Holiday Wrap Up Week: Christmas Day and Hershey, PA

Christmas day was a new experience with just our little family.  It was so fun being able to focus on just us and do what ever we wanted to do (like take a 15min time-out from opening gifts so I could start our yummy breakfast).  The girls got everything they wanted and more!  Grace asked for a "LaLa Loopsey stuffed animal doll", Hannah asked for a Unicorn Dreamlite, and Clara asked (really, she did! :)) for a shopping cart with food.  We had a great Christmas day.  It was fun to play with the toys we got, watch a movie, and just spend time together.

 

While Chad and Clara took a nap, Grace, Hannah and I made and decorated gingerbread cookies.  This was an activity we had been planning and I had made the dough the day before, but we never got around to making them.  It was funny though, because I think we were all on sugar overload.  The girls were not really even interested in eating the cookies.  Because we were leaving the next day for the rest of the week we ended up tossing them in the trash.  It was a waste, but I guess decorating them is the fun part right?!?

The day after Christmas we got up bright and early and headed for New York City for a few days....well, the was the original plan.  We just so happened to leave on a day when a HUGE winter storm hit.  The roads were terrible and there were wrecks everywhere!  We thought about turning around and returning home, but decided to push on to Hershey, PA, stay for the night, and then decide what to do in the morning. 
A drive that should have taken 3 hours, ended up taking 6!  We were so glad to make it safe!  We found a really great hotel to stay in.  Apparently I sounded stressed when I called to book the room, because the lady said that she was going to upgrade us to the 2 bedroom suite for the same price as the one bedroom!  Awesome!  The girls had a room all to themselves, Clara slept in the living room, and Chad and I had a separate room.  Delightful! 
We had plans to go to this drive-thru Christmas light show in Hershey that night, but we all made it out to the car, and decided the roads and weather were too bad!  We went back inside, went swimming, and hung out in the hotel for the night!

The next day the roads and weather were MUCH better.  We went and toured the Hershey Factory.  The girls LOVED it.  There was a ride that tells you all about how they make the candy.  The girls enjoyed it so much that we rode it twice!
 

 We got some yummy chocolate, drove around some areas from Chad's mission, and then continued our trip to NY!
More to come...