Thanksgiving and the Chocolate Factory

Hazel woke up bright and early on Thanksgiving morning and made sure to say, "Happy Thanksgiving!"

It was a super fun day.  We started the day by playing outside in the yard.  Grandma and Grandpa's yard is so big and there is lots of fun stuff to do.  Hazel and I rode on a swing and pretended that we were on an airplane going to Washington DC.  We also spent a lot of time in the sandbox.  Tuner joined us in there too.

Thanksgiving started at around noon.  Lots of people came over to help us celebrate.  Aunt Cindy and Uncle Larry, Uncle Ryan's sister, dad, and grandparents, Aunt Jane and Aunt Molly all came over for Thanksgiving lunch.  Pop and Mom-mom came too.

Turner and Hazel hanging with Grandpa and cousin Keegan

It was an amazing Thanksgiving feast.  Mom and Dad made us plates with a tiny bit of everything.  We had turkey, stuffing, corn, corn pie, creamed corn, broccoli casserole, mashed cauliflower, mashed potatoes.  Hazel tried each things and exclaimed "I love it!" after each one. It was very good. We couldn't even eat it all.

But the best was yet to come.  After we finished all of our food, we got to eat pie!  There was pecan pie, pumpkin pie, sweet potato pie, apple pie, and cherry pie.  But our favorite thing of all wasn't the pie, but the topping on the pie - the whipped cream!  Yum!  We couldn't get enough of it, especially Hazel. She said her favorite pie is pumpkin pie, but mostly she ate whipped cream. My favorite is cherry pie.

We had a good nap after our Thanksgiving feast.  When we woke up, we ate some more dinner, and then went outside to play a little more.  Uncle Ryan lit an even bigger fire in the firepit and we roasted marshmallows again.

Uncle Mike, Aunt Lana, Uncle Seth, and our cousins Keegan and Eve came over too.  Eve is two years old and she and Turner really hit it off.  They were laughing and playing with each other a lot. They played piano together, played with a stuffed bear in a toy high chair, and hugged and kissed each other goodbye. It will be neat to see them together in a few years. Eventually, we all wound down and went to sleep - what a great Thanksgiving feast!

Eating our chocolate bar creations

Friday, we had a special adventure.  Hazel and I read about Curious George and the Chocolate Factory.  So imagine our surprise when Mom and Dad told us that we were all going to a real chocolate factory with Uncle Daniel.

We went to Hershey's Chocolate World.  It was really fun.  First we went on a ride where they showed us how they make the chocolate candies.  We liked the singing cows and the chocolate smells.  They even gave us little chocolate candies at the end of the ride.

Touchdown!

Next, we got to practice working in the chocolate factory.  We pushed a button that made Hershey's kisses come down a conveyor belt and we had to catch them in a box.  Then we shook up the box and put it on another conveyor belt.  It was just like in the Curious George book.

But the best part of the whole day was the "Create Your Own Candy Bar" tour. All of us got to wear hairnets and aprons, and go into a real chocolate factory.  Once we were in there, we got to design our own candy bar by picking out the types of chocolate, ingredients, and toppings, and then designing our own candy bar wrappers.  Once we picked everything, we got to watch it go along the conveyor belt, where each machine put our specific ingredients in our candy bars.  It was tons of fun to watch, and then afterwords we got to eat our candy bars.

After we were finished at Hershey's, it was time for some lunch.  We dropped Uncle Daniel off and went to Uncle Steve and Aunt Cindy's Celtic shop, Oxford Hall, to get some lunch.  They made us some delicious sandwiches, soup and salad.  We also got to see their dog Maggie, who we all liked a lot, even Hazel.

When we got back to Grandma and Grandpa's house, we did games and puzzles with Grandma.  Dad tried to finish our Star Wars puzzle, but even he had trouble.  It took him two days.

Saturday was a much more relaxed day.  In the morning, Dad made a pecan pie that was eaten within a few hours.  Turner and I played outside with Bruiser.  I chased Bruiser around a tree for a while, and when I got tired of that, I spent some time telling Bruiser about the traffic on the Gump. 

Making play-doh with Grandma and Grandpa

In the afternoon, Mom went out with some of her friends and Dad went to see a movie with Grandpa and Uncle Daniel while we stayed home with Grandma, Aunt Lauren and Uncle Ryan. I played outside with Grandma and Bruiser and Hazel stayed inside and watched football with Uncle Ryan.  Saturday night, she surprised Mom at bath time when she yelled "Touchdown!"  Uncle Ryan taught some things about football! 

Saturday and Sunday it was much colder than earlier in the week.  I got to wear some mittens, which I really liked.

Reading with Aunt Lauren and Uncle Ryan

Sunday, we stayed home again.  Grandma and Grandpa helped us make our own play-doh.  Hazel watched some more football with Grandpa.  Pop and Mom-mom came over - it was nice to see them again.  Sunday night we had Rocco's for dinner with Uncle Daniel, Uncle Ryan, Aunt Lauren, Aunt Amy and Mianna. I entertained everyone with a song I learned at school called "Joe Scruggs Turkey Song," which is about a kid who does not want his family to eat his pet turkey.

While we were at Grandma and Grandpa's, Hazel befriended their cat, Little One. Sunday afternoon, they took a nap together and Sunday night, Hazel was really excited to learn that Mianna knows how to move Little One around.

Grandpa, Turner and Pop

This reminded Hazel of one of our favorite books, "Olivia." In the book, Olivia spends some time each morning moving her cat. After this hilarious realization, Hazel renamed Little One. Her name is now Gwendolyn, like Olivia's black cat.

When we went to bed, we said goodbye to everyone because we had to leave on Monday.  We were sad to say goodbye, but hopefully we'll see everyone again soon.

For photos of our adventure, click here.