Great Wolf Lodge

It's been a few months since we've taken he kids to an indoor water park and Jenna has been dying to go.  One night we told her we had a surprise (we were just taking them to the ice cream store) and she asked if we were either going to Paris or Great Wolf Lodge. 

We finally planned a trip and decided to stay for two nights instead of one.  We had a lot of fun and the kids did great.  Grant was old enough to enjoy the little kids slides and the outside water area too.  After two nights it was time to come home, we were broke!  I think we spend $40 in the arcade and ended up with about $3.00 worth of prizes, but Jenna and Grant loved it.  

Jenna with Wolfy and Violet after pj story time

Model pose

The kids with their MagiQuest wands.  Grant didn't have a real wand, he'll probably be ready next time.

Playing outside in the spray pad!

Doesn't Jenna look so small with Grant on her lap?!

Story time...can you tell Grant is tired?

Jenna's pedicure at the Kid's Spa - Scoops.  It's a whole ice cream theme.

She loved being pampered!

Catch up - Marco Island

Our November vacation to Marco Island, Fl was great!  We had a lot of fun and can't wait for future vacations as the kids get older.  We had a few firsts:
Grant's first airplane ride
Jenna's first jet ski experience
Jenna and Grant got to feed a giraffe
Grant's first steps in the ocean
Our first vacation as a family of four!

Our last night - on the condo balcony



Erik, Jenna, and Grant on the boat at the zoo.  The Monkey's were fun to watch

Jenna feeding the giraffe

Grant was not too impressed, and the giraffe was not being too patient

Me and Grant on the boat ride at the Naples Zoo

Marco Island 2011

We  just returned from vacation last night.  It was a lot of fun, but with both kids, not quite relaxing.  My mom came with us for 1/2 the trip and that helped a lot and was great!  The kids had lots of fun, Jenna became a fish and would have spent every second in the pool or on the beach if we let her.  Grant felt the ocean for the first time and liked walking around chasing birds and lizards. 

They did so good on the travel days.  We were saved by dum dum suckers.  Grant and I were sticky messes but it kept him from fussing.  Jenna had her first jet ski experience, on some choppy waters, she was a bit scared, we only made it about 15 minutes and Erik rode the rest of the time by himself. 

These are pictures from my phone, I'll add more later:

The only family picture we got the whole trip! 

My new favorite of the kids, and their outfits even coordinate!

Grant livin' the dream!

Looking for good shells

LOVE this one...Grant's first steps in the ocean

Jenna had fun drawing in the sand

My attempt at trying to keep Grant covered up.  He kept taking off his hat and throwing it in the water

Aww...nice and relaxing!

Great Wolf Lodge Getaway

We decided to do an overnight trip to Great Wolf Lodge Indoor Waterpark. Jenna has only been asking to go for months...every single weekend...every time we ask her what she wants to do. She was so excited when we told her where we were headed.

We were a little nervous with how Grant would do, but he did great! He's such a little trooper. He enjoyed the water and all the noise and people to watch.


Jenna with her Wolf Ears and her magic wand.


Out of all my attempts, the ONLY good picture of Jenna and Grant together.



Don't ask me what this pose is...



This water thing is fun!

This is apparently her supermodel walk

I brought my camera and managed to get a few cute pictures. I wanted to take more and also hoped to get a family picture, but that didn't happen.

While it was a fun trip there was not one moment of relaxing for me and Erik, couple that with a bad nights sleep and we were so excited to be home sleeping in our bed the next night.

Splish Splash...The Waterpark!

We had a great weekend. We wanted to get away, so we took Jenna to an indoor waterpark resort. We played and played and were all exhausted! It's a little easier getting in a bathing suit when you don't know anyone else there and when you aren't the worst looking one there!

Also, to see the excitement and fun on Jenna's face was SO worth it! She talked about it for three days before we went and is still talking about it this morning! She was like a little fish in the water!

Enjoy the pictures!

The Awful Night

This last weekend we went to Boyne Mountain Resort with a few other families to take the kids to Avalanche Bay, the indoor water park.
The water park was a success, Jenna loved it. She loved to jump off the side of the kiddie pool into our arms. She even went down a couple of the big water slides with Erik.
The night, however, was not a success! We were in a great room, a suite, with three bedrooms and a kitchette and even a little play area for the kids with bunk beds. If they would have been a little older, it would have been a great bedroom.

We put a pack n play in our room for Jenna to sleep in. She went down great and I was so proud of her for going down easily in a strange room and bed. When we came to bed we were trying to be extra quiet. It worked for an hour or so, but then she woke up and realized we were in the room with her! DISASTER! Since we were with other families, we couldn't really just let her cry, so I picked her up and took her into bed with us thinking she would just fall asleep on me. I probably wouldn't have slept well but at least she would.

Well...that's not what happened. She was insistent on being awake and talking. She thought it was a game. She would lay down with me and then say "Get up Jenna!" She would lay down, Erik would start snoring and Jenna would immediatly sit up and put her hand to her ear and say, "I hear it...daddy," over and over again! I tried to put her back in her crib a few times, which resulted in cries and it started all over again. At one point I said, "Jenna Noelle, I am going to lose it!" She responds with, "Mama lose it!" It didn't help! It was a visious cycle!

Erik ended up getting up with her for the day at 3am! It was crazy! Needless to say, we were thankful to all be in our own beds the next night!