Girls Being Girls

These are our girls...being their everyday selves.  Goofy.  Gorgeous.  Lovable.

Great Wolf Lodge

As a Chrysler employee B is apparently eligible for all sorts of discounts and all sorts of places.  One of those places just happens to be Great Wold Lodge!  So naturally when it came time to use that extra vacation time they gave him, we decided it would be the perfect place to go spend a few days.

We chose to go up on a Thursday and return home on Saturday, we figured it would work out best, and we figured right.  Check in isn't until 4pm but you can arrive as early as 1pm to use the water park.  We arrived at 2:30 and since it was a Thursday our room was ready and we immediately checked in.  Of course Y wanted to head to the pool area right away so after getting changed we were off!

Both girls had a blast playing in the water, something that hadn't been able to do since our neighborhood pool closed in September.  There weren't a ton of people there, in fact aside from us there may have only been 5-10 other families utilizing the water park.  Y was quite apprehensive of the water even though we made sure she was wearing a life vest.  I think the few months out of the pool affected her level of confidence.  We stayed until about 6:30pm when we decided we would head up and order a pizza for dinner.  Every night at 8pm and 9pm they have story time for the kids and we wanted to be sure to make it to the 8pm time slot so that we could get the girls in bed.

Friday morning we woke up, ate breakfast, showered and headed off to the water park again!  Y met a little boy who was able to boost her confidence in the water and after that there was no holding her back!  I told B I would watch the girls if he wanted to do any of the big water slides, an offer he took me up on!  After he was done, he encouraged me to try it and assured me that it was just a smooth, calm ride down to the bottom - he LIED!  I was terrified, but I will admit I had a blast doing it.  We stayed for a couple hours before heading up to our room for lunch.  Immediately after lunch, B and Y were off again to the water park while I stayed behind to make sure Q had a good nap.  She ended up sleeping for 3½ hours but once she woke up she pointed to the door and said, "go pool!" Actually she began to say that any time we came back up to the room.  Regardless of what time it was she would always point to the door and say, "go pool!"  We returned back from dinner just in time to get upstairs, change into our PJs and enjoy our final night of story time.  Friday was a bit more crowded than Thursday had been but it was still pretty deserted.

On Saturday we had to check out of our room at 11pm but we were allowed to use the water park until it closed at 9pm.  We didn't end up staying that late, we ended up leaving around 6pm because we still had to stop for dinner and then make the 2½ hour drive home.  Saturday was notably crowded, in fact I told B that it's not a place I'd care to visit during the summer months for that exact reason - there were just too many people.  But part of that could be attributed to the fact that they had recently run a special on Groupon which many people had apparently taken advantage of.

It was an awesome weekend and something that we will definitely be doing again,  In fact Y is constantly asking us when we are going back to Ohio or Great Wolf Lodge.  Even I must admit that I can't wait to go back, they have so many kid and family friendly activities that we didn't get to take advantage of!

At story time this scene "comes alive" to tell the story of a little boy lost and afraid in the forest.

They were getting ready for Christmas while we were there.

All the kids loved banging on this drum/table

I meant to take a photo of the finished product before we left but forgot the camera was already packed away.  This gingerbread house is built using a wood frame but everything you can see is edible.  He had been working on it since September!  I was able to taste the icing he was using and it was actually delicious.  He told me that the candy canes that you see on the side are actually mint flavored.  He told me I could taste if I wanted but didn't advise it since He had done that part a month prior - I took his word for it.  haha

 

After storytime with Wiley the Wolf

This was Thursday, as you can see it was pretty deserted!

October (Quick and Dirty Recap)

Before I get to the actual post, I just have to say that I'm so far behind in posts that it'll take me a few days to catch up.  Bare with me!


This fall we were really able to enjoy all the perks of having a second car!  I signed Y up for several of the free programs offered at our local library and many of them she was able to do with a friend from church.  We started with a story time one day a week and another program called Music & Movement.  She wasn't a big fan of just sitting during story time but she loved Music and Movement which incorporates singing and dancing in with story time.

They also offer several seasonal activities at the library, I signed her up to attend a Halloween/Trick or Treat activity at the library that she was able to do with her friend E.  They were able to dress up in costume and go around to different locations in the library and were given many non-candy treats.

We were also able to spend a day out with friends from church.  We went to Wolcott Farm where they were able to see all the different farm animals.  Y is not at all a fan of barns so any animals that were inside them she didn't really care to see.  After walking around the farm for a bit we sat down for a quick bag lunch before heading over to Blake's Cider Mill.  I've lived in Michigan for 7 years and had never been to one so it was a real treat for me as well.  We were able to see how the cider is made from start to finish as well as buy some of their yummy apple goodies (apple donuts, apple cider, and an apple cider slushy).  They also have a little carnival type activity there for the young kids but we didn't venture to that part of the property.  It was a great day and boy did it tire us out!

We had a rather large and unwelcomed guest come visit us on our balcony this month as well.  It was my first time seeing a Praying Mantis in person and it scared me quite a bit.  So much so that our beautiful pumpkins (posted above) never made it outside.  It wandered around our balcony for a couple days and then it just rested above the sliding door wall that leads in from our bedroom.  It stayed there through the freezing cold.  It stayed there through the wind and rain of Hurricane Sandy.  So naturally I assumed it was dead, though I still refused to go out on the balcony.  One day when the in-laws came to visit I sent my father-in-law out to remove it's dead body (B also refused to go near the thing).  Turns out, the sucker wasn't dead after all!  I was so very glad that I didn't go out there!  My FIL ended up sweeping it off the balcony into the grass and from there I don't know what happened to it - nor do I care!

I'm going to lose my Mother of the Year Award again this year.  Even with my best intentions I didn't get a really good photo of both girls in their Halloween costumes.  The only half-decent photos were 2 I quickly snapped at our church Halloween party when I went to get them dressed in their costumes.  Halloween night was a mad rush and to top it off it was rainy.  Y spent the majority of the night crying that she was cold and wet and wanted to go indoors.  Q was a pretty good sport about it though, she just road along in the stroller making no sounds at all.

Super Girl

Baby Lamb



Stoney Creek Metropark

After we returned from vacation we received a call from some friends that they were heading to Stoney Creek Metropark on that Friday afternoon and they were inviting a few friends to join them.  Since B was still on vacation from work and we were just relaxing at home we decided we'd join them.

We had an awesome time with great friends, great fun and great conversation.  We are so fortunate to have such great friends here in Michigan, it really makes being so far from my family a little easier.

A beautiful sunset made it even more perfect!

Playtime

Q does not like to be left out!  No matter what the activity is she finds a way to work herself into it, and I love it!  Y is okay with it most times but it depends on the activity. 

Recently Y has really started to spend a lot of time coloring which she likes to do while laying on the floor.  The problem with that is that Q is always rolling around on the floor (she's starting to attempt to get on her knees now too) and she always works herself over to wherever Y happens to be.  Q will then start grabbing the crayons, markers and the coloring book until Y will eventually get frustrated and move somewhere else.  It'll take Q a while but she always eventually works her way over to Y's new location and it all starts up again!  It can be very entertaining to watch.

So tonight when Y asked to play her ABC board game with me I sat down on the floor with her and gave Q a different toy to play with.  But as evidenced by the photos below she was not interested in  that toy at all - she wanted to play with us!  She was surprisingly gentle with everything and didn't even try to put anything in her mouth.  After watching us move the pieces around the board she started trying it as well.  She's very perceptive and never misses a beat, that's for sure!

Fun with Uncle L.!

Uncle L came to visit with Nana B. and Grandpa P.  He really enjoys playing with the girls and I was able to take some really cute photos with him playing around with Q.  We tried to call Y over to play and take a picture too but she said she was busy doing something else!  Yes, that's really what she said...she's quite the character!

One look at these pictures and we definitely know where the eyes come from!



Trick or Treat Trail

This year we heard about an event called the Trick or Treat Trail which is put on each year by the township in which we live.  They have different characters to come and the kids are allowed to hug them and take pictures of them, neither of which Y wanted to do but she agreed with Elmo and Big Bird.  She agreed to stand in front of Dora, Diego and boots in order for us to get a picture but that was about it.  They give the kids a Halloween bag to collect the goodies in and then they follow the trail to each station.  At those Stations they are given candy or little trinkets, most of it is little trinkets which I prefer seeing as she'll be getting more than enough candy next week.  You have to pre-register your child and it cost $8.50 and at the end they get to pick their own little pumpkin.  Even though Y didn't really want to interact too much with the characters she said she had a lot of fun and has been talking about all the different characters she got to see.  B is going to help her carve her little pumpkin tomorrow so she's pretty excited about that as well.  Below you will find some of the pictures.

Q before and after.  She fell asleep about 5-10 minutes in.

Here's our little Tinkerbell!  I think she and B look adorable in their photo together.

She's not too crazy about any of these characters though she recognized them all aside from the Monsters Inc. guy and Big Boy.  She actually asked if Big Boy was the 3 Little Pig's Daddy.

Strawberry Shortcake and a few Disney life-size character boards

Big Bird, Elmo, Snuffie, Bert & Ernie.  These were the first characters she actually interacted with.

Aside from the Dora crew and Blue she's not really familiar with any of these other characters.

Here she is posing for a photo at the end of the trail, picking out her pumpkin with B and a photo of all the goodies.

Surprise! Grandma Pays A Visit.

Ever since Dr. L gave us a gift I had been thinking of a way to return the favor.  One of the biggest things we have in common is our appreciation for barbecue (or pulled pork as most people outside of NC or surrounding states call it).  So I set out on a mission to have it shipped overnight from one of NC's best barbecue joints.  Unfortunately my parent's favorite place, which just happens to be, arguably, one of the best in the state would only ship a minimum of 5 pounds and that would cost just under $100 (the overnight shipping and packaging is the bulk of that price because BBQ is generally pretty cheap).  Well as much as I like my doctor I'm not about to spend $100 on him!  So I started looking elsewhere and was about to order it when another option was presented.

Apparently my uncle has a friend who, though originally from NC where he currently lives used to live here in the Detroit area.  Said friend has a grandson who still lives in Detroit but had spent the summer visiting in NC with his granddad.  Well he was scheduled to bring his grandson back over the Labor Day weekend so that he could start school, after being asked he agreed that he would drive a little farther than Detroit and drop some BBQ off to me at my house.  I, of course, thought this was the perfect solution.  That is until the next day when I found out that my mom would not only be coming with him to drop the BBQ off but would be staying from Thursday until Tuesday (Sept. 1-6)!  It was perfect!  She would get to meet Baby Q for the first time, be here for Y's 3rd birthday, and give me some much needed help, plus - after having a baby a girl could really use her mom around!

It was awesome having my mom around for a few days!  And I was so very happy that she got to meet and spend time with Q while she's still so new, even if only for a few days.  The next time she'll get to see her she will probably crawling or walking around and not want to be held by anyone for long periods of time.  Y also really enjoyed having my mom here.  One of the gifts given to Y for her birthday was a Dora paper doll book which has paper doll versions of Dora and Boots as well as like 40 different outfits.  My mom has always loved paper dolls!  She used to buy them and we'd sit and play with them when we were kids. So I thought it was really neat that she got to share that experience with her granddaughter.  The only bad part about the visit was having to say goodbye, but the joy of having her here greatly outweighs the sadness of seeing her go.

The entire time she was here I had the intention of taking lots of photos but when you have a super fussy baby who seems to want to nurse constantly it can tend to change even your best intention.  But I did manage to take a few pictures just before she left on Tuesday morning.