July 27, 2015
Today was a warm 85 degrees with sunny, blue skies. Kaya came to the trailer promptly at 10:00 because we were going to Pleasant Prairie to the Jelly Belly Candy Company. It was Kaya’s birthday wish to take a Jelly Belly tour and stop in at the Candy Store. So that was the plan! It was about an hour ride to get there and Kaya was visibly excited to go. We arrived at the Jelly Belly Visitors’ Center at 11:00 and got in line for a free tour.
There were a few families in front of us, but we only waited a meer 10 minutes for the tour to begin. The tour began with everyone receiving an official Jelly Belly hat.
Everyone was loaded into the Jelly Belly Express Train and given some rules to follow. After the orientation, the train left the “station” for a 35 minute tour.
It stopped at a variety of video stations that explained about the candy-making family, the Goelitz Brothers, who started the business in 1869.
The train took us past the Jelly Belly mosaic artwork which included pictures of famous people.
There were also dresses made out of Jelly Belly beans. We learned that Ronald Reagan took up eating Jelly Belly beans when he gave up smoking while he was Governor and President of the U.S. His favorite flavor was licorice. We passed through “Candy Alley” where giant 3-D Jelly Belly beans were suspended above us.
When our train returned to the main station, we were rewarded with a free bag of Jelly Belly beans. We entered the huge candy store where we got samples of flavors we wanted to try. I tried “buttered popcorn” and A&W root beer. Bob tried “draft beer” and “margarita”. Kaya had pretty much tasted them all.
We looked around at all the different candy items and I decided to take home 1/4 pound of buttered popcorn and root beer Jelly Bellys. Kaya got a large bag of Belly Flops–the beans that didn’t make it for one reason or another (misshapen, etc.). Kaya also bought a stuffed Jelly Belly toy for himself with his lemonade money. We stepped outside to get a picture of Kaya with the Jelly Belly car. Kaya’s shirt really blended in with the bright colors of the car.
We finished off our visit with a picture of Kaya in front of the Jelly Belly sign. What a fun time we had!
We ended our visit there around noon and headed down the road to Culvers for lunch. We had delicious “butter burgers” and custard shakes. Kaya had a free “scoop of the day” to top it off. On the ride home, Kaya shared a wealth of information and we were home in no time. When we got back, Izzy got a free Jelly Belly hat that we brought home and rode her scooter pretending to be the “Jelly Belly delivery girl”.
Izzy and I spent some time making chalk pictures of Auggie and Izzy in the driveway and digging in the dirt.
We left to go to dinner at La Fuente–a Mexican restaurant. Izzy wore her Jelly Belly hat and the “Where’s my water?” shirt that we gave her.
After we got home, we all took a walk with Auggie. Izzy tried to ride her scooter around the block, but had a hard time keeping it on the road. Eventually, she had to walk and James carried the scooter. When we got back to the house, we all sat outside to enjoy the evening until the mosquitoes came out. We said our goodbyes and retired to the trailer for the night. We were leaving at 7 AM and won’t see them in the morning. We had a great time with Anne and James and the kids. We’ll see them again when they come down to Florida. We’ll miss them until then.
