Anniversary Weekend

Last Friday, we took the kids and all stayed at Great Wolf Lodge.  At over $300 per night, even with our company discount, it was very overpriced for what we got.  The breakfast buffet was bland, cold, and -again- overpriced.  Christian fell asleep in the car on the way to the resort.  Since we had to wake him up mid-nap, he was pretty cranky when we first got there. 

It was not all so bad, though.  They did have some cute things.  The kids got some little wolf ears that they really liked.  There was also story time at night and, afterwards, the kids get to meet one of the wolves.  This time it was Violet, the girl wolf.  The water park was a blast (once our eyes got used to the heavy chlorine fumes).  I loved that the majority of the park was available for Christian.  He gets excluded from a lot of rides because of his size.  At GWL, he got to ride everything he wanted to.  My favorite part was cramming our whole family into a dual tube to float the lazy river - TWICE!  Taylor sat in my lap and CK sat in Ryan's lap.  That was fun.  The lazy river had lots of waterfalls and things that splashed (including a bridge where annoying kids could spray us right in the eyeballs).  It was so cute to see Taylor's reaction when her face got wet. 

On Saturday afternoon, we went across the street to the Gaylord.  This is our absolute favorite resort.  It feels like home to me since I have been there so many times.  We met Ryan's parents there and all went to the Ice! exhibit.  Afterwards, we ate dinner at their brand new coastal Italian restaurant.  Wow!  It was sooooo good.  I love fish and I love Italian.  Put them together and its heaven.  While I put the kids to bed, I sent Ryan on an excursion to find me some Reisling.  Luckily, there is a fantastic wine shop downstairs.  Their brand of Reisling was so good.  I could have downed the whole bottle all at once!  We sat out on our balcony and looked at all the pretty lights while we drank our wine. 

The next morning, we made an attempt to shop around the mall.  We may have been there only 45 minutes.  Both kids were exhausted.  I was irritable.  Taylor had spilled her milk all over her clothes.  It was a disaster.  So, we wrapped it up earlier than planned and headed home. 

Anniversary weekend accomplished.

All the kids are supposed to wear their pajamas to story time.  The trees and animals were all animated.

We all really enjoyed the story.  It was super cute.

We met Violet the wolf.

At dinner, the kids got wolf ears to wear.  Taylor left her's on all night.

This is the attitude I was dealing with that night.  Grumpy! 

 CK really liked the arcade, even without any quarters.  Ha!

We went to the arcade right after story time, so the kids were in their pajamas.

We got the Wolf Den room.  CK really liked the top bunk bed.

Taylor really liked the mural on the walls.

Handsome little guy.

Cute baby girl.

This was our favorite part of Great Wolf.

The beginning of the Ice! exhibit.

 This is my favorite wine! 

 This was the view from our balcony.

We were trying to do a lover's gaze.  How's that workin' for us?