Day 11.5 : Cha-Koh-Let!

{ Sabbath, 25 July 2009 }

It's unanimous: we love the countryside. Oh, DC was fun with its vibrant energy and yummy restaurants and historical sites; however, we are country folks. When we got back to our trusty RV every single one of us had a smile on our face { the keikis were beaming }. What can I say? We Oliverios love to be thisclose to each other.

Per Christine's suggestion, we headed towards Pennsylvania to visit to a certain chocolate factory. And what is marking true in the east coast, the drive was again picturesque and green, green, green. I know that the browns of Southern California merits its own beauty, but something about the lush greens calms the eyes and drives its quietness straight into one's heart. { I'm going to really miss this part of the country } Somewhere near Lancaster, PA Brandon found a beautiful creek/park and we celebrated Sabbath afternoon there. With its lush, verdant landscape, pretty green water and cool climate spending time with God in His beautiful nature felt so right after the hustle and bustle of busy DC.

DAD

WALKING TO THE CREEK

THROWING STICKS

YOU CAN'T SEE IT BUT THERE'S A FROG LIVING UNDERNEATH THE WATER

THE GREEN WATER
{ the water hides underneath the green foliage }

SO GREEN

SMILE KEIKIS!

CLOSE...

CLOSER...

CLOSER STILL...

SUPER CLOSE...

SUPER, SUPER CLOSE...

... AS CLOSE AS YOU CAN GET

MAILE DOESN'T WALK; SHE STRUTS

OUR SABBATH AFTERNOON SPOT OF WORSHIP

PRAISE TIME

SINGING HE'S ABLE

JESUS LOVES ME, THIS I KNOW / FOR THE BIBLE TELLS ME SO

YES, JESUS LOVES ME!

DON'T LET SATAN BLOW IT OUT / I'M GONNA LET IT SHINE

After closing the Sabbath hours with worship we entered the RV and headed twenty miles or so to Hershey, PA where we ate a homestyle KFC dinner, found our RV camp, parked and immediately boarded the shuttle that took us to the park. The park didn't close until 2300 so we had about one hour and a half to tour its grounds. Only when we began walking around the grounds did we realize we forgot two important kiddie items : baby wipes and strollers. Oops. Oh, and did I mention that this all occurred at 10:30? In the evening? Chocolate + late night = crazy photo ops!

SAY "CHOCOLATE!"

ON THE HERSHEY RIDE

GIAN KEPT SAYING, "HELLO COWS"

INSIDE THE ROASTER

TIME TO MIX THE MILK AND CHOCOLATE LIQUER

SO MUCH TO SEE, RIGHT KALE'A?

THIS IS KALE'A'S FAVORITE RIDE EVER

CHOCOLATE!

YELL IF YOU LOVE CHOCOLATE

AFTER THE HERSHEY RIDE AN ATTENDANT GIVES YOU ONE MINI HERSHEY BAR

THE KISS FACTORY

ID CARDS

KALE'A'S ID SHOT

SORRY, BABE, BUT THIS IS GIAN'S BEST ID SHOT

YOU DON'T HAVE TO HIGH FIVE HIM IF YOU DON'T WANT TO

TIME TO PACKAGE THE KISSES!

KALE'A IS A SERIOUS CHOCOLATE WORKER

GIAN IS MORE INTERESTED IN CHECKING HIMSELF OUT

... WHILE MAILE IS MORE INTERESTED IN FIXING HER HAT

SHAKE, SHAKE, SHAKE

THE NEWLY CERTIFIED, BONAFIDE CHOCOLATE WORKERS

THE PRETTIEST CHOCOLATE FACTORY WORKER

BACK ON THE HERSHEY RIDE
{ this time dad joined us }

HOW MANY KISSES DID YOU COUNT?

WHAT'S COMING UP NEXT, KALE'A?

KALE'A, WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT?

OH, I SEE. ASK YOUR MAMA OR DAD IF THEY CAN BUY YOU SOMETHING

LOOKIN'GOOD, SISTER

GRANDPA WITH ALL FOUR OF HIS APUS

GRANDMA AND GRANDPA ALSO LOVE HERSHEY

SMILE, KIDS; DON'T JUST FOCUS ON YOUR TREAT

LET'S TRY THIS ONE MORE TIME

CAN YOU SHARE, MAILE GIRL?

PRETTY MAILE

AN EVEN PRETTIER MAILE!

Tomorrow we're leaving for my favorite city: NYC. This will be Christine and mom's first time to the Big Apple and Christine's especially excited to view this famous city, see its city lights and walk around the boroughs { I especially like Greenwich Village and UWS }. I must say I'm pretty thrilled too. And as long as we keep our purses under close inspection we should be okay.