About two months ago my Dad called and ask if he could help Justin and I celebrate our birthdays. We said, "Sure." We didn't know what was up his sleeve, but knew it had to be good. He always gives the greatest gifts. My dad treated our family to The Great Wolf Lodge in Grand Mound, Washington!
We woke up early on Thursday, March 26, 2009, got Trey and Tian up (we had told Trey about our trip the day before, in fear of him asking us CONSTANTLY when we were leaving for Portland!) and it was off the airport. It was going to be Tian's first time flying and I was a bit nervous. Our flight was right in the middle of his nap time. Would he sleep on the plane just as Trey did at his age?
The boys, all smiles in the airport. While we waited for our flight, I took Trey to the "arcade" and Tian enjoyed watching all of the crazy people!
We rode on Alaskan/American Airlines. The plane was a lot smaller then we were used to. Trey and I were a bit unsure of the small platform and stairs we walked up to get into the plane!
Tian was AMAZING! He fell asleep right as we finished taking off, and basically slept the whole flight. The sweet man next to me let me place my juice cup on his snack tray because there was no room for the snack tray. I think he was a bit hesitant to sit next to a baby, but as we landed, he kept saying, "You were such a good baby. Yes you were," to Tian! Tian just smiled at him!
When we got to the Portland airport, we got a little turned around, but eventually found the exit for the baggage claim. As we entered the foyer of the Portland Airport, my Dad was waiting for us, with a balloon in hand which read, "Welcome Back" for Trey! That has become his tradition! Whenever we fly into Portland, he comes bearing a balloon! Trey loves it! He talked and talked to Grandpa Bend about the airport and airplane! We gathered our luggage and waited a bit for my Mom to drive in from Bend, Oregon to Portland.
(cute picture of my Dad and Trey waiting for my Mom)
From Portland, I drove the boys and my mom, and my dad drove Justin and Derek and we were off to Grand Mound, Washington. Grand Mound, Washington is about 1.5 hours from Portland, and 1 hour from Aberdeen, Washington; the home of Justin's parents!
Our rooms were amazing! My parents stayed in the Wolf Den
and we stayed in the Kid Kamp
After meeting up with Justin's parents and our niece Nora, we settled into our "new home" (as Trey kept calling it!), ate at the Camp Critter Bar and Grille for lunch, and took advantage of the Great Wolf Lodge's INDOOR WATER PARK! That's right, an indoor water park.
Trey was so brave, it almost gave me a heart attack! When we first arrived, Trey wanted to go on this "big kid" slide with his cousin Nora. When we found out he couldn't ride WITH Nora, or anyone ELSE for that matter, he still insisted on going. I asked the lifeguard if she could help me catch my son at the bottom of the slide, and between the three of us (my mom joined in the on helping us "save" Trey at the bottom of the slide), we caught Trey before he was too shocked! Needless to say, he only attempted that slide 2 more times before he was done.
Marie (aka Grandma Marie) held Tian while we all went on rides! (thank you so much Marie!) Soon after entering into the waterpark, Tian became a bit restless and needed a bottle and a nap. Marie took Tian up to our room, with me, and stayed in our room while the rest of us played. She is so selfless!
My first ride was the Howlin' Tornado (which is the yellow slide in the up above picture!) which just about did me in. My mom and Nora had ridden on it while I was helping Marie with Tian so I had to see what they had done.
After a few hours in the water park, and outside in the hot tubs, we worked up an appetite and went to The Loose Moose Cottage which was a buffet dinner. YUMM-O! They had everything you could imagine, INCLUDING applesauce which Tian tried for the first time and LOVED!
At night, they have a little play about the wild put on computerized animals followed by a bed-time story read by a "forest ranger." Trey about came out of his skin with fear. He hates mascots and couldn't stand the thought of watching a play with motorized animals, but once it began, he really enjoyed himself. Marie and Nora stayed to watch the show while Justin, Tian, and Grandpa Larry remained upstairs in our room! It was way past Tian's bedtime!
See the mascot, not too scary!
(see, all smiles after the play began!)
The night ended with Trey "attempting" a sleepover with Grandma and Grandpa Bend. My mom read to Derek and Trey in the tiniest little bunk bed for 3! It would have been perfect for either Derek, or Trey, OR my mom to lay in by themselves, but the two boys insisted on sleeping in the bed with my mom, ON THE TOP bunk, for bedtime stories. They read one of Derek's favorite books, "Graduation Day Clifford," given to Derek by Trey! (found at Saver's for dirt cheap!)
Notice, Trey is practically on top of my mom! That is TRUE LOVE!
Trey ended up falling asleep in my parents bed, was moved to the bottom bunk, and then woke up at 5am wanting us. Thankfully, our rooms were right across the hall. That was the first time Trey has slept apart from us, other then when we had Tian. Thanks Mom and Dad for giving us some restful hours!
3.27.09
The morning started quite early, 5am for Trey and Justin, and sometime after that Tian and I awoke. Thank heavens for Cartoon Network because there wasn't anything else for Trey to do! Once the buffet breakfast opened, Justin took Trey down, and I stayed upstairs with a sleeping Tian until the boys returned. I got to have breakfast, ALONE, with my mom! I don't remember the last time that ever occurred. (Probably when I was 18 and it was before morning seminary, at about 5:30am.) We had a great time giggling about the funny families in the buffet, the silly things Trey says, and what our plans for the day would be.
As we were leaving the buffet (which we got for free because they had made a mistake on our dinner ticket!!) we ran into Trey and Larry! Larry and Marie were joining us for the day and heading to Portland for the evening. Eventually, we would meet up with them in Idaho the following week.
Our plans for the day: Swimming, playing this MagiQuest game (which will be explained later!) and BINGO! Yes, they had BINGO and my Dad was stoked to play!
Marie is so brave. She can't stand water in her contacts, hates water splashed in her eyes, AND hates heights, but that didn't stop her from attempting just about every water slide.
Larry and Marie coming off a tube slide
We spent a lot of time in the kiddie area with Trey and Tian. It was Tian's 2nd time in a swimming pool and he seemed to enjoy himself! There were slides that Trey felt comfortable enough to go down by himself and even a little waverunner he could sit on and squirt other children!
Our boys loving the water
Derek is one brave guy! The scarier the ride, the better. It was nonstop slide riding for him and he didn't care who joined him. First, it was my dad who joined Derek for many of his rides
I joined him for a few rides, the ride attendence began to recognize him and say sweet things to him. The first time I went down with him, I told the attendent I was nervous. She looked at Derek and said, "Tell her not to be nervous!" He just giggled!
While I played with Trey in the kiddie area and rode on rides with Derek, my mom and dad took care of Tian!
It was nice to see my dad, my father-in-law Larry, Justin, and Derek all take a few rides together!(watching them go down the slides gave Trey a wild hair. He wanted to ride on the "big boy" rides just like everyone else.)
Towards the end of the night, we snuck Trey on the big family slide. He was supposed to be 42", and on his tiptoes, he WAS 42". He wasn't caught until the last run of the night (which was his sixth time!). I guess the ride attendant had been eyeing Trey all night!
the last ride of the trip
Before Larry and Marie left for their trip to Portland, we searched the hotel for the "MagiQuest." When we first arrived at the hotel, Justin bought Trey a "magical wand" (it wasn't girly by any means! It looked like a stick or piece of wood with a handle on it!) and with this magical wand, Trey could "unlock" secret things around the hotel. If you waved the wand in front of pictures, they could talk, light up, or change colors. Some animals on the walls of the hotel spoke. There were many treasure chests that opened to display many jewels and sparkly things.
Grandma Marie treated Trey to icecream. His favorite flavor is Mint Chocolate Chip. He calls it the "green one."
Along with having a confectionery with specialty fudges (which my dad treated us to. My favorites were the peanutbutter chocolate, heath, snickers, and milk chocolate! Delicioso!) the lodge had an arcade, a Starbucks, Pizza Hut, and two spas; one for the little girls, one for the adults!
This was the first time our boys have spent time with both of their grandparents at the same time! It was so nice to have both my parents and Justin's parents join us for our trip and I know Trey will remember the memories made for a long time!
After our MagiQuest game and the departure of Grandma Marie and Grandpa Larry, we played a pretty mean game of BINGO! Derek won a round and he chose a rubber ducky!
Dinner was Pizza Hut and the evening ended with another story time and night time program. This time Justin took Trey with my Dad and Derek.
Our stay at The Great Wolf Lodge was coming to a close. It was so sad to leave our "home," as Trey called it, but we were so grateful for the memories made! Thank you Mom and Dad for the wonderful vacation!
(on the way to Portland, we stopped for breakfast at a pretty scary Denny's and then to the Centralia Outlet Mall, which was only 8 miles from the Lodge. Justin and my Dad were so kind to watch the boys while my mom and I shopped for about an hour. We hit Carters, Aeropostale, Roxy, Quicksilver, Volcom, and Gymboree! We found some amazing deals!)
No comments:
Post a Comment