First Family Vacation

We are back from our first official family vacation! We all had a blast and it was bittersweet to see it come to an end. But now I get to post the longest blog ever on all our adventures. So sit back and get ready to read all about it!

DAY ONE (Sunday)

We began our journey on Sunday morning, around 9am. We had packed most of our things the night before and just had to throw the rest of the things in the suitcase and load up the car. I decided to drive the first leg of the five hour trip up to Grapevine. Serena is extremely cranky in the car and I knew whoever was sitting in the passenger seat would be turning around too many times to count to calm her down. Being eight months pregnant, that is not exactly the easiest thing! We drove about two hours and stopped for lunch at a McDonalds just past Austin. We wanted to make sure and stop somewhere with a play area so the kids could stretch their legs and get some energy out. The clouds in the sky looked ominous and it started to sprinkle a bit when we first entered, but luckily the rain stayed away until we left so the girls were able to take advantage of the outdoor playscape.

Richard took over driving duties from there and Serena took a bit of a catnap while Calli watched her DVD player (thank God for those, what would we do without them!?) Around 3pm we pulled off at our exit and followed the signs to Great Wolf Lodge. Not like we could have missed it though! I don't know what we were expecting, but I know I wasn't expecting the hotel to be quite so massive. I am not sure why since I knew it had an indoor water park. Anyhow, when the hotel came into view we started to get really excited.
Pulling around the front was even more fun because we saw this entrance as well as a bunch of water slides off to the left (I don't know why I didn't get a photo of those).
Here are Richard and the girls going into the hotel. I admit, I was a little picture happy. I was so impressed with what the hotel turned out to be that I didn't want to miss one thing!

When we entered the lobby we saw a big window to the left where the entire water park was visible. So while I checked us in the girls were drawn to look at the excitement going on there.

As I was checking in Richard said he had heard some noise and turned around to discover this structure come to life. This was a show that went on in the lobby a few times a day and the songs are still going round my head (I think we watched it about six or seven times.) Serena in particular really loved it. She would break out in applause every few seconds.

When the show was over we decided to go check out our room and get our bathing suits on to go to the waterpark. On our way down the hall Serena was captivated by all the wolves in the gift shop. We have learned that wolves seem to be a favorite of hers. She always had to stop and look or point when she saw one around the hotel.

Meanwhile I thought these trash cans were pretty awesome so yes, I took a picture!

This was our room. There are a few different layouts to choose from and we picked the Wolf Den one.

When you first walk into the room, the bathroom was on the right with the counter and sink across from it. Across from that was the Wolf Den, the sleeping area for the kids. It was small, but had a bunk bed and small TV, as well as just enough room for Serena's pack n' play to be set up.

This is the main part of the room. I just loved the furniture!

Here is Richard and the girls all ready to go to the waterpark for the first time (Calli is wearing her famous $3 bathing suit).

Our hotel room was on the first floor so basically all we had to do was walk down a hall to get to the waterpark.

They had a pool area about a foot deep for little kids. It had these three water slides (Calli made her living on the blue one) as well as tons of other fun things to play with in the water. We spent the most time in this part of the park.

(Calli is in the middle in the blue lifejacket in this shot)

Calli is our water baby. From day one she has loved the water. When she was a baby the only thing that would get her to stop crying was taking a bath. She has always loved going in the pool and it is one of her favorite things to do. Serena is NOT our water baby. We dipped her feet in the water and she threw a fit. She did NOT like it. The water of course is a bit cold (they keep the park heated to a very humid 84 degrees at all times so it's very hot) but I thought maybe eventually she would get used to it. She was not a very happy camper most of the time though. She tolerated the water if we just dipped her feet in, but if we got her more wet she cried.

Since Serena clearly was not enjoying her time in the water I decided to take her back to the room early while Richard stayed in the park with Calli. Serena and I changed and took a walk around the hotel to explore. We discovered the bar/grille restaurant on the 4th floor and thought we would just eat there for dinner that night. It had been a long drive up and the last thing I think any of us wanted to do was get in the car and find a restaurant for dinner. Richard and Calli finished up in the park and came to get ready as well. Here we are heading for dinner.

All the little touches and decorations they had around the hotel were so neat.

After dinner it was back to our room and pjs on for storytime. Every night at 8pm in the lobby they first had the show and then a story read to the kids. Here are Richard, Calli and Serena getting ready for the show to start.

After the story was over they would bring out Wiley to have a photo with each of the kids

On the way back from storytime I couldn't help but notice how cool the light fixtures on the wall were. Each one had a different forest animal.

The hall to our room

We got back to the room and it was lights out for the little ones. I was nervous how everyone would sleep in one hotel room. The girls had their own section, but not a door to close them in. They actually both slept really well. I think Serena cried out maybe once or twice, but fell back asleep quickly. I did not have the greatest night however. The mattress was entirely too hard and uncomfortable and being pregnant and uncomfortable already wasn't really a great combination. By the morning my back was killing me.

DAY TWO (Monday)

We all woke up around 7:30am and got ready for the day. We headed up to the breakfast restaurant to eat their wonderful buffet. They had every kind of breakfast food you could want from pancakes to hashbrowns to donuts to fruit to bacon and more! I knew I would be stuffed for most of the day from just eating that breakfast. After that Calli and Richard put on their swimsuits and headed to the waterpark. Serena and I walked with them some of the way down and this photo was taken outside the ice cream shop.

While Calli and Richard were swimming, Serena and I ventured to the grocery store. Our room came equipped with a fridge and microwave and we decided it would be cheaper and easier to just buy some bread and things for lunch in the room instead of trying to eat out. I am glad we did this because I spent maybe $30 for everything, which is what we might have spent on one lunch out, even more! Plus we brought home the left over supplies to have here. I was really looking forward to going to the grocery store. Yes, I know I am weird! But if you know me, then you know one of my biggest pet peeves here is that we only have one true grocery store to shop at! I desperately miss the choices and so I was happy to take a trip to Safeway (which is called Tom Thumb in the Dallas area). There happened to be one about two miles from our hotel so it worked out perfectly.

On the way back from the grocery store I saw a 7-11, which is another thing I miss! That night after dinner we stopped there for some slurpees, yum!

When Serena and I returned from our shopping excursion we all met in the hotel room and had lunch. Then Serena was ready for her nap and Richard stayed with her so he could get some homework done and I took Calli to get a manicure in the Scoops Salon for kids down the hall. She had a blast. They gave her a tiara to wear, which she loved of course. Her manicure was filled with ice cream flavors; a strawberry fizzy for her hand soak, vanilla for her scrub and chocolate for her lotion. She chose the brightest pink for her polish complete with silver sparkles on top.

The manicure included a coupon for a free ice cream at the ice cream shop so we headed there next. She had chocolate chip :)

Next we went to the Cub Club, which is a room they have for young kids. It has free activities like a computer to play games on, coloring books, books to read and other things to do. You can also pay to paint something and Calli really wanted to paint a piggy bank.

This was library corner of the room.

When we were done there Calli decided she wanted to go in the waterpark. So we got our suits on and played there for a bit. When Serena woke up from her nap, her and Richard joined us. She did a little better in the water that day. Look, she is almost smiling even!

This is a fun play area in the kids pool. Calli is swimming in the blue life jacket.

Richard and Serena and you can see the big water FUN behind them. In that part were the stairs to a couple of the slides as well as a big bucket of water that dumped out every few minutes onto the brave souls standing under it.

Here are more of the slides. Calli didn't want to go on any and of course being pregnant I couldn't. Between the rainy weather and the time of year, it was an absolutely perfect time to be at the resort. The place was pretty empty for a waterpark and there were NO lines for the slides. It was really, really nice. I imagine in the summer it is packed. They also open up their outdoor pool and slides during that time. Also, there are three more fun things to do inside the park. There is an ACTION RIVER you can float down, which soaks you with water at various points and in various ways. There is a wave pool, which creates waves to ride every ten minutes or so (that was a lot of fun!). And lastly there was a regular pool with some basketball hoops and fixtures like lily pads floating around.

We decided to leave the hotel for dinner that night. Richard looked up Mexican restaurants nearby and it led us to the same one we had eaten at at our last trip to Dallas two years ago. It was very good still. I liked the sign for the place and tried to get the kids to sit in front of this. Calli sat on the ledge and Richard placed Serena next to her and then quickly jumped out so I could get the shot. You can see Serena's little backside because she promptly fell (don't worry, no babies were harmed in the taking of the picture - she was fine!)

On the way back to the hotel we got our slurpees. It was time to get ready for story time again and here are the girls on their way to the lobby.

Calli wanted her photo taken with Wiley again!

DAY THREE (Tuesday)

Tuesday was going to be our day to leave the hotel for a bit. We decided to go to the waterpark in the morning and then hit the road after lunch. When we got to the park I decided to put a lifejacket on Serena this time and she looked like a little marshmellow.

We got back to the hotel room for lunch and got ready to leave. Calli decided she wanted to climb up to the top bunk and ended up falling the last few steps she came down. She hurt her back a bit, but was fine. Richard decided to let her watch some shows to make her feel better. Then of course Serena wanted to see what all the fuss was about on the top bunk also! (By the way, Calli is not a dreaded thumb sucker, she has a habit of putting her fingers in her mouth when she hurts herself).

We drove out to a couple of suburbs I wanted to look at including Colleyville and Southlake. We have been to Southlake before and love it! First we drove around looking at houses, which I wish I would have taken a picture of. They are so beautiful. We then decided to stop at probably the best park ever. We had played there on our last trip.

Calli decided to take a rest in the swing while Serena played in the bark.

Serena didn't want to leave so as we were walking out to the car she ran back.

Calli made it her mission to go drag her away.

After the park we wanted to walk around Southlake Town Center. It is a really great shopping place with pretty much every store you could imagine from Gymboree to American Eagle to Crate and Barrel. This was the fountain they had next to where we parked.

Calli decided she was thirsty after arriving and we walked into the ice cream shop closeby with the sole intention of getting water only. Well, the ice cream ended up being too tempting to pass up, it was unlike anything we had seen. Called Piccomolo, it's an Italian themed ice cream shop. Depending on the size you want you can have a few different flavors. We decided to get the regular size (three flavors) and split it. BEST ICE CREAM EVER! It left us wishing for one in San Antonio. After enjoying that treat we set off walking around the Town Center. Calli really wanted to push Serena's stroller for a bit.

This is just a glimpse of a small part of the Town Center. It is really cool!

This is the library (yes it is a LIBRARY!!) in the middle of Town Center.

This was the gazebo right by the little pond they had.

We loved the fountains in the pond.

All that walking around made us hungry, so we stopped for dinner at a place in the Town Center called Five Guys Burgers and Fries . This turned out to be a burger place extremely similar to In N Out, which we miss so much! They only served burgers and fries and were delicious! We also found out they have a new location in San Antonio, but of course it is across town. So after our burgers we decided to go back to the hotel and relax a bit before storytime. It was sad because we knew it was our last one since we were leaving the next day. Here are the girls holding hands on the way, I love this photo!

Richard and Serena in the lobby in front of the really cool fireplace

Serena would sometimes randomly decide to run and sit in her sister's lap. It was so cute!

After storytime on the last night I decided to try and get a picture with Wiley and Serena. I thought she would freak out, like she did with Santa and the Easter Bunny. But she seems to have a weird obsession with wolves and actually kind of liked him.

DAY FOUR (Wednesday)

This was our last day at the resort. It was kind of fitting that we had a terrible night, with Serena waking up every hour on the half hour for some reason. My Sharks had also been eliminated the night before and the Spurs that night so I was a little depressed, I won't lie! Anyhow, having a rough night made the idea of leaving a little more appealing. Here are the girls and I on our way up to breakfast. This little fountain outside the hotel looked pretty so I made Richard take a picture of us.

This is the restaurant we ate breakfast at each morning, The Loose Moose Cafe.

I knew they had a 9am show going on so we decided to hang around for it before checking out and going to the waterpark. Here is Serena exploring the lobby and a really cool lamp.

The girls waiting for the last show to start.

After this 9am showing they take the kids on something called the Wolf Walk. They walk around the lobby looking at and learning about different animals.

They even got to walk up to the cool tower overlooking the lobby!

After the walk they all got a piece of paper to make an origami craft with. I sent Richard to help Calli and about halfway through they came back to me with a semi folded piece of paper. Who knew men weren't so great at following instructions ;)

Serena was just having fun running in the lobby

This is the family picture we got in the lobby in front of the awesome fireplace. I couldn't believe how well it turned out and that Serena was even looking at the camera!

We headed up to our room after that to pack up and say goodbye to it. We also changed into our suits to go to the park one last time. I had to get a few more shots of the girls' room. I loved the artwork on the walls!

We checked out of the hotel first and then went to the park to play for awhile before we had to leave. Serena was one tired baby after waking up so much the night before and she actually fell asleep in Richard's arms!

When Calli started telling us she was hungry we knew it was time to hit the road. We walked out of the lobby and I had to get a picture of Calli on this adorable bench. She was really sad to leave.

The drive home went pretty well. We hit patches of rain here and there leaving Dallas all the way to about Austin. I told Richard that it probably wasn't raining in San Antonio and even though it had been raining the whole time in Dallas that it probably hadn't rained a drop there. Sure enough the skies were sunny as we made our way through South Texas. I am still not sure if it saw any rain in our absense, it's just funny how the weather can be so drastically different if you drive just a few hours. Anyhow, we made our way home, but had to make a quick stop first to buy this new car...

We have been in the market for a new car for a few weeks. With the impending arrival of our third little one, we needed more room in the car. Last weekend we visited a dealership looking at their Chrysler Pacifica. I really loved it and it was exactly what I was looking for - a crossover SUV with two bucket seats in the middle and seats in the third row. The trunk space was small, but I have discovered that is the case with any SUV, no matter the size. We looked at bigger SUVs and was so surprised to see how small the trunk space is. I don't really understand why anyone would buy some huge, gas guzzling SUV like that when they can get the same thing in a smaller SUV or crossover. Anyhow, we had seen online there were a few Pacificas at a dealership across town and since we were closeby, we decided to stop by. It must have been fate or something. They had sold one of the Pacificas, but they also had a Ford Freestyle that was even nicer. It has leather seats, a DVD system and the trunk space is GREAT because it is deep. It is a 2005 Limited Edition and I couldn't believe it fell in our price range. So we test drove it and worked out the details and a few hours later were driving our new car home. We are now the proud owners of a 2005 Ford Freestyle with enough room for a new baby and carseat. I got exactly what I wanted and don't have to drive around a huge SUV or a minivan! I think we are good car shoppers! We also decided it must have been fate, with the news of Chrysler filing for bankruptcy today. We almost bought that Pacifica but just happened to stumble across the Freestyle instead.

So there you have it, lots of vacation photos and fun! And we brought home the best souvineer :)