Happy Birthday Joe!

Actually his birthday was back on the 9th, but I've been too lazy to actually post the pictures... so sorry Babe! I think he knows I love him, though! We spent the day with our good friends Annie and Matt up in Hershey, PA. Yep! Home of the Hershey CHOCOLATE factory, hehe. It was YUMMY! With more chocolate than a girl could hope for. The only thing that could have made it better was if they were giving the candy away. As much as I love a Reese's cup the size of my head, I just couldn't bring myself to buy something that cost the same amount as a shirt. So I bought the shirt! LOL. Anyway, without further interruption (maybe) here is a photo lineup of our day!

Getting ready to go. It was an EARLY morning. I had to be up by 6:30a (YIKES) to shower and get Joe's birthday breakfast all ready (and we're talking bacon and eggs, not cereal). We were out the door by 8:30a. I know, crazy.

My birthday boy. We waited for him to finish mastering some Jedi mind tricks on his iphone before we could go. Normally I'd probably just throw it out the window, but it was his birthday afterall.

Photos self explanatory. Chocolate World... need I say more?

Annie and Matt hamming it up. I love these guys! Some days I think aliens abducted them and cloned some personality traits and then implanted those traits in us... we are just so similar! And I love it. At any given time I can look over and see both Matt and Joe on their various i-technology. Like un-identical identical twins. Anyway, every moment with the Cechini's is a great time!

A quick pic by which to remember the little factory ride. It was fun and packed full of interesting information. It would be awesome to be able to tour the real factory! I'll have to look into that... or at least try to meet some people who know people who can get me into the factory! Though it would probably turn out like the Gloop kid from Willy Wonka.

The streets of Hershey, PA are lined with Hershey Kisses!!! It's so CUTE! They alternate between foils and unwrapped chocolate delights. But before you climb the poles to partake of the oversized morsels of sweetness, I'm pretty sure they're made of metal. Not that my teeth would know that, mind you... just a hunch.

Okay. I know it's very jouvenile of me... but who can resist a town named INTERCOURSE! I giggled more than a school girl in sex ed. It was awesome! And the sign... to die for! We actually headed over this way because of Amish country. We figured we were so close we might as well go check it out. I didn't take any pictures of Amish things (the pamphlet at the visitor's center said it was against the rules), so I had to make due with the sign. Who am I kidding? I would have driven all the way out there just for the picture! Intercourse... PRIMITIVE! ROFL!

While in Amish country we did see a life-sized recreation of the tabernacle as outlined in the bible. We saw a 10-year-old boy handling the reigns of 4 gigantic Clydesdales. And my favorite (oh why couldn't I take a picture?!) was a horse and buggy parking lot. On one side of the shop were parking spaces for normal vehicles and on the other side were spaces for horses, complete with a pole for tethering them!!! It looked SO bizarre! Well... almost as bizarre as turn signals on the box buggies themselves. Seriously, a very interesting trip.

The day ended with a stop at Texas Roadhouse for dinner. Matt even had a convincing "phone call" during which time he notified the waiter of Joe's special day. While Joe was blushing and shooting lazer beams out of his eyeballs at me, I was laughing and clapping as the entire staff sang him happy birthday. It was AWESOME!!! GO MATT!!! The best part, Joe couldn't be mad at me because I didn't do it and he couldn't be mad at Matt. It was a win-win for everyone! (Well... except maybe Joe).

I'm so glad his birthday was a memorable one and that we got to spend the day with great friends. I know he missed his family. Thanks for everyone who sent him birthday wishes! It was a joy for me to watch his face light up with every text and phone call.