Thank You Columbus

Due to Columbus being honored for getting lost, we got a day off from work! Daniel and I took Grant to The Great Wolf Lodge. Grant fell asleep on the way there and good thing he did because we had a long day ahead of us.

It rained, hard, the entire way there.


Here was the view from our room.

A quick snack before we start our day.


This is where I would insert all these adorable pictures of my son having a blast with his father and I at the indoor waterpark. The only one in the south of it's kind. However, I took a waterproof disposable camera in the park and it was too dark and only a few pictures barely showed up. I was quite upset to say the least. So here are some ones I found on the internet to let you get the idea.

That evening we checked out the stores at the hotel. Here, Grant is trying to convince me to buy this treat. He is quite the negotiator.

His negotiating skills worked better in the gift shop. He had to have these motorcycles.

Later, we went trick or treating at the hotel. He quickly said, "Mommy I can't trick or treat without my costume!". I reassured him the hotel staff would let us participate anyway.



As we wrapped up the day, we joined all the other children for storytime. He was excited about his new McQueen house shoes he got for the occasion.

Daniel and I were worn out. We had to hit Starbucks to make it through storytime.


These animatronic figures taught us not to be scared of nature. I was scared of the thing that looked like a little boys head on a stump. Surely he was scared of nature!

Cheese!

Grant was into the story line, or confused by the boys head, I don't know...


Grant and one of the Great Wolf mascots.

Grant and Daddy racing back to the room.

In order to save some money, we pulled out our own breakfast. Some quick bites and we were back to the waterpark.

Insert more cute pictures here. On this morning, he was brave enough to wait in line with the 'tweens' to cross the pool via the log stumps (see picture from brochure below). However, he was not tall enough to use the rope, so he jumped from one to the other. At point, some girls about 8 years old or so were clapping for him and cheering him on.

It got to be around lunch time and so we packed up and headed back home. We stopped for lunch at this great little diner we thought we'd try. It was so good!

Next time, I'll know to be like those people I talked about who had their expensive cameras out taking pictures of their kids in the water. Ok, maybe I'll just get a diposable with a flash next time...if they still make them by then!

Staycation

According to the popular resource Wikipedia, a staycation is a neologism for a period of time in which an individual or family stays and relaxes at home, possibly taking day trips to area attractions. It became popular in the U.S. during the financial crisis between 2007-2010. The term was added to Webster's Dictionary in 2009.

Well, I'm pretty sure that staycations have spilled over into 2011, or alteast they have for our family. We decided to do a quick one yesterday that ended up nothing like we expected.
We traveled to Grapevine, TX to the Grapevine Mills Mall. This is no regular mall. This is tourist central. We have been several times, never to shop.

The first stop was the Rainforest Cafe. We have eaten there a few times, but always ended up eating in the bar area because of the long wait. We decided to stick it out for a late lunch, so we ate next to a giant cheetah, some gorillas. If you've never been there, the atmosphere is pretty neat, but the food isn't that great. You are paying for the scenery. Grant enjoyed it, that is what mattered.

Grant and the tree frog Rainforst Cafe mascot.

Animatronic croc

There is so much to look at and its to dark in there, we were just glad to get this one picture.

From there, we went to the other side of the mall for the new attraction, the SeaLife Aquarium. It just opened last night and Daniel has been wanting to visit.

Grant and nurse shark

Neat shot of Daniel and sting ray in the walk 360 aquarium walkthrough According to the aquarium's website, it said it would take 2-3 hours to go through. It took us 30 min. It was crowded, hot, and they didn't have more than some fish, some murals, and a place to pet starfish (which Grant didn't even want to do). Needless to say, we weren't happy with our experience.

Bad news. We had to pick my parents up at the airport at a certain time and we thought we wouldn't have free time before their arrival. Oops.

Ok, so a trip to the Bass Pro Shop then. We walked around looking at the well taxidermed animals and spent all our quarters at the arcade.

Still almost 2 hours to kill. Ok, on to see The Smurfs Movie. With the help of GPS, we finally found the movie theater we were looking for. Tickets were sold out.

Still almost 1 and a half hours to kill. Ok, so a snack is in order. We drove around trying to find a little ice cream store or something. All we found was an Italian ice cream shop which I'm sure my son would be confused by.

Suddenly, I find a Target! We hit the snack bar for some cheap and yummy popcorn, a little rest, and the $1 aisle. This adventure would have been much easier if my boys liked to shop!!

On to the airport. I quickly made a Welcome Home MiMi and PawPaw sign out of a napkin (sad, I know) and headed to baggage claim.

Next time I think our staycation should include a hotel!

Earning our Family Badges

This summer I began getting the Disney Family Fun magazine. What cute ideas to share with others! Starting the month I got the magazine, they were starting a contest called Badges of Fun. Each month, your family can earn 'badges' for participating in a certain activity. Honestly, it just happens that we did the last two events at the same time it asked for these types of things, so I thought, "You have 2 down, you might as well finish!"

Last month we earned the Backyard Fun Badge by creating a campout in our backyard for Grant and Fletcher. See previous post.

This weekend, we earned the Hit the Road Badge.

We headed South. 1st stop: conquer those go-carts. Earlier in the week, our go-cart outing didn't turn out as planned (see previous post), so we ran by for some quick 'racing'. From there, it was time to head East. East Texas is nothing but basically backroads and small towns. So part of the badge earning experience, we decided to play a version of "I Spy". I made a list of things we had to look for and count on our road trip.

• Dead animals - 6



• Logging trucks - 1



• 'Road Gators' - 3



• Dairy Queen Restaurants - 3



• Side of the road bathroom breaks - 1



• "Don't Mess with Texas" road signs - 0

I'm about 100% sure we missed some dead animals and 'road gators' in there. I was sure we would see more logging trucks (East TX is all pine trees) and atleast 1 "Don't Mess with Texas" sign. Looks like TX wants me to litter. Sad.
We made it to Nacogdoches, the Oldest Town in Texas, without a hitch. We were there to spend the weekend with college friends of ours. We ate, shared memories, laughed, and I even did some crying. However, I did not get many pictures taken except this Christmas card worthy one of Grant in front of SFA's (our alma mater) football stadium with his new football. It was over 100 degrees outside but we managed to play a quick, super quick, game of football on the field.

Road tripping on the way back home was not as fun. We were all tired so the only thing "I Spy-ed" was the back of my eye lids.

~~I can see someone saying, "Huh? What is a road gator?!" That is a term I picked up for tire fragments on the road. They can be evil things!

Cousin Fun: Ft. Worth Museum of Science & History

When my nephew comes to visit, we try to think of fun, kid friendly activities we can go to. Because of my friend Ashley's recommendation (thanks, Ash!), we spent an afternoon at the Ft. Worth Science and History Museum. I've been to the Dallas one many times, but this was all new to me.

I loved how all my lovely boys matched ;)

This display was for retro/antique toys. I saw a Cabbage Patch doll and was quite offended. Kara, Greg, and Jarod (my dolls) would also feel the same.

I loved this giant Lite Brite. I kept examining it, looking for a way to recreate it.

Grant and Fletcher showing off their art they made with Daniel.
This is a dino footprint that apparently Fletcher thought was a hot tub.This was take before the 4D movie about the Barnett Shale. Enthused I'm sure.

The Great Outdoors

Potty Training Boot Camp, Lieutenant's Log, Day 1:

The soldier seems reluctant and screams at the thought of changing undergarmets. Motivation is the key, especially the large jar of rations (ie-candy, cars, dinosaurs, bugs). Watching time is also part of success. 0700 hours, soldier awakens and seems more comfortable with the idea. Troop must press on.

SCHOOL IS OUT FOR SUMMER!!

I just completed my 5th year of teaching. This is the first year I could honestly say I was ready for the students to move on. My students have been acting nothing but onry since state testing was over.

As you can see from the above paragraph, potty training boot camp has kicked in. That is priority #1 for this summer. Swimming lessons, time with family/friends, organizing, scrapbooking, sewing, and reading is also on the agenda for the summer months.

Daniel and I celebrated our 4th anniversary this year by taking a night off and going to The Hideaway Ranch in Glen Rose, TX. It is a working Longhorn Cattle Ranch with horseback riding, archery range, fishing, and hiking trails. Due to time constraints, didn't get to do the horseback riding we wanted, but enjoyed our time together.

I've lived in Texas all my life, and I've never noticed this type of crossing sign until we were out in cattle ranch area. I LOVE it!

Our view as we pulled into the property.
Our cabin.

View of living room.

What happens with John Wayne, stays with John Wayne. (sorry, couldn't resist!)

I woke up to this yummy breakfast my awesome husband made me!

Later that week, we went to visit family for a few days.On the way home, we took a detour to Terrell, TX to Ham's Orchard. We stopped and ate lunch and then picked blackberries. Its also a peach orchard, but you are not allowed to pick those.

Grant was excited to get going.


"I found the biggest one, Mommy!"



Helping Daddy.

Purple hands hath we.


After we finished the picking, we visited the 'gift shop' for some extraordinary soft serve strawberry and peach ice cream. Grant didn't waste time with his spoon.


We ended up with about 3/4 gallon of blueberries. Most of which were nice and fully ripe. So I had to figure out what to do with all this yummy goodness.



I decided on a blackberry cobbler. We already had some homemade vanilla Blue Bell ice cream on hand, and its always a good combo. I searched all my cookbooks for a decent cobbler recipe, one where I could do some lattice work. No such luck. So I turned to old Paula Deen. Can't go wrong with something that contains a stick of butter, can you? Surfing on the internet I go and a hour later...ta da! Not the most presentable thing, but so yummy!