees and dessert so we were quite full by time we left - even though take out cartons accompanied us! It was a delicious meal and the kids all behaved very well.

It had been a long day so we decided to call it a day and go back to our respective homes. We will get a good night's sleep and then decide what we will do when we wake up in the morning. One option is Gettysburg, one is Lake Tobias (wild animal park) and one is walking a nature trail and going back to camp for a BBQ. A lot depends on the weather so I guess we will all know what is happening after we get some sleep!