Devin's Birthday Party

Toddy was invited to his very first bowling birthday party and of course he was very excited to go. Every morning for a week I was awakened with the question, is it bowling today momma? Of course at 5 in the morning, that question gets pretty old very quickly.

So finally the day arrived for Devin's party. This was the first time that Toddy was at a real bowling alley to play the game. Devin, his buddy, showed Toddy what needed to be done because he had been bowling before. I was able to keep track of Devin and Toddy's first game that they bowled together. After that, it was a different story and all the kids got mixed up into each other's games. They bowled for about three hours and then it was time for pizza, soda, and birthday cupcakes. They all had a blast.

Trip to Hershey Park

We took Toddy down to Hershey Park to check out the new water attractions that they had put into the park. Mammy came a long with us. (It was the day after we picked her up from the airport, returning from Germany). It was a very nice sunny day. There were a lot of people, but I wouldn't call it crowded. We headed to the water area first to see what it was like. After changing, Toddy wanted to try out the Sandcastle. There were water slides and other water adventure things for the little ones to explore and get wet. He loved that because he didn't need mom or dad to watch him so closely.

Next came the wave pool. (I think this one was his favorite.) This was a small pool that little kids could swim in. (I think it is about 3 foot deep) It has a machine in it that creates small waves for the kids to play in. There is a wide slide and a couple of towers that dump water on your head.

The last water attraction that we visited that day was the water works area. It is a structure about three stories tall and has all kinds of water slides, shooting water, buckets, sprayers, etc in the area. If you go inside that area you will get wet, as Mammy knows well.

I had been sick that day and my voice wasn't very loud to begin with. Mammy was watching Todd and Toddy trying to follow them. I was yelling for her to go the other way because I could hear a bell ringing, and I knew what that meant...

She looked at me and I pointed for her to go a different direction, but she didn't understand what I wanted her to do so she kept on going. About that time, the water bucket overhead dumped and she was drenched with water. She didn't know what hit her... she looked like a drowned rat. Very funny!

We swam in the different pools for about 5 hours and decided that it would be time to head home for the day. We were all tired and hungry. We rode a few more rides on our way out of the park, including the train, monorail, the skylift... and of course, the Chocolate World tour. (It wouldn't be a trip to Hershey Park without it.)

After all was said and done, we left the park and went for dinner at the Outback steakhouse. One of my friends that I taught with, Allan, stopped by to see us and visit with us for a few minutes as we ate our meal.

We had a really great day that day and we will be sure to go back again in the years to come. It was a great getaway, even if it were only for a day.

Millville Fireworks

Midnight, the Saturday following the 4th of July, the skies light up in Millville, with their annual fireworks. We sat down by the baseball field to watch the ground display. Here are some of the pictures that I took while there!

Waiting for the Fireworks

While waiting for the Millville fireworks to start (at midnight), we had time to enjoy some of the entertainment that the carnival always brings. We rode the train, cars, swings, and merry-go-round. Toddy of course had to play the ring toss for soda bottles. This year we came home with 3 bottles of soda, two bags of cotton candy, two bags of homemade caramel corn, and roasted peanuts. Not to mention while we were there we had their famous french fries and snow cones.

4th of July Parade - Millville.

Keeping the family tradition alive, we went to Millville Parade on the fourth of July. We have been doing this for many years. It continues to amaze people that such a little town draws such a big crowd and has such a large parade each year. This year the parade started at 10:30 am and lasted until about 1:15pm. Lots of candy, prizes, music, horses, tractors and veterans were there. I even found out that Good Morning America, did a segment on this year's grand marshall. I thought it was pretty special that they spent time in such a small town, when as they said in the report, there are so many big cities competing for the patriotic spotlight for the day...

See the Good Morning America report: http://abcnews.go.com/WN/PersonOfWeek/story?id=5311342&page=1

Filling up the candy bucket is to be expected at this parade...

This one's for you Bobbie!

And this of course is for Heidi. (he-he)