One on a drive north, I noticed a billboard for the Pez Factory and that visitors were welcome. I thought it would be a fun place to take the kids one summer afternoon. So after swim team and jobs were done we met with friends and headed up there.
The entrance had a big display of Pez Dispensers.
The kids had fun looking at them all while we paid for our tickets to get in.
Emily was happy to see Mike Wazowski.
Monsters Inc. was the first movie we ever took her to and she loved to say "Mike Wazowski" as she wandered around the house. She sounded just like Boo, it was adorable. Sigh. I miss those days.
Inside they had a display of the history of Pez.
There were some interactive displays too, which the kids liked.
You could print out a certificate of your score. My kids did this so much I thought the staff would tell them no more - but they were very nice about it.
Upstairs they had a big TV running clips from TV shows and movies that mentioned Pez. They also had these old Pez machines which I thought were very cool.
I loved this vintage Pez Girl uniform.
The tickets to get in included a coupon to spend in the store so we let the kids each choose something.
It was a fun outing. I wished there was more of the actual making of Pez that we could have seen. There was a viewing window that you could look into - we saw all the Christmas dispensers being made and packaged but not really any of the actual candy being made.
Still, the kids didn't seem to mind at all.
We came home to have dinner - chicken fajitas, yum. Katie brought dessert. She had made the most delicious biscuits topped with strawberries and whipped cream for strawberry shortcake. We watched the Olympic Opening Ceremony and the kids intermittently wandered in to watch or played downstairs. Eventually all 6 of them were scattered across the couch or at our feet on the floor, sound asleep. It was a good day.
