HOMEWARD BOUND

Hearing reports of ice and snow still coating highways both inside and east of the city, we opted to stay through check-out and hope that the sun would melt some of it by the time we got there (and miss dance class - sorry Cora). The roads were ok in the city, though ice was still sitting on shoulders and anywhere that was shaded, so we had to be careful. Once we got out of the city, up through Tyler, TX (where the worst of the storm was on our way in on Sunday), we saw ice-coated trees, broken branches, and snow and ice covering the ground, but luckily the roads were clear. The return trip only took us the estimated 6-6.5 hours. Plenty of time to play with the new fort sets when we got home! (Soccer had been cancelled due to freezing temps and closed fields.)

WATERSLIDES AND ARCADE GAMES

At lunch, I ran upstairs to order take-out from the nicer restaurant on-site (Jay and I were starving... cupcakes don't have much staying power, especially when you're burning calories swimming and stair climbing and carrying kids in and out of the lazy river) and grab the camera so that I could take a few photos of the waterpark. Photos don't do it justice though... it was a very cool place! There was a toddler/preschooler-sized pool with mini waterslides and water guns and climbing toys, a similar play area for older kids/adults with larger waterslides and water toys and a GIANT tip bucket, a lazy river, a wave pool, a couple of hot tubs (one that was frequented by cold kiddos, another that was for adults-only), a pool with an obstacle course and basketball hoops, and a tower with 5 big waterslides that required rafts to ride (2 that James could ride, 1 that he was almost tall enough for - it was the "toilet bowl" type slide, and 2 more at the very top that were super scary - one had a couple huge drops and the other shot out into a giant vortex thingy that threw you around like a half pipe at warp speed). And then there is a similar set of attractions outside that are only open in the summer (see picture in the previous post of the frozen view from our hotel room). As for food, there was a short-order snack shack inside the waterpark, a pizza place next to the arcade (which was quite large and had more than enough games to entertain James a couple of times), a sweet shop (baked goods, ice cream, etc.), a large buffet-style restaurant, a grill and bar, and a Starbucks. Other ammenities included a full service salon and spa, a salon/spa for little girls, a gym (that I didn't have time to use - I skipped my runs and just cross trained in the waterpark instead!), a MagiQuest game for kids (we saw MANY kids wandering the halls with magic wands, enchanting random objects and solving quests - our kids would love doing this when they're a little older), a gift shop, and a bedtime story arena (they had a 30 minute play with the Great Wold Lodge characters and book reading at the end of the night). There is enough to do that you could easily stay 3-4 nights, but we think 2 nights was enough for our kids at this age (it's exhausting to play in a waterpark all day - we spent 30 minutes there Sunday night, 8 of the 12 hours it was open on Monday, and another hour and a half Tuesday morning before we checked out).

 

Without further ado, some photos...

That's the kiddie pool area behind Jay's head, waterslides off photo in the left corner

The larger waterslides and play area. Cora was not interested in posing for a photo...

In the hot tub, which she asked to visit repeatedly. I think we'll buy her a wetsuit before our next trip here. Even with a constant indoor temperature of 84 degrees and heated water in the pools, she was cold and blue-lipped and chattering every 30 minutes or so. Here she is touching the rolling door that opens to the outdoor play area (in the summer time), demonstrating how cold it was (can you see the ice crystals on it? it was 14 degrees outside...)

Practicing her starfish

The lazy river (and you can see the green and white striped "toilet bowl" slide in the background)

Cashing in their arcade tickets to buy candy and twisty straws (James went back and played another hour later in the day while Cora napped in my arms)

Don't think I minded missing out on that second arcade trip for a second. I NEVER get to hold napping kids anymore and I loved holding my little girl!

Waving goodbye to Great Wolf Lodge!

Our quick tips if you're planning a visit to Great Wolf Lodge:

1. Bring a couple swimsuits and coverups, but don't bother packing more than one or two real outfits because you'll be too busy swimming and splashing to worry about getting dressed.

2. You can probably leave your workout gear at home too, unless you're more dedicated than me, and I'm pretty dedicated!

3. Take full advantage of the convenience of the resort and just stay there for all meals (they give you a waterproof wristband when you check in that has a microchip which acts as your room key and charge card - you literally need nothing but your wristband and swimsuit the entire trip) so you can maximize your time at the waterpark (that is, afterall, why you're there).

4. Bring a cooler with your favorite beverages and snacks, especially for the kids. You can save money by eating breakfast (and other meals, if you desire, or if you have picky kids) in your room, and all rooms come with a mini fridge and microwave.

5. You can easily bring a camera into the waterpark, but I'd suggest either a disposable waterproof camera or an inexpensive point-and-shoot that you won't be upset if it gets ruined or lost/stolen (we felt like our "stuff" was safe when we stashed our flip flops and shirts at tables, but I would have been stressed to leave a nice camera sitting unattended in our bag while we played out of sight).
6. When we go back, I'm buying us all matching rashguards so I can more easily find my family in the crowd after I get done riding the big slides solo.
7. Leave the sunblock at home - no need for it indoors!

BIRTHDAY MORNING

The birthday boy woke up to a quiet hotel room with an icy view...



He noticed his presents stacked and waiting, so he woke Cora up to get the mini party started.

We had each picked out a cupcake from the sweet shop on our way to bed last night (as we waited for our 9pm pizza dinner to be ready), so we lined them up and sang the birthday song!

He pretended to blow out a candle (using the gummy on my cupcake), posed for a quick photo with his Sissy, and tore into those presents!

He received a couple of fort building kits and a new Lego set (1000+ pieces should keep him busy for a while!) from us (as well as the trip to Great Wolf Lodge - celebrating BIG for this big milestone birthday!), and a cool destruction derby set and a Penguins of Madagascar LeapPad game from his Uncle Davey and Auntie Taryn. (And he'd received an early birthday gift from his Auntie Robyn and Uncle Stephen at the start of the trip yesterday, a Magic School Bus Dinosaurs LeapPad game.)

 

Happy 5th Birthday to James!

A BIG BIRTHDAY FOR OUR BOY

While every birthday is important and well celebrated at our house, there is something extra special about James hitting the milestone of 5-years-old... There is so much that screams "big boy" and "little kid" about him these days, and nothing left of the baby, toddler, and preschooler ages that seem to have passed by in the blink of an eye. Even comparing him now to how I described him at 4-years-old, there are some significant differences, and that was only a year ago...

 

 

So what is different? Well, he has almost no word pronunciation/alteration issues anymore. I miss those little mistakes that reminded me daily that he was still in the "little years". And as if it isn't enough that he's grown out of pronunciation difficulties and warping phrases, he now reads (sounds out words and repeats memorized sight words - he's not reading sentences easily yet) and aces his phonics tests (most of the time - he does confuse a couple of the similar letter pairs). His seatwork involves less tracing and more cognitive work (matching similar items, identifying the vowel sound in a pictured item, coloring by number, connecting the dots by number to create pictures, etc.), and is often noted to be kindergarten-level work. We're thrilled that he is thriving in his current class (the recent split of the 4-year-olds and 5-year-olds has worked wonders for James' behavior and focus, and he hasn't had a single bad day since the change) and is obviously ready for kindergarten in the fall, but it's still hard to accept the fact that we will soon have a kindergartner in the house... a full-blown, school-aged kid. He often tells us elaborate stories, either made-up or repititions of lessons that he learned at school (or from us, TV, or one of his LeapPad games), and is getting a lot better about remembering the lyrics to songs that he likes (though his sister has us all beat in that skill).

 

 

Now for the things that haven't changed... He is SO NOT a morning person. Even though he loves going to school, he will complain most mornings that it's too early and too cold and he just wants to stay in bed a snuggle for a little while longer. Having Buster sleep at the foot of the bed has actually made our mornings easier because he's happy to wake up and snuggle Buster for a few minutes before we force him out of bed. He is still extemely social and cuddly, but he gets really shy if he's put on the spot (if you single him out with a question, rather than letting him offer up an answer asked to a group, and he definitely exhibits stage fright). One exception is soccer - he seems to be coming out of his shell on the field and is taking charge of the ball more often, less worried about offending his peers or getting in their way. He still likes to boss his friends and sister around, telling them how to do things and fussing at them for things they aren't suppose to do, but it's not as bad as it was (and not nearly as bad as Cora is currently!) and the tattling has decreased a lot from last year. He still has the same best friends (though Grant is quickly becoming a new favorite, now that they are soccer buddies), including his sister, and their relationship is only getting better. They still argue, but are able to work things out on their own more often, and there is far less competition and jealousy between them than there was last year.

 

 

His favorite activities at this age include riding his BIG BOY bike (especially on bumpy trails or BMX tracks), playing pretend at home with Cora (they come up with all sorts of games lately, but most involve Cora being the mom or cat and James being the kid or dog), building with Legos, watching TV/movies and playing on his LeapPad (when we allow it - he will always have limited screen time, and other than during long car rides, the LeapPad time has to be earned), playing outside (on the zipline, playset, and the new teeter-totter) and getting into all sorts of things in the yard (moving piles of rocks and leaves and dirt and acorns and firewood), being a superhero (I hope we still have a few years of this phase - it's too cute!), and just generally exploring (in the ravines behind the house, local trails, at parks - even just walking around the neighborhood - there is always something interesting to see when you're out with James because he never misses a thing).

 

 

This boy of ours is pretty special. We think he is incredibly smart, compassionate, cautious yet intrigued to learn new things, silly, sneaky, and basically just awesome. We want to wish him a VERY HAPPY 5th Birthday!

 

5-year stats: 45 lbs and 44"

GREAT WOLF LODGE!

Finally, we arrived!

The kids get their first view of the indoor waterpark while I check us in and Jay braves the ice to bring all our stuff inside.

We did not overpack. (We'd have fit everything onto one cart if not for the birthday presents.)

 Jumping for joy that we got there before the waterpark closed for the night. It's 8:30pm? Who cares about bedtime?! We promised these kids they could swim TONIGHT!

THUNDER SNOW

With the vomiting a two-times-and-done incident for each kid and James' fever almost gone, we quickly threw everything together for our trip this morning and hit the road (a couple hours later than planned). The kids were already entertained, Jay installed new all-weather wiper blades (in anticipation of "freezing rain" once we got to Texas), and the cooler was packed with plenty of snacks. We made great time over the river and through Louisiana to Shreveport, at which point we had to break to buy jackets, since we smartly left ours at home. At first we thought we could get by without them (who cares if it's below freezing outside when you're planning to stay inside the 84-degree waterpark for 3 days?!), but as we neared the Texas border and constantly refreshed our weather apps, we realized it was very likely we were going to get stuck in the cold at some point... New jackets in hand, we set off for Grapevine. The temperature was 75 when we left Vicksburg and 72 in Shreveport, but once we crossed the border to Texas we lost a degree of heat for every 5 miles we drove. It was insane to watch the thermostat drop like that. We switched drivers in Shreveport expecting the freezing rain, and knowing that Jay handles adverse driving conditions better than I do. Unfortunately, we had no idea things would get as bad as they did. A thunderstorm that blocked visibility beyond 5-10 feet (I'm not kidding - I was terrified) turned into freezing rain and sleet, then hail and ice, then thundersnow. Did you know thundersnow exists? Neither did we. Let me tell you, when you're creeping along the interstate at 5mph and hear thunderous booms as the snow falls, you get a little scared. What should have taken us 3 hours to get from the border to the hotel ended up taking us 6 hours. There was bumper-to-bumper traffic crawling at 10-20mph for HOURS, accidents and spin-outs all over the place, slippery crunchy frozen slush, and eventually, exhausted kids and grumpy parents. We thought things would be better in the city, but there were so many accidents, and the emergency response vehicles couldn't keep up with the sand/salt need over the many roads and highways, so there were literally people stuck on inclines (overpasses, on ramps, etc.), re-routing themselves to backtrack to exits in the hopes the surface roads would be better. They weren't. Somehow Sandy directed us through the mess (via text and her speedy internet updates) and we arrived in one piece at the hotel. I have NEVER been more grateful to get out of the car. EVER.

Not even on the highway and James is sucked into his LeapPad

Thank goodness for the new wiper blades!

Before the storm, a late lunch, a still sickly Cora

Freezing rain and hail (and iced over windows)

Thundersnow!

Iced over slush (crunch crunch crunch...)

Snow boogers on the van at an emergency potty stop. And then it all REALLY stopped being amusing.