Imagine a world where everything is based on candy. In some places, chocolate flows from fountains and free morsels are given away at every turn. In other areas, free Twizzlers are handed to anyone who desires them and giant candy bars walk around hugging people. The only thing missing are tiny orange men who sing ominous songs. I have dreamed of such a paradise, and yesterday the CTT crew found it.
We boarded the buses early and took off for Hersheypark in Hershey, Pa. We all received our first free candy, a pack of multi-colored Twizzlers, before we got into the park. The children excitedly looked around at each other as if they couldn’t believe their luck. Several children got in line for more freebies, and several counselors quietly groaned because with all of these free sweets the kids were bound to be extremely wound up the entire day.
The children all split up with their assigned groups and went to enjoy their day at the park. Some groups, like the one that was with Adam Gersh, made a direct line for the biggest and most dangerous looking roller coasters. Other groups, like David Cohen and his crew, stopped to buy candy as soon as they walked into Hersheypark. I know this because of the white goo in my backpack right now.
See, Paul Holtz decided he wanted to spend a few dollars on a giant Cookies ‘n’ Cream bar. Since the bar was roughly the size of Paul, of course he couldn’t finish it. I tried to be a good samaritan and hold on to it for him. Then I forgot about it, and of course it melted all over everything in my bag. But it wasn’t all bad- his melted white chocolate oozed all over my wild berry Twizzlers. It sounds gross, but in reality Hershey should really think of adding white chocolate-covered wild berry Twizzlers to their product line. Paul and I would be happy to split any royalties.
Taylor Dennison has had a few big days. At Hershey, she rode this monstrous, intimidating and scary-looking orange contraption known as Fahrenheit for the first time ever. She remarked that is was like her against gravity due to a near vertical drop. Today, she joined an archery class and scored her first lifetime bullseye within 20 minutes. This girl is on a roll, and I’m glad she is on white team for Color War because with momentum like this it would be tough to beat her!
Her sister Reese bought a Reese’s pillow. It must be really cool to have your name on a delicious candy and be able to buy cool things with your name on it.
One of my favorite things about amusement parks is the chance (no matter how small) to win a giant, ostentatious prize. Last session the CTT bunch made off with some giant monkeys and teddy bears from King’s Dominion, but this time the prize was less conventional. After passing a stand and seeing his ideal prize, Joel Cook became determined to become the proud owner of a five foot long banana.
After spend eight dollars, Joel just wasn’t lucky enough to throw a softball into a milk can. But one kind player was skilled enough to win one. He asked Joel what he wanted, and gave Joel his giant anthropomorphic stuffed fruit. Thanks to the kindness of a stranger, Joel Cook is now the proud owner of a giant banana.
Overall, it was another big day for the second session CTT bunch. As we boarded the buses to go home there was a neat mix of sadness because the day was over and joy to be back on an air-conditioned bus en route to a bed. That is one of the neat things about being here – you never want the days to end, but you still can’t wait for tomorrow.