We set off for Dallas immediately following Calli's soccer game on Saturday. We gased up, hit the Starbucks drive thru and were on our way. I drove the whole time (for some reason I enjoy driving on long car trips) while Richard sat in the back with the kids and enjoyed movies such as "The Princess and the Frog" and "Cinderella". We packed lots of snacks because it was around lunchtime already when we were leaving and we didn't want to stop until we were outside of Austin. I HATE driving through Austin because it doesn't matter what time of day it is, there is always traffic along the 35. Once we made it out (hitting traffic of course at 1pm on a Saturday) we stopped at the same McDonalds we've gone to for our last two trips up to Dallas. It has a play area for the kids to stretch their legs. It was a beautiful day and NOT WINDY for once so we were able to actually sit outside by the play area and eat and let the kids run free. Even Jameson got in on the action!
Saturday evening and Sunday morning we spent doing my race stuff (see previous blog). Once we checked out of the Hyatt on Sunday afternoon (thank goodness for late check out so I could go back and get a shower!) we stopped for lunch at Chipotle. I was so hungry I could have eaten the entire restaurant whole. After I finish a long run I am never in the mood to eat. In fact, the thought of eating makes me want to vomit. Richard thinks this is strange and that I should be starving, but that's just how I am. Races always have free food after and I never get to take advantage of it. So the problem is that about 1-2 hours after running I am famished. And imagine running 13.1 miles, farther than I've ever run before, and you can only imagine how hungry I was once it hit. SO, enough about Chipotle (mmmm, sounds yummy right about now!!). We drove into Fort Worth after, which is about a half hour drive from Dallas. The kids all fell asleep luckily. Why were we going there you ask? I have lost so much weight that my wedding ring no longer fits. It was purchased at a jewelry store specific to the Sacramento area and has a warranty for free work. So of course I would rather not pay to have it resized when it is covered under warranty. Luckily Roger's Jeweler has some affiliate stores, only two of which are in Texas and none of which are in San Antonio. We figured since we would be up in Dallas anyway it would be the perfect time to do it. Great plan right? Well I always forget that Texas operates differently than California and Sundays here are so not the same. For one, you can't buy alcohol. Don't even get me started on that. For another, stores open late (say, noon) and some are just completely closed that day. Do you see where I am going with this? We get the jewelry store which was in a terrible looking part of town in an ugly, run down strip mall, and discover they are CLOSED. We were just annoyed at that point and weren't going to make another drive out there so we'll just wait. Grrrrr. We drove to Great Wolf at that point, even though it was a little early. Check in time is 4pm, but last time we were there they had our room ready early. And even if it's not read you can still check in and use the water park. By the time we saw the hotel in sight, we were soooo excited! Someone offered to take a photo of all of us outside the hotel when we got there.
We checked in and our room wasn't ready. I gave the employee my cell phone number and she said she would call me when it was ready and give me my room number so we wouldn't have to go back up front (she had already given us our wrist bands, which is what you use to enter the room electronically). We decided rather than drag our suitcases out and change in the restrooms to use the waterpark, we would just hang out in the Cub Club. This is a great place for kids to take a break from the water activities. They have crafts, board games, books, computer games, puzzles and a playhouse for the kids to enjoy. We got the whole place to ourselves also which was great! I think Jameson was relieved to finally be out of the car for an extended period of time!
Finally around 4:30 we got the call and we were on the way to our room! We were on the same floor that we were on during our last stay (the first floor, same as the water park, which is soooo nice and convenient!). We headed down the hall to our "Kid Cabin" suite. Jameson led the way.
We got all unpacked and immediately decided to go eat. We just wanted to stick around the hotel that night since it was already getting late and we had to be back by 8pm for storytime in the lobby. So we headed upstairs to the Camp Critter restaurant for some yummy food. The kids changed into their pjs when we got back to the room and we went to the lobby for storytime. On the way we decided to stop at the bakery and have some ice cream. Calli got a "Pinkalicious" cupcake and when she was done she found a seat on the bear.
Storytime is one of my favorite things about the Great Wolf. The kids watch the animated show first and then someone from Cub Club comes out and reads a story. Wiley Wolf joins her and the kids get a chance to meet him and take a photo.
We were just exhausted after that and all of us headed straight to bed when we got back to the room. The girls were in their own little section, having a bunk bed to share and Jameson slept in a pack and play in the main room with us. We didn't have pleasant and quiet nights, but we got through it and it's over so what can you do!My next favorite thing about the hotel is their breakfast buffet! It is soooo good and has everything you can think of to eat for breakfast! Strawberries, cantalope, watermelon, pineapple, yogurt, banana bread, muffins, red potates, biscuits and gravy, sausage, bacon, hashbrowns, scrambled eggs, an omlet bar, pancakes, french toast, waffles and I am sure I am leaving something out! I ate like a pig every morning and was proud of it! Jameson enjoyed eating my keys.
At 9am the show comes on again in the lobby followed by another Cub Club activity: the Wolf Walk. The kids walk around the lobby and talk about the different animals they have. At the end they get to make an origami wolf. Calli did this walk three times so we had a lot of wolves!
Finally it was time for the BEST part: the waterpark!! We put on our bathing suits and made our way into the park for some fun. Calli put on her life vest and dove right in, going down water slides, swimming like a fish and just having fun. I took Serena in the water and she protested a lot and didn't like it. Finally I realized that I should let her go at her own pace and not force her to go in if she didn't want to. So we got out for a bit while Jameson took a nap in his stroller. She eventually got braver and wandered up on this pretend lifeguard stand.
And finally she made her way into the shallow water, where she spent pretty much the whole vacation. She was happy splashing around in the water here and that's all I could ask for.
The Cub Club puts on a BINGO game each day at 2pm so we went to that on Monday also. Instead of BINGO though it is WILEY. Calli was getting very competitive while playing and was disappointed when she didn't win. Finally she lost interest, as did many of the kids and it was the adults playing :)
We got the girls a shirt for them to color. It made a good souvineer and it was something fun for them to do. I am somewhat of a perfectionist so a huge part of me wanted to color Serena's shirt for her. But I stepped back and let her do her thing. Calli's turned out really well and she is getting good at staying in the lines.
We left Cub Club and went to run my favorite errand whenever we go out of town: GROCERY STORE SHOPPING!! We went to Tom Thumb (aka Safeway) for a few necessities. It was so cool to swipe my club card again, that thing has been gathering dust in my wallet. I was sad to leave. When we got back in the car I typed "park" into the GPS and it brought up a few. I chose one closeby and we headed for it. It turned out to be a fantastic park with a Botanical Garden!! We pulled up and saw this thing immediately and of course Calli had to try it first. She said it was like Spiderman's web. There was a boy, about eight years old or so, playing in it too and she told him that she "knows all about Spiderman". I was just laughing because she knows nothing about him, but sees him on things that I get for Jameson.
The Botanical Garden was a lot bigger than it first looked and it was FREE. I thought it was better than the one here that you have to pay for! First of all, it was so peaceful and not crowded with a million people. And it was heavily treed, whereas the one here just has flowers and short bushes. I'm not really into Botanical Gardens, but I was impressed by this one. They had some beautiful flowers and a really pretty fountain. The kids of course loved the weeds...I mean dandelions.
The cute little bridge
Pretty pretty pretty white tulips.
Richard laughed at me for taking this picture, but I think it's cool!
We went to a mexican restaurant after the park. It came recommended by an employee at Great Wolf. It is called Unclue Julios and MMMMMM it was yummy!! We enjoyed their house special drink, the swirl: frozen margarita and sangria swirled...yum!!!
Serena enjoyed making her own chip concoction
We got back in time for storytime. Jameson really enjoyed this one!
The next morning (Tuesday) we enjoyed breakfast as usual and then shopped around the gift store in the lobby. Calli tried on these bunny ears.
Jameson having fun at the fireplace in the lobby during the show in the morning
Calli did the Wolf Walk this morning again
And this is the origami wolf she made with just a little help from Mom!
We went back to the room and got dressed for the waterpark again. Serena had learned that bathing suit = water so she told me over and over "no bathing suit". But alas, we forced her into that suit and in the water park.
Jameson really loved the water and was always excited to play
Calli going down a water slide
Doesn't Serena look like she's having fun?? It took awhile to convince her to get in the water, which was funny because whenever she did she always ended up having fun.
Jameson had a great time in the water
We went to the Cub Club again that day after playing in the water for too long. The girls finished coloring their shirts and Serena was captivated by this frog.
That evening we left the hotel again and went to Grapevine Mills Mall. This is a really big mall that is very popular. It has every store you could imagine! All the regular mall stores and then ones like Toys R Us, Bed Bath and Beyond, Old Navy and Burlington Coat Factory. They also had a skate park, miniture golf place and a hockey store with an ice rink in the back for lessons! They had this carasol in the food court too that the girls loved.
We had dinner in the food court at the mall and then took a break in our hotel room before storytime that evening.
Serena has been really independent lately and insists on dressing herself. She has a hard time pulling her pants up over the big diaper though!
We stopped at the bakery again for some sweets!
I tried to get a photo of all the kids with Wiley. As you can see, that didn't work too well!
Stay tuned for Part II (Wednesday and Thursday!): the conclusion of our fun-filled vacation!
At 9am the show comes on again in the lobby followed by another Cub Club activity: the Wolf Walk. The kids walk around the lobby and talk about the different animals they have. At the end they get to make an origami wolf. Calli did this walk three times so we had a lot of wolves! Finally it was time for the BEST part: the waterpark!! We put on our bathing suits and made our way into the park for some fun. Calli put on her life vest and dove right in, going down water slides, swimming like a fish and just having fun. I took Serena in the water and she protested a lot and didn't like it. Finally I realized that I should let her go at her own pace and not force her to go in if she didn't want to. So we got out for a bit while Jameson took a nap in his stroller. She eventually got braver and wandered up on this pretend lifeguard stand. And finally she made her way into the shallow water, where she spent pretty much the whole vacation. She was happy splashing around in the water here and that's all I could ask for. The Cub Club puts on a BINGO game each day at 2pm so we went to that on Monday also. Instead of BINGO though it is WILEY. Calli was getting very competitive while playing and was disappointed when she didn't win. Finally she lost interest, as did many of the kids and it was the adults playing :) We got the girls a shirt for them to color. It made a good souvineer and it was something fun for them to do. I am somewhat of a perfectionist so a huge part of me wanted to color Serena's shirt for her. But I stepped back and let her do her thing. Calli's turned out really well and she is getting good at staying in the lines. We left Cub Club and went to run my favorite errand whenever we go out of town: GROCERY STORE SHOPPING!! We went to Tom Thumb (aka Safeway) for a few necessities. It was so cool to swipe my club card again, that thing has been gathering dust in my wallet. I was sad to leave. When we got back in the car I typed "park" into the GPS and it brought up a few. I chose one closeby and we headed for it. It turned out to be a fantastic park with a Botanical Garden!! We pulled up and saw this thing immediately and of course Calli had to try it first. She said it was like Spiderman's web. There was a boy, about eight years old or so, playing in it too and she told him that she "knows all about Spiderman". I was just laughing because she knows nothing about him, but sees him on things that I get for Jameson. The Botanical Garden was a lot bigger than it first looked and it was FREE. I thought it was better than the one here that you have to pay for! First of all, it was so peaceful and not crowded with a million people. And it was heavily treed, whereas the one here just has flowers and short bushes. I'm not really into Botanical Gardens, but I was impressed by this one. They had some beautiful flowers and a really pretty fountain. The kids of course loved the weeds...I mean dandelions. The cute little bridge Pretty pretty pretty white tulips. Richard laughed at me for taking this picture, but I think it's cool!We went to a mexican restaurant after the park. It came recommended by an employee at Great Wolf. It is called Unclue Julios and MMMMMM it was yummy!! We enjoyed their house special drink, the swirl: frozen margarita and sangria swirled...yum!!! Serena enjoyed making her own chip concoction We got back in time for storytime. Jameson really enjoyed this one! The next morning (Tuesday) we enjoyed breakfast as usual and then shopped around the gift store in the lobby. Calli tried on these bunny ears. Jameson having fun at the fireplace in the lobby during the show in the morning Calli did the Wolf Walk this morning again And this is the origami wolf she made with just a little help from Mom! We went back to the room and got dressed for the waterpark again. Serena had learned that bathing suit = water so she told me over and over "no bathing suit". But alas, we forced her into that suit and in the water park. Jameson really loved the water and was always excited to play Calli going down a water slide Doesn't Serena look like she's having fun?? It took awhile to convince her to get in the water, which was funny because whenever she did she always ended up having fun. Jameson had a great time in the waterWe went to the Cub Club again that day after playing in the water for too long. The girls finished coloring their shirts and Serena was captivated by this frog. That evening we left the hotel again and went to Grapevine Mills Mall. This is a really big mall that is very popular. It has every store you could imagine! All the regular mall stores and then ones like Toys R Us, Bed Bath and Beyond, Old Navy and Burlington Coat Factory. They also had a skate park, miniture golf place and a hockey store with an ice rink in the back for lessons! They had this carasol in the food court too that the girls loved. We had dinner in the food court at the mall and then took a break in our hotel room before storytime that evening. Serena has been really independent lately and insists on dressing herself. She has a hard time pulling her pants up over the big diaper though! We stopped at the bakery again for some sweets! I tried to get a photo of all the kids with Wiley. As you can see, that didn't work too well! Stay tuned for Part II (Wednesday and Thursday!): the conclusion of our fun-filled vacation!
