Great Wolf Lodge

I am finally getting around to posting about our stay at the Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine, TX on Memorial Day weekend. We left for Texas on Friday evening (see earlier posts), stayed at the Hilton hotel in Grapevine, then headed over to the Great Wolf Lodge at 1pm on Saturday. That is the earliest we could check in and be able to use the indoor waterpark.

OK, so, this place is REALLY cool. I couldn't believe how big it is inside! There is a huge kiddie area, wave pool, lazy river, and many HUGE slides (that swirl around inside the building, then go outside the building, then come back in the building before shooting you out into the pool!). Also, there is a big splash area for the kids with a big fort for the kids to climb up & down while getting wet. And, don't forget about the pool outside with more big slides! If you've never checked out the Great Wolf Lodge, go to http://www.greatwolflodge.com/ and take a look!

The first slide Bryan & I ride together is called the "cyclone". Two people ride in a double tube, you FALL down the slide and end up in this big funnel thing where you go back & forth until you FALL down through the end of it and splash into the water. It was fun, but I was a bit nauseaus and week-kneed afterwards because I went down BACKWARDS! Yeap, Bryan got to see my screaming face the whole way down. :) Since I was backwards, I couldn't see what was about to happen next... turns, twists, falling, up, down, sideways... oy!

We talked Kaleb into going down the slide they call the "toilette bowl". Imagine the bowl of a toilette and what happens to the water in it when you flush it. It swirls around and around until finally it gets sucked through the hole into neverland. Kaleb started out at the top on his tube and went down the short slide until it dropped him off into the toilette bowl. Then, he swirled around & around in circles and it "flushed" him out into the water (see the big green & white striped bowl in the very first picture). His face when he got off of that was priceless! He said it was fun but he was too scared to ride it again. In fact, after that he was too scared to do any of the big slides... scaredy-cat! ;-)

We stayed in the waterpark until about 6pm when we were all getting tired & hungry. So, we got cleaned up & went to dinner in the hotel restaurant. The next day, we got packed up & checked out of the room but we were able to stay in the waterpark the rest of the day. We played for several more hours until we were ready to head back to the Hilton where we stayed Sunday night.

The waterpark is not open to the general public... only guests at the lodge. Staying 1 night at the lodge allowed us to have almost 2 days of the waterpark. I am glad that we didn't stay longer than one night because we were exhausted!

Tuesday Happenings 6/24/08

Weight: So, I did well the first 3 days of the week. And then I went on my 4 day retreat... where I GAINED 7lbs!!! Did you know you can gain 7lbs in 4 days??? OK, so I know I didn't eat enough for that to be physically possible so I am going to chalk most of it up to water weight. A 2-3 pound gain... sure, I can accept that. But not 7 pounds. YIKES! I had a great day today staying below 1400 calories and ran/walked for 30 minutes on the treadmill and did 20 minutes strength training for my legs. My goal is to keep this up the rest of the week.

To-do: I finished Ch. 3 in my Econ homework this last week before I left on the retreat. This week my goal is Ch. 4. Get an estimate on the body work on my car where it was hit in a parking lot this last week. This young girl backed up into me and her insurance is paying for it. By the looks of her car, she's done this before. ;-) Workout 30 minutes of cardio and alternate arms/legs/abs strength training for 4 days this week.

Calendar:
Monday 6/23/08: 7pm - Kameron game (cancelled... don't know why. I think it might be a field scheduling issue)

Tuesday 6/24/08: Nothing... I might actually cook dinner! *shock*

Wednesday 6/25/08: 4pm - the bug man will be here to do our quarterly pest spraying... it's flea & tick season! We are going swimming at Regional pool after work until they close at 8pm.

Thursday 6/26/08: 6pm - Kameron game; 7pm - Anna game

Friday 6/27/08: BRYAN'S BIRTHDAY!!! HAPPY 35! - We'll take him out to dinner - his pick. I think it'll probably be Red Lobster.

Saturday 6/28/08: 6:30pm church

Sunday 6/29/08: 10am – Bryan serves at church; 1pm - Kim serves at church

Tuesday Happenings

Here I am posting again on Tuesday instead of Monday. :) Mondays are just such a busy day for us.

Weight: I had a much better week this last week. I worked out at the gym 4 times, and had 4 out of 7 perfect days where I stayed around 1400 calories. And, the other 3 days were not perfect but not too bad, either. And, guess what happened??? I lost 3 1/2 pounds! WOO HOO!

To-do: So, I finished chapter 2 in my Econ homework... this week is to finish chapter 3. However, I doubt that will happen since I will be away on a scrapbook retreat from Thursday through Sunday... WOO HOO! Workout Mon, Tues, Wed and also fit in a walk at the retreat... maybe drag some of the girls along with me.

Calendar:

Monday 6/16/08: 6pm - watch Anna's softball game; 7pm - Kameron has baseball game.

Tuesday 6/17/08: 8pm - Kameron baseball game;

Wednesday 6/18/08: NO PLANS... WOO HOO!!!

Thursday 6/19/08: I am leaving for Tahlequah today for a scrapbook retreat until Sunday. The boys & Bryan have no other plans this week.

Friday 6/20/08:

Saturday 6/21/08: Bryan & the boys will probably go to church tonight.

Sunday 6/22/08: 10am – Bryan serves at church

Rainforest Cafe

Once we arrived in Grapevine, TX, we got checked into our hotel and then we had a late dinner at Rainforest Cafe. We went to one for the first time in San Antonio last year and I fell in love with the place. The food is not great and VERY expensive, but it is so much fun & different than any place else I have ever been. I will say that I like the one in San Antonio better, but this one was still alot of fun. Our table was RIGHT next to the elephants. So, every time they started moving, the elephants trunk was practically in my hair. LOL! If you have never been to a Rainforest Cafe, you have to go at least ONCE to experience it. But, be sure you are ready to spend $! So, I will leave you with some pictures of our time there. I will be back in a couple of days with a post about our stay at the Great Wolf Lodge/Waterpark.

Thunderbirds

On Memorial Day weekend, we took a mini-vacation to Grapevine, TX. We left for Texas on Friday after Bryan got off from work. Well, the "Star Spangled Salute" airshow was going on that Saturday at Tinker Air Force Base. The Thunderbirds were practicing their flying stunts on Friday night and we could see them (and DEFINATELY hear them!) from our house. Kaleb, the budding photographer, grabbed my camera and got some awesome pictures of the jets flying by in their formation.

They practiced a good part of the day that Friday until we left for Texas around 4:30pm. At some point during the day, the boys even had their kid-sized foldable chairs out and were sitting in them next to the street watching the "show". I wished I had my camera at that point, but Kaleb was still holding onto it. Even the neighbor girl, Jamie, got in on the picture-taking action. She took these funny pics of Kameron & Kaleb.

Monday (or Tuesday :) ) Happenings

I'm a day late on posting my Monday Happenings. But, I'm still trying to get used to this whole "blog thing" LOL! Better late than never, right?

Weight: I had a terrible eating weekend and gained a couple of pounds. :( Here's to getting back to healthier eating this week. I am also focusing on getting into a good workout routine.

To-do: Continue daily bible reading... Currently in Leviticous. I was reading and answering chapter questions for my Economics class during swimm lessons, but they haven't had lessons since Wednesday. So, I really need to buckle down and get through chapters 2 & 3 this week. I desperately need to shop for a dresser. Ours is falling apart!

Calendar:
Monday 6/9/08: 4:30pm - workout; 6pm - Swim lessons - cancelled (thunderstorms) so we ended up staying at the YMCA for a members-only barbecue they were having. The boys had fun getting their face painted & chowing down on watermelon. :)

Tuesday 6/10/08: 3pm - workout; 6pm - Swim lessons; 8pm - baseball game; Bryan is handling the swim lessons & baseball game while I go with some coworkers to the Redhawks baseball game downtown.

Wednesday 6/11/08: 4:30pm - workout; 6pm - Swim lessons. I think we will all stay & swim afterwards for a little while.

Thursday 6/12/08: 4pm - workout; 6pm - Swim Lessons & baseball game... not sure which one we will go to. Probably swim lessons since he has MANY more baseball games to play in but only 2 more swim lessons.

Friday 6/13/08: 4pm - workout; 6pm - Swim Lessons (make-up for last Thursday's cancellation). Family game night (probably games on the Wii)

Saturday 6/14/08: Not a whole lot planned today... probably catching up on housework & laundry. We have a wedding to attend later this evening for my cousin, Sarah. I can't believe "little Sarah" is getting Married!

Sunday 6/15/08: 10am – Bryanserves at church; 1pm – I serve at church. Then, the usual Sunday stuff... laundry, bills, grocery shopping, etc.

Weekly update

Here is what I would like to do weekly. Post an update to the family calendar & upcoming happenings for the week. I have a couple of friends who do this & I enjoy seeing what their homelife is like on a weekly basis... I think part of it is because it makes me realize that my chaotic homelife is somewhat "normal" LOL! Below is for this week. I will try to do this on Mondays along with a recap with any pictures or funny stories from the previous week.

To-do list:housework, housework, housework. The house is a mess & driving me crazy! Daily bible readings (finishing up Exodus). Finish Chapter 1 & 2 in Micro Economics correspondence course

Calendar:

Monday 6/2/08: 4:30pm - workout; 6pm - Swim lessons; 7pm - baseball game

Tuesday 6/3/08: 6pm - Swim lessons; 8pm - baseball game

Wednesday 6/4/08: 4:30pm - workout; 6pm - Swim lessons

Thursday 6/5/08: 4pm– Bryan dentist;6pm Swim lessons (cancelled – chemical imbalance in pool); 6pm My plastic surgeon (the wonderful Dr. Panchal at http://www.genesisokc.com/ ) asked me to be his guest at a plastic surgery seminar for people with large amounts of weightloss.

Friday 6/6/08: 6:30pm – Women’s softball game (boys will be at grandma’shouse)

Saturday 6/7/08: 2:30pm – I have training at Life Church with the newcheck-in system for the kiddos. 6:30pm – Life Churchworship experience

Sunday 6/8/08: 10am – Bryanserves at church; 1pm – I serve at church

Very first post!!!

Well, here it is. My first post on the blog. I never thought I would actually do this. But, here I am. I enjoy reading others blogs and thought that maybe it would be nice for family & friends to keep up with us here.