Baycation

Ever since Julian got a gift card to Great Wolf Lodge for Christmas, he has been begging to go on "baycation." And I'm not exaggerating when I say at least 10 times a day. Every day. Since Christmas.

We finally made a countdown so he could at least have an idea of his estimated wait time.
He anticipated this trip more than Christmas or his birthday. Every night, we had to tell stories about the water park and the wolf den he was going to sleep in. Every night, he asked us to paint the water park on his face. (Not literally, it's just something we do in bed using our fingers to "paint" gently on his face.) Every night, he asked if his paper chain was gone yet and if we were going in the morning.

Well, once we did do it with actual paint.

So yeah...he liked vacation.

Evie's first task the moment we walked in our room: Brush teeth while simultaneously emptying the kleenex box.

J was most looking forward to the big barrel that dumps all the water down. He was afraid of something similar at the first water park we went to (on our first vacation), but for some reason he just knew he was going to love this one. And he did.

The first time he saw it was through the windows in the lobby. We waited a minute or two to see it to dump over and as it did, the kid was literally vibrating he was so excited. He jumped up and down every single time he saw that barrel tip over during our short stay. He even stood under it a few times with Daddy!

Unfortunately, I couldn't man (woman?) my camera in the water park while following Julian up and down slides or splashing around with Evie. But trust me when I say we had a ball.

Thanks for the pool pic, Aunt Amanda!

After being just a smidge too short to ride the big slides, Daddy took J down in his shoes the next time and can you believe it? He had grown just enough to get the coveted yellow wristband. (Which Julian was sure he could read and it said "You are big now. You can go down the adult slides. Ok? Ok.")

The first day, Daddy and J rode the only big slide that they could go down together a few times. But then for some reason, he got spooked and wouldn't go anymore. He spent the whole second day just playing on everything but the slides (even the little ones!)

Finally, at the last minute (we opted for a late check out so we could play more on our last day), I got him to go try the big slide with me. We climbed the four flights of stairs to get all the way to the top, the lifeguard plopped him in the tube, and as I was climbing in behind him...he changed his mind.

I told him that was okay and we held hands and watched a bunch of kids go down instead. After a minute, he squeezed my hand and said "Momma? I want to go down the slide now." He was nervous, but after that first time he was good to go. I bet we went at least ten more times that morning! I was proud of him for knowing what he wanted and building up the courage.
Evie liked the baby pool and playing in the fountains. She and Daddy spent a lot of time floating down the lazy river, singing and playing. I'd grab her and climb in the family hot tub anytime her little lips started turning blue.
We had popcorn and watched a movie in our room the first night and the second night, Mitch and I let the kids stay up pretty much as late as they wanted. By 10:45, Evie was saying "nigh-nigh" and trying to climb into bed. Made for a fuss-free bedtime!

Slumber party!

One of the best parts was that we got to go with Amanda, Kyle, and Cam. We had a blast together and it was fun for the kids to be vacation-crazed together. Let's just say our table at dinner was the nightly entertainment in the restaurant.

Lots of hall running...

Hey guys! Wait for me!!

Since it was after all, vacation, we let the kids get ice cream at about 8:30 one night. And since vacation means saying "yes" as much as possible, I told J he could pick whatever he wanted. For those not aware, Julian has an insatiable sweet tooth. He picked double chocolate brownie ice cream in a chocolate-dipped, sprinkle-covered cone. And ate every last bite. (Even some of the paper on the cone, I believe.)
God love him.

And as Cam nibbled his cone oh so delicately without a drop of ice cream on his little face, he kept getting napkins and trying to wipe Julian's face for him.
There was lots more fun: the arcade (blinking lights and buttons!), the elevator (more buttons!), a pancake breakfast with everyone in our room, the creepy story time that both my kids had to leave, and believe it or not, the car ride home. We had a fantastic vacation and we're so thankful to Grandma and Papa for the awesome Christmas gift.

She's a sneaky one.

I thought the one good thing about vacation being over was that J would stop asking when we were going. Not a chance. He now asks every single day when we're going back.