Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Great Wolf Lodge, PA

It’s taken a couple of days to recuperate after our whirlwind trip to Great Wolf Lodge, but things are now starting to return to normal.

IMG_1548

I’ll start off by saying that Great Wolf was amazing. We had a great time and the kids loved it. There was so much to do that once we got there and unloaded the van, we didn’t step outside again until we were loading up to go home. For real.

Our drive there was a whole different story. We hit traffic right inside of Delaware and it was backed up for miles. We ended up pulling over at a rest stop just to get a break from Dakota’s crying and the place was PACKED because so many other people had the same idea. We made the most of it though, buying snacks and drinks to keep the kids happy, and letting them run off some steam. Once we thought everyone was good to go, and we were all buckled back in the car, Harper announced that he had to pee. Again. Luckily we hadn’t pulled out of the lot, so I ran him back in before we headed out.

Traffic finally eased up a bit, but once we hit the Pennsylvania border, there was more traffic. It was just mind boggling and Tony and I were just ready to get the hell out of the car and scream. Dakota hadn’t had a nap the morning we left so we figured she’d take a decent nap on the drive up, but man were we wrong. She cried and cried and cried. We were about 20 minutes out when she finally fell asleep, but by then our nerves were pretty shot.

Once we got to the lodge, things started looking up. It’s funny how the minute we’re out of the car and Dakota stops screaming, things just seem so much better.

We hadn’t told Landon where we were going, so he was completely surprised when we got there. We thought he’d probably know what it was once he saw the sign, but he said he’d never seen it advertised on TV! I couldn’t believe it since I NEVER watch commercials and it was one I’d seen. He was just tickled when we went inside and he saw all the cool stuff there was to do.

Our room was pretty cool because it had a separate area for the kids complete with bunk beds. Harper took the bottom and Landon grabbed the top and Dakota had a port-a-crib in there as well (although she wasn’t quite as happy with her bed as the boys were). I didn’t get great pictures in the room but you can go here if you’d like to see how the rooms look. We stayed in a KidKamp suite.

IMG_1391

After we unloaded the van and sorted out our stuff, we went to find some dinner and check the place out. We had dinner at the Loose Moose, a buffet style restaurant within the facility. The food was very good and there was a little something for everyone. The restaurant was designed to look like it was in a camping/wooded area, and many of the tables sat beneath tents.

IMG_1544

As soon as everyone finished their dinner, we grabbed our bathing suits and hit the water park. There was a nice section for the younger kids and lots of big slides for the older crowd. Landon was eager to ride every slide and managed to do just that with the exception of one. Harper isn’t the biggest fan of water, but you’d never have known that after watching him play in that water park! He doesn’t like to get his face wet, but he learned pretty quickly that water in the face was just a fact when you’re at a water park. Landon was able to convince him to go down the slides in the kiddie area and after just one time he was hooked. I don’t know how many times he rode those slides, but it kept him busy for a very long time.

Before the slide, see Harpers look of concern as Landon tries to convince him to go for it.

IMG_1399

After the slide, see Harpers look of sheer joy!

IMG_1404

When Landon wasn’t being the most awesome brother around (helping his little brother conquer his sliding fear) he was either on the big slides or riding the waves in the wave pool. He completely wore himself out jumping the waves and just had the best time doing so!

Landon having a blast!

Harper and Dakota both enjoyed the wave pool as well. They found things that they could do, like jump over the waves and push around inner tubes.

Harper doing his thing.
Dakota tubing.

I didn’t get tons of photos in the water park mostly because I was busy helping with the two littles, but also because camera’s plus water aren’t such a good mix. But, here are a couple others worth sharing.

IMG_1457

IMG_1459

IMG_1406

IMG_1460

IMG_1409

IMG_1416

More tomorrow…

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Video

I don’t have time to write today so I’ll just share some video I took of the kids this morning. Enjoy!

She’s just better and better every day!

 

He loves to climb in and snuggle with his animals.

 

My fearless one.

 

Showing off his sliding skills!

Sunday, July 21, 2013

Photo Dump

I was just looking through some photo’s on my phone and realized I had a bunch of cute one’s that never made it to the blog. I guess now is as good a time as any to photo dump.

  • Ginger’s new digs since we got the wood floors. She loves that little bed!

2013-07-10 001 2013-07-08 002

  • My hydrangea.

2013-07-10 001 2013-07-08 003

  • My sweetie in a sunhat.

2013-07-10 001 2013-07-08 008

  • My other sweetie in a bucket of water…not what I intended, but whatever.

2013-07-10 001 2013-07-08 010

  • She knows HOW to do it, she just CAN’T do it. Yet.

2013-07-16 001 2013-07-15 012

  • Hanging out with me in the office.

2013-07-16 001 2013-07-16 005

  • Another sweetie at the pool.

2013-07-16 001 2013-07-15 017

  • A recent trip to the doctor.

2013-07-17 001 2013-07-17 012

  • An interesting way to potty.

2013-07-19 001 2013-07-19 002

  • Another trip to the doctor.

2013-07-19 001 2013-07-19 009

  • A beautiful bloom.

2013-07-19 001 2013-07-19 003

Saturday, July 20, 2013

Pool Soccer

It’s funny what kinds of games everyone thinks to play while in the pool.

While we were in South Carolina, one thing the guys kept doing was to throw a soccer ball into the air, then jump and try to kick the ball before they hit they water. I can’t remember now if anyone ever actually did it and if they did I certainly never caught it on camera…but I did get some cool shots.

First up, Landon:

IMG_8943

IMG_8944

IMG_8984

IMG_8985

Next, Jaron:

IMG_8988

IMG_8989

IMG_8990

Now, those two boys had a good time trying to do this, but when it got to be Tony’s turn, well, he meant business.

IMG_8949

I’m not sure what is going on with his face in this one, but it is something you just have to see to believe…

IMG_8950

IMG_8950

Same kind of crazy here…

IMG_8951

IMG_8951

Look at that wingspan! I mean, he was completely going to annihilate that ball!

IMG_8952

IMG_8953

IMG_8954

IMG_8955

Too bad his crazy face didn’t help him get any closer to kicking the ball. Trust me though, he tried again and again…and just before he’d do it he’d make sure to get my attention so that I could get the camera ready.

IMG_8975

IMG_8976

IMG_8977

Crazy ass.

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

New Floors!

We’ve been saving and saving in order to put wood floors in our house. It’s taken awhile, but we finally did it and the floors were installed while we were away on vacation.

I couldn’t believe how gorgeous the floors looked when we walked in the house.

2013-07-10 001 2013-07-07 004

2013-07-10 001 2013-07-07 006

2013-07-10 001 2013-07-07 011

We went with a dark walnut and had the entire first floor + stairs done. (With the exception of the kitchen.)

The floor is just beautiful and I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out. Everything just looks cleaner and brighter, and that’s always a good thing!

After we unpacked and got somewhat settled, Tony decided he was going to get my scrapbook room painted so that I could get all my stuff moved back in. I went with Poppy Red, and it’s gorgeous!

2013-07-10 001 2013-07-07 016

Once Tony got the room all painted we started moving all my stuff back in.

And, of course, I’m already thinking of our next big project. Winking smile

Project Life, Week 23

Now that my scrapbook room is put back together, I’m back to working on my project life album. I’m way behind again, but I’m feeling like I’ll be able to get it up to date pretty quickly; the hard part for me is choosing the pictures.

2013-07-17 001 2013-07-16 002

2013-07-17 001 2013-07-16 004

Monday, July 15, 2013

Visiting Chuck

A few weeks ago, while we were on vacation, Tony and I decided to take the two littlest kids to Chuck E. Cheese. We’d just had one too many days stuck inside due to the rain and we felt like the babies needed something new to do, so off we went.

They’re both still a little young for the whole thing, but they did have fun.

Dakota was game for anything. She wasn’t afraid of any ride in the place. She just thought the whole thing was awesome!

2013-07-04 001 2013-07-02 003

Harper, on the other hand, wasn’t as sure about the rides as she was. He was just a little nervous when the the seat started to rumble beneath him…just look at that worried face!

2013-07-04 001 2013-07-02 007

After riding all the little kid rides and climbing around in the tunnels, we had some pizza and headed back to Meme and Papa’s house. I wish there were more tunnels and climbing activities instead of all the games (half of which are never working) but it was still an okay way to spend a couple hours.

April Fools Pranks

The two little kids made me laugh yesterday morning.  I was upstairs getting things ready for school when I heard them talking about how ...