Today we got up and hung out for a few hours with Nathan's Aunt Yvonne. We had some breakfast and the kids watched some TV. Aunt Yvonne gave the kids some surprises. There are 14 packages and they get one each day or every other day depending on what Nathan and I decide. The kids were pretty excited about that and it was very sweet of her to do that for them. We then headed to Hershey. We decided to go the Chocolate World instead of the amusement park because it looked like it was going to rain on us again. They had lots of options of things to do, we decided to go big and do every activity. It was a little pricey but in the end we had a great time and it was worth it. First up was the 4D movie.
The movie had lots of effects. The chairs shook, there was water and smells, audience participation, the Dad's in the room had to sing. The kids loved it. After that we headed for the factory tour. It's not a real tour of the factory but a ride that shows how chocolate is made. It even has singing cows.
The kids thought the tour was really cool. Next we headed to the chocolate tasting. They had a "teacher" for the class and she talked to us about where the beans come from and what kind of flavors to look for and how to "taste" the chocolate, instead of just eating it. Nathan knew everything the lady was saying since he does a lot of chocolate tasting activities at work. Nakai didn't really like the 2 kinds of dark chocolate, but Sora had finished all of her chocolate before we got out of the room.
After we had our chocolate and received our diploma's we went to get some "real food" (Pizza, baked potatoes, and bread). After some food we had some time before the next activity so we walked around the gift shop and the kids drooled over all the candy and toys. We then went on the Trolley ride. I can describe this in one word LOUD. They had a girl and a guy who were the tour guides and the speakers were turned up so loud Nathan and I had a headache when we were done. We drove around town and saw where Mr. Hershey lived and the school he built, the old factory, the homestead, and the amusement park. They gave us chocolate during the ride and the guy would get on and off the trolley and each time he got on the trolley he was dressed up as a new person. (Mr. Hershey, Mr. Hershey's dad, Mr. Hershey's mom, a soldier, a student. They also sang songs, which were also too loud.
Our final activity was to make our own candy bar. After you get dressed in your apron, hair net and beard nets you go on a touch screen and you can choose what kind of chocolate (milk, dark or white) Then you choose up to 3 items to fill your chocolate bar with (almonds, sprinkles, chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, pretzels, toffee pieces...). You can also choose if you want sprinkles on top or not. Then you go into the room with the machines and watch your bar. The machine takes your base and adds the fillings, then covers it with milk chocolate, puts it in a cooling machine. While it's in the cooling machine you design your wrapper. They have some pre-made designs (which the kids decided on) or you can design your own. When your bar is cooled it is put in a box, then a tin and the tin is covered with the wrapper you designed. It was pretty cool.
We had a great time today. Nakai said "This place has everything awesome!"
No comments:
Post a Comment