Not long after we found out we were moving to Wisconsin we discovered that an old Navy buddy and his family (we love to say that) also live in Wisconsin. They are no longer affiliated with the Navy but are still willing to give us the time of day. The Maneelys were at Parris Island at the same time as us, and we spent a bit of time with them there. They had 2 children when we met and quickly discovered that they were expecting a baby around the same time Annie was to be born. It turns out that they had their daughter 4 days after our little button in the same hospital. The Maneelys now have 5 kids. So Mary, the lovely wife of the former navy dentist, and I promised to get together once our family settled in Wisconsin. Of course, life got crazy for both our families, and we nearly let the summer disappear without any contact. Finally, we got in touch and made plans to go to the Jelly Belly Factory on Tuesday. The kids immediately got acquainted and enjoyed each others’ company for the rest of the day.

The Jelly Belly Factory tour was interesting, and it surprised me to learn how time-consuming it is to make just one batch of beans–7 days. Of course, the tour ended right at the store which is impossible to leave without purchasing several pounds of candy especially with 7 kids in tow. It was also surprising to realize that jelly beans aren’t the only candy they sell. The store is pretty much stocked the way you’d expect any candy store to be except their specialty is in fact Jelly Bellies. Naturally, the kids were thrilled to discover the disgusting flavors such as vomit, ear wax, pencil shavings, baby wipes, rotten egg, and booger. However, no one was keen on trying any of those flavors. I was actually excited about the soda flavors such as A&W Root Beer, 7UP, Orange Crush, and a few others. I got suckered into the buy 2 bags of “Belly Flops” and get the 3rd free deal. The Belly Flops are the imperfectly shaped jelly beans that get rejected but that still taste just as good.

The kids were definitely on a sugar high when we headed over to Red Robin for lunch. It was even more evident, to me anyway, that the balloons from Red Robin only intensified the mood on the way home. The Maneelys played for a while at our house afterward. The oldest child couldn’t get enough of Lucy and only had eyes for her the whole time. I warned Mary that she’d be getting the dog talk from him for the next few days (months/years?). My girls were sad to see them all go and immediately asked when our next “play date” would be. Don’t worry, girls, Mary and I are already on it.

Jelly bean artwork. I wanted to get a picture of the Ronald Reagan depiction, but it was during the tour which forbid picture-taking.

The “twins”. They were actually the same size which is unusual given how small Annie is compared to almost everyone her age (or even a year or two younger).

The darling 3-year-olds, already the best of friends.

Our whole group. Gotta love that Jelly Belly bug.

Posted in adventures, just for fun, the girls |