Hershey Park Happiness...

Yesterday, Matt and I took Madison to Hershey Park for Matt's new company's summer picnic. Despite the heat, we had the most amazing day! Madison is a ride-lover. She adores going to the rides on the boardwalk each year and really enjoyed our trip last year to Dutch Wonderland. Even though she loves rides, I had some reservations about Hershey Park because the have many more "big" rides than the other places we've been that seem to focus on more "kiddie" rides.

At Hershey Park, they label each of their rides according to height and name each of those levels a different Hershey's candy. Well, Maddie measured up as a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup and to my surprise SEVERAL of their roller coasters were labeled for Reese's. Are you ready for this.... even the Super Dooper Looper!?!? Yes, we did ... I know you are wondering..... we did let our 3.5 year old go on the Super Dooper Looper. Am I CRAZY (don't answer that, anyone!)? She was just sooooo excited, never a single hint of fear, only pure excitement and laughter and happiness on every coaster she rode yesterday.

I was seriously concerned about letting my 3.5 year old on the Super Dooper Looper. It goes upside down for crying out loud! But she was very persistent, she was above the required height requirement, and my hubby wanted to take her on as badly as she wanted to go. So, off we all went to the SDL. And, you know what? It is a memory I will have with me for years and years. I got to sit with her on the SDL, Matt was behind us. The WHOLE time she was laughing, screaming "This is so awesome", throwing her arms up in the air, and had a smile plastered all over her face. Not once was she ever hesitant, fearful or anything less than just purely ecstatic to be riding. It was something to behold. She has some fears about several things, but amusement parks and water parks are not things she is scared of.

Here is Madison with Matt getting ready to ride the Comet roller coaster. This was her first ride on a "big girl" roller coaster and she loved every moment of it!

After we rode in the park for a while, we headed over to their water park and had just as much fun! We had a fantastic time on the log flume, the tube rides, and the large water play area. We were exhausted by the end of the day, but well worth it. It was so nice to have some one-on-one time with Madison and spend the whole day laughing and playing with each other.

And, thanks to Mimi for coming to spend the day with McKenna so we could take Maddie. We really appreciate it! And, McKenna loved her special day with her Mimi too!