Home Sweet Home

During our PSU weekend we also got to spend some time in Lancaster.  Sissy was a little nervous to go to Lancaster because she was afraid she'd feel left out since she's the only one who wasn't born there - usually she's proud of the fact that she was born in Jax, until we are in Lancaster where the rest of us consider it to be our "hometown."  After our trip, she wanted to stay in Pennsylvania.  She had such a great time.

After parting ways with my parents, we stopped by my BFF Beth's house for a visit.  Beth and I have been friends since Toddler Gym (preschool age).  We haven't lived in the same town since high school, but we have managed to stay close and know we can always count on each other no matter what.  There is a lot of security in having a friend like that.  Beth and I were both pregnant with our first borns (both boys) at the same time.  Our boys have been friends since birth and even though they don't see each other often, they are able to pick up right where they left off each time, just like Beth and I do.  It's so heartwarming for us moms to see our boys enjoying each other as much as we do.  

Here are 4 out of 5 of our kids.  They get along so well.

After we left Beth's house, we decided to make a quick stop in Hershey to take a quick ride through Chocolate World.  I wish we could have stayed longer, but we had plans for dinner.  The kids loved the ride and picking out a piece of chocolate from the shop.  You can find Hershey's everywhere, but some of the bigger sized stuff - things we always took for granted - were hits with our kids. Riley picked out a HUGE Hershey bar and Kendall picked out one of those GIANT sized Hershey's kiss.  

After we left Hershey, we drove to Lancaster.  Along the way, we took the kids on a walk down memory lane with us.  We explained things to them that they didn't know or understand - things like silos, bank barns, tobacco barns, chicken farms, pig farms, windmills, etc.  I forget our kids don't see these things every day like I did as a kid.  We headed over to Lancaster Brewing Company where we met up with some of Andy's family.  His mom, dad, dad's girlfriend, aunt, and one cousin with his daughter were able to join us.  It was wonderful to be able to visit with a lot of people at one time.  The kids were able to visit with their grandparents as well.  

After dinner I drove the family down to our hotel.  We stayed at Willow Valley (or what use to be Willow Valley).  It's owned by Hilton now and the old restaurant and inn have been torn down.  The kids LOVED the pool at the hotel.  While the kids went to bed, Andy watched the Dallas game and I drove back downtown and met up with some of my CV friends.  It was so awesome to see some of them and catch up over a few drinks.  I have missed them so much!

Easy to see why the kids loved our hotel, huh?  This is a big reason why we stayed at Willow Valley.

The next morning we woke up and headed to Columbia to the Turkey Hill Experience.  Along the way, we took the kids on a tour of our old stomping ground.  We showed them downtown, where my grandpa use to work at Hamilton Watch, the significance of Wheatland, the local TV station where Uncle Matt worked in college, where the old Mc Donald's use to be on Columbia Ave before it moved down the road and how it was a big deal to go to McD's as a kid.  We also showed them Hambright school where my dad and Uncle Kevin went to school.  We also told them that Pappy Hershock's grandfather built Hambright.  We showed them where Pappy Hershock grew up and how he lived in a house with his grandma, aunt and uncle.  We showed them where Uncle Kevin bowled as a kid and the road his parents still live on - Kendall wanted to visit his parents!  We also showed them where my parents got married, where my mom grew up and the road where we lived while waiting for our Millersville house to be built and the church where we got married.  Riley was impressed at how much of our family history was in such a small radius.  Both kids want to  go back and see the rest of the area where mom and dad grew up.

We finally arrived at the Turkey Hill Experience.  If they thought we had family history in Lancaster, we sealed it up here.

This is Chubb Frey.  His family started and continue to run Turkey Hill Dairy.  He and my grandfather were best friends.  My grandpa worked for Chubb for many years.  Chubb actually spoke at my pappy's funeral and his wife spoke at my nanny's funeral.  

This is my pappy - first row, second from the left.  

Andy and I love the Indian head on the old Turkey Hill signs.  It is significant in terms of the location of the dairy.

After the tour through the THE, the kids got to sample tea and ice cream.  Might have been their favorite part!

My two favorite NUTS!

We use to have a milk man drive a truck like this to our house every week.  Our milk man was awesome!  He use to love my cat and would let me play in his truck.  It helped that he was also friends with my pappy!

After our time at the THE, we headed to Baltimore to fly back to Jax.  The kids were both sad to leave.  They had a fantastic time.  We'd like to make a trip back up in the summer so the kids can see where we grew up, where we spent our childhood.  It was bittersweet for everyone.