The Sweetest Place on Earth

Now you can all finally stop tossing and turning over the big surprise. We went to The Sweetest Place on Earth! Before we get to where that is, let's discuss the sweetest man on Earth. I believe Jason has been doing just fine at home without us and I even received a text message of this amazing artwork.

Before anyone feels bad for him being lonely and sad, know that two friends will be staying with him at our house so I'm sure they will find some food and entertainment. Thanks Rhett for this picture that will never get old!

#homealone2019 has become people's favorite hashtag to follow as Jason goes on man/dad dates with all the people he doesn't get to see when he is fulfilling family obligations. This trip is good for all of us! We are def starting to miss him though:)

Now, on to the the main event! All you Disney heads are getting GIPPED. The Human Bear (It JUST crossed my mind for the first time, I should probably capitalize that...hmmmm) and I found the REAL happiest place on Earth:

Stop Thirty-Five: Hershey's Chocolate World

We both just walked around way too excited for the first thirty minutes while squealing like we had a celebrity sighting. I finally understand what all these Disney people feel. I didn't even care if the Human Bear liked it...I was in heaven! (side note: she was pleased and then we found a penny press...GLORIOUS!)

She has gotten bigger and stronger since last year but it's still funny to watch her try and get these pennies pressed. These machines have brought more joy to us than one may realize and saved us a WHOLE bunch of money in gift shops:) Win-Win

Just like I always say: She's just like her Daddy. hahah I can't even lie on this one though! These were taken at two different points of the day without prompting.

Found our besties!

We actually bought an Adventure Bundle so we got four cool attractions that came along with free parking AND they all took place in an air conditioned place with NO lines (Disney people...am I winning you over yet?)

Attraction 1: Chocolate Tasting Experience

We've got our curriculum kits and we are READY to learn! They ran this like a class where they taught how to use your senses to make observations and the overall theme was Never Give Up b/c Milton Hershey failed many times before he got it right.

The Human Bear really is the best student ever. She believes and trusts people so much that she follows them to the smallest detail. This can be both good and bad but in this situation it was hilarious. Look at the seriousness of that sniff before moving on to the next sense!

Attraction 2: 4D Chocolate Movie

A cute interactive mystery that would stop and ask what the audience wanted for the ending. The theme on this one ended up being Kindness Wins in the End. Cute little show:) Also these were all about 30 minute activities so they kept everyone's attention and ended with a candy bar right as we got restless. No complaints from us.

We had to give a shout out and send a FB message to Mlle. Marie when we saw this one b/c it made us miss her so much! Hershey's in Paris:)

This is how I know the Human Bear is a brilliant politician. If anyone ever asked her what she loves to do, her FIRST answer would never be "to eat chocolate" but she knew where she was and her potential to get something out of it...don't get me wrong, she negotiates getting treats like the best of them but she knew the context here and she was trying to work it! Oh politicians...exhausting, how did I end up surrounded by them? This man had just asked her, "and what do you like to do for fun?"

Adventure 3: Create Your Own Candy Bar

Such a cool process to watch the mechanical, technical and science side behind how to create candy bars.

Safety First: gotta get the hair net and apron on or you can't come in!

Each person gets a barcode to scan at different stations and picks out what they want their bar to have in and/or on it along with the packaging.

For anyone that knows this child...this was a LONG process full of mind changing!

In to the chocolate factory we go!

You get to watch and walk along with your candy bar down the entire line!

Making sure her sprinkle bar was getting cooled appropriately!

I got pretzels

and she got sprinkles!

Only minor complaint is you can't change that it's your name on the front...if that's the worst thing that happened all day life is damn good folks.

Attraction 4: Trolly Works - We went on an hour and fifteen minute tour of Hershey, PA on a trolly and this was our LAST event. I can't believe how well the Human Bear did with this after stuffing our faces with chocolate for most of the day. The guide was hilarious though and every now and then they passed around a box of kisses and reese's peanut butter cups to keep up engaged. I never knew much about Milton Hershey but that entire place (which actually isn't even the name of the town/city) is amazing and he put billions of dollar into the city and it continues today.

By the end of this, the Human Bear began to turn into a dark chocolate kiss herself!

Cool spots along the ride

The street lights on Chocolate Ave are kisses on the top. The bottom right pic is what the middle school students see out of the window of their classrooms. haha As if focusing in middle school isn't hard enough!

Good-Bye Chocolate World, WE LOVE YOU! We hope to see you as often as Tiffany Brown sees Disney World! haha

and on the way out of town they thank you for visiting the Sweetest Place on Earth.

If anyone wants to move to Hershey, PA, let me know and maybe I can convince my people. There is ACTUALLY a job for the taste testers...where do I sign up?