Vacation?
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| Colin's "please" face... |
Fortunately, Colin offered to vacuum up the evidence of the attempted massacre.
While we were gone, she also tried to catch a skunk and got herself soaked in that skunk spray. She still smells awful.
But anyway, onto the fun stuff...
For the family joint birthday present, my parent sent us to Great Wolf Lodge for a vacation and I have to say, it was MUCH needed. All five of us have birthdays within a 3 month period, so this was an awesome trip only about 20 minutes away, which was perfect. The kids had an absolute BLAST.
They gave us our wristbands and wolf ears..
Adam wrote a sign about what he saw the first time he walked in..
And then we immediately hit the pool. It was a little cold that day, so Colin stuck his feet in for a little bit and then demanded a snack. He doesn't mind the water... he's just not all that enticed by it.
Claire and Adam, however, couldn't be dragged away by anything, and they made tons of new friends.
Looking out the window at the cattle in the fields next door.
Then we went out to Applebee's for dinner, and Claire showed us how to eat mozzarella sticks the right way...
They were already exhausted, and we went home, but they all had a really tough time sleeping in the hotel that first night. Colin was especially freaked out by all the noises coming from the hallway. We were only in that room temporarily, and once we got into the big room the next day they were much more comfortable and it was incredibly quiet.
So the next day we got Colin out of the room by telling him there was a big place where he could push all the buttons he wanted... the Arcade. He was impressed and loving it.
Claire and Adam went with the flow... buttons, games, lights, sounds? Bring it on.
Then we went to the pool again, and Colin caught about 10 minutes of sun before wanting to go take a nap.
Claire had a snack, then told me she needed her "ba," her blankie, and to lie down. So we went up to the room again and they all crashed, except me and Adam... we went to go find out how we could play MagiQuest.
MagiQuest is a computer savenger hunt game. You get a wand and some quests and you complete missions, with lots of cool lights and sounds and clever puzzles. Adam loved it.
For dinner that night, Mamie and Grandpa brought sandwiches and cupcakes, and we grabbed a pizza and hung out. We sang happy birthday to each kid so they could blow out their candles, and they insisted that Mamie and Grandpa stay... Colin even made her a comfy bed on the floor. But later they left, and everyone was sad... but mostly exhausted.
Adam posted up in the room with the iPad and watched Spy Kids until he passed out. Since Colin and Claire had napped, they wanted to play. So I took them out for a quest.
At one point I thought she had gotten on the elevator behind me, but she didn't. Some very nice people took her to the front desk immediately and I found her within about 4 minutes. But I'm sure to her it felt like forever. To me it felt like 20 minutes. We decided it was time to go back to the room, and everyone went to sleep... slowly.
The next day, we hit the arcades again.
And then we went out to eat lunch at Baker's ... the kids were exhausted, uninterested, and especially frustrated. Colin tapped out of vacation completely, so we took Colin and Shannon back to the house (the perks of vacationing 20 minutes from home), and then I took Adam and Claire back to the hotel and we swam and did the waterslide for about 2 and a half hours.
Claire LOVED the big water slide and we did it together about 4 or 5 times over the course of the trip. The first time she went down, by the time I got down there she was running for the stairs screaming AGAIN!! AGAIN!! My two little thrill seekers.
Adam made friends with several little girls. I watched fear form in the eyes of two dads of 5 year old girls, and in line for the water park he held hands with this four year old girl he had just met. I'm in SERIOUS trouble.
Claire was pretty popular herself. Those two certain know how to make friends.
After swimming, the only way I could drag them from the water park was to get Claire the Ice Cream I had promised her. So she had chocolate ice cream for dinner, and probably could have eaten two scoops if I had bought them.
But she was slowly fading fast and only running on sugar. We only had one night left, and the only two left with energy was Adam and me. So Shannon came back up to the hotel to grab most of our luggage and pick up Claire to take her home for bed. He said she was completely out about a minute after being buckled into the car.
So Adam and I decided to do more quests and have a late dinner date. I had to beg him to stop and eat with me, and once he sat down he said, "thank you for making me eat." I guess he finally realized he was hungry. He then declared the mac and cheese he ordered "SOOOOOOO good." He flirted with the waitress a bit, charmed her into giving him about 10 extra crayons, and then we quested some more until about 10 pm. It took him a long time to settle down and sleep, but finally fell asleep about midnight.
The next morning he woke up, bathed himself, told me that this was the most incredible trip EVER, and then we went on two last quests to finish the game. He did a great job.
All I can say is... I'm exhausted, but it was SOOOOO worth it. I'm so thankful to my parents for suggesting this trip and giving it to us. At this point we are not able to do those trips so much. The kids deserve it because they are so good, and I know they are happy to get quality down time.
So the rest of this week I quickly unpacked from that, packed for my trip to Pheonix tonight, and then when I return on Sunday, I'll try to get in some sleep to be ready for the twin's birthday Monday, and then I start a new job on Tuesday. Never a dull moment, but at least we got in good quality family time first.
Thank you, Mom and Dad, for such an amazing gift to us. You have no idea how much it means to me.
 |
| Big helper |
 |
| the beast |
But anyway, onto the fun stuff...
For the family joint birthday present, my parent sent us to Great Wolf Lodge for a vacation and I have to say, it was MUCH needed. All five of us have birthdays within a 3 month period, so this was an awesome trip only about 20 minutes away, which was perfect. The kids had an absolute BLAST.
Adam wrote a sign about what he saw the first time he walked in..
 |
| WATER PARK!! |
 |
| my little piranha |
Looking out the window at the cattle in the fields next door.
Then we went out to Applebee's for dinner, and Claire showed us how to eat mozzarella sticks the right way...
They were already exhausted, and we went home, but they all had a really tough time sleeping in the hotel that first night. Colin was especially freaked out by all the noises coming from the hallway. We were only in that room temporarily, and once we got into the big room the next day they were much more comfortable and it was incredibly quiet.
So the next day we got Colin out of the room by telling him there was a big place where he could push all the buttons he wanted... the Arcade. He was impressed and loving it.
Claire and Adam went with the flow... buttons, games, lights, sounds? Bring it on.
Then we went to the pool again, and Colin caught about 10 minutes of sun before wanting to go take a nap.
Claire had a snack, then told me she needed her "ba," her blankie, and to lie down. So we went up to the room again and they all crashed, except me and Adam... we went to go find out how we could play MagiQuest.
MagiQuest is a computer savenger hunt game. You get a wand and some quests and you complete missions, with lots of cool lights and sounds and clever puzzles. Adam loved it.
For dinner that night, Mamie and Grandpa brought sandwiches and cupcakes, and we grabbed a pizza and hung out. We sang happy birthday to each kid so they could blow out their candles, and they insisted that Mamie and Grandpa stay... Colin even made her a comfy bed on the floor. But later they left, and everyone was sad... but mostly exhausted.
Adam posted up in the room with the iPad and watched Spy Kids until he passed out. Since Colin and Claire had napped, they wanted to play. So I took them out for a quest.
At one point I thought she had gotten on the elevator behind me, but she didn't. Some very nice people took her to the front desk immediately and I found her within about 4 minutes. But I'm sure to her it felt like forever. To me it felt like 20 minutes. We decided it was time to go back to the room, and everyone went to sleep... slowly.
The next day, we hit the arcades again.
And then we went out to eat lunch at Baker's ... the kids were exhausted, uninterested, and especially frustrated. Colin tapped out of vacation completely, so we took Colin and Shannon back to the house (the perks of vacationing 20 minutes from home), and then I took Adam and Claire back to the hotel and we swam and did the waterslide for about 2 and a half hours.
Claire LOVED the big water slide and we did it together about 4 or 5 times over the course of the trip. The first time she went down, by the time I got down there she was running for the stairs screaming AGAIN!! AGAIN!! My two little thrill seekers.
After swimming, the only way I could drag them from the water park was to get Claire the Ice Cream I had promised her. So she had chocolate ice cream for dinner, and probably could have eaten two scoops if I had bought them.
But she was slowly fading fast and only running on sugar. We only had one night left, and the only two left with energy was Adam and me. So Shannon came back up to the hotel to grab most of our luggage and pick up Claire to take her home for bed. He said she was completely out about a minute after being buckled into the car.
The next morning he woke up, bathed himself, told me that this was the most incredible trip EVER, and then we went on two last quests to finish the game. He did a great job.
All I can say is... I'm exhausted, but it was SOOOOO worth it. I'm so thankful to my parents for suggesting this trip and giving it to us. At this point we are not able to do those trips so much. The kids deserve it because they are so good, and I know they are happy to get quality down time.
Thank you, Mom and Dad, for such an amazing gift to us. You have no idea how much it means to me.
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