"HOW THINGS ARE MADE DAY" WITH THE KIDS

"THE KIDS" - that would be my niece SHELBY who is all grown up now and a mom to three - GRACE (13), NORA (12) and DEREK (9). The other two "KIDS", SADIE (9) and HAZEL (6), are children of my other niece, LESLIE. They all live in MD, so SHELBY was kind enough to drive all of them to YORK, PA to meet me. 

I had a FULL DAY of FUN planned with AUNT JOAN.

My initial thought was to take them to the HARLEY-DAVIDSON factory to see a MOTORCYCLE being made, but their age restriction is 12, so THAT was out.

I then thought we should see PRETZELS being made, but the closest one doesn't do tours on Fridays. Next time....... 

In this area of the country there are SO MANY options to see how something is made - I settled on the following three:

• VIOLINS and Other String Instruments
• ICE CREAM
• SOAP

We started out at 11 AM with LUNCH.  Feed the kids so they don't get CRANKY, right?! 

Then a quick stop at THE HAINES SHOE HOUSE, which was visible from the highway back in the 1970's when I was in college.  

Remember this nursery rhyme??........

"There was an old woman who lived in a shoe.

She had so many children, she didn't know what to do.

She gave them some broth without any bread;

And whipped them all soundly and put them to bed."

I never realized how NASTY this poem is until we all looked it up on Google together. YIKES!!

Several fun, individual GAMES are available outdoors.

And OF COURSE - the DOG HOUSE caught my eye.......

On to our first small company visit - BLUETT BROS. VIOLINS.

CLICK the ARROW below to hear the lovely sound from one of his hand-crafted violins!!

NEXT - THE TURKEY HILL EXPERIENCE, where the "KIDS" had multiple opportunities to learn a little something and to burn off some of their HIGH ENERGY. 

Milking a COW was OH SO MUCH FUN for SADIE and HAZEL!

HAZEL - our "HAZEL-NUT"!!!!

Fun times VIDEOTAPING a COMMERCIAL......

The HIGHLIGHT OF THE WHOLE DAY of course, was each CREATING AND EATING their own flavor of ice cream!!!

Our final stop was at the SUNRISE SOAP COMPANY, with locations in York, Lancaster and Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. 

Each of us picked a SOAP MOLD, a FRAGRANCE and a COLOR for our soap. Once mixed and poured into the molds, they went into the freezer for 20 minutes. We were each THRILLED with our results!! 

For a ladies event, a more detailed tour of their soap-making process is also available.

Can you imagine a more fun-filled day than this? Well, I already have the next day planned in my head!! Thanks for taking the time to join our excursion through these photos.

AUNT JOAN