Great Wolf Lodge

For another surprise for Larry for his birthday I planned a surprise get away to the Great Wolf Lodge. I called his boss to get the time scheduled off and booked it. I even erased my email confirming the reservation (after I printed my stuff) Then a week later they sent another confirmation and Larry saw it on the email! So my surprise was half ruined... but we did not tell the kids what was up. Wednesday morning I got the kids up and started getting them ready for "school" (I packed all the stuff the day before and hid it in the back of the car). I told them school was starting late because of a maintenance issue... (is it wrong that I totally lied...) Anyway I told them I would drive them (they usually ride their bikes). They all got in the car (Larry left ahead of us dropping the dog at a friends house.) Then I drove passed the school. They were a little freaked out. Mom you passed it. I told them oh well maybe we will do something fun instead, what do you want to do? Amelia was pretty worried, her teacher would miss her she missed her teacher and "I need to learn!!!" So I kept driving to Larry's work and we picked him up. Then the kids looked in the back and saw the bags, the started guessing. We kept making new stories up. We said lets stay the night at OMSI, we pass OMSI. They all yell Hey you passed it!!! Then we say Oh lets go to Seattle, well go to the Space needle... Then we get to the Great Wolf Lodge and you can see it from the Freeway. Larry told all the kids LOOK! They started screaming sooooo excited! It was so funny! They loved the surprise and it was so much fun making it a surprise. I could hardly sleep the night before I was so excited. (If you can't tell I love surprises!!!)
They were so funny the whole way there. The would guess where we were going and they would say things like, hey there is a car following us that is suspicious, they laughed so hard when they opened Larry's lunch box and found toothbrushes and deodorant (my way of pretending things are normal by packing a lunch for Larry and not letting them see me pack last minute things in there.) I laughed a lot the whole way there they were so funny! It was so worth it they had so much fun and it was the best birthday ever (or so I like to say) for Larry. His birthday was Thursday! It was so much fun I may plan more adventures as surprises!!!

You can't tell from this photo but Ruth had a blast!!! She was so good when she would get tired she would just fall asleep with Larry or I holding her. I truly was surprised at how well she handled it and loved the whole thing!

Ethan coming out of the wave pool! Surfer boy!

Another one of those fun floating things to climb on!

The giant bucket of water!!!

We loved this cool snake. It floats and is anchored down so it doesn't float away. Larry and I wished we could cut the rope and put it on the top of the car. We would love to take it on vacation to the lake!!! Our kids had a great time on this thing!

We called this pool the Lily pad pond. It was a huge pool that had these fun lily pad's to walk across, plus some other fun things to climb on and play on.

This was one of little kid areas. The water starts really shallow and only gets to be about 2 feet deep. Hayden and Ruth LOVED this area. (Although so did Brock and Amelia!) Ruth would walk around and climb on everything she could. It was so cute! She didn't even mind all the stuff that sprays water in your face. She would just shake her head and wipe her face with a smile.

This is the wave pool. The waves don't run all the time. They start and stop with 5-10 min breaks in between. It is amazing how fast they start and stop. It was a lot of fun and we spent quite a bit of time in there. All my kids loved it, even Ruth. Hayden didn't so much at the beginning, but grew to love it!

This is a piece of the water park. That giant bucket at the top fills up with water and dumps. It does it pretty often. I would guess about ever 5 minutes or so. It was pretty awesome. That whole structure has things to dump water with, and 2 fun water slides from the top!

The kids by the clock tower. They have a fun story time here just before bed time. My kids all thought it was fun, but Ruth LOVED it. She had caught a second wind by then and would squeal with excitement every time one of the characters moved, talked, sang! IT was sooo cute (her more then the show!)

Hayden playing in the fountain by the wave pool. She loved the fountains, (ok she loved all of it except for the slides)! She doesn't go on slides even at home.

Valentine's Dinner

Every year for Valentine's Day I make an all red dinner. It had become a fun little tradition in our home. I don't always do the same food, but I do try to stick to things that are more naturally red to avoid to much food coloring!

 

 

 

So this year it was stuffed shells, with marinara sauce, garlic bread, cherry Jello, beats, and 7up!

 

I die the butter pink and then make the garlic bread with it so the bread will be red/ pink as well. Some years we have had strawberry milk, this year we had cherry 7up. The kids loved this addition!
Every night at dinner we go around the table and say what our best and worst part of the day is. (This is helping my kids talk about their day, take turns and listen to each other, it has helped a ton with manners!) Anyway for Valentines I thought we would change it up to make it special. We went around the table and took turns saying something that we love about each member of our family. Ruth was totally rude and didn't say she loved anyone... but I think we know regardless! It was nice to hear each of them say nice things about each other and I think they each really liked feeling loved by all the others.

Surprise!!!

So Larry turns 35 on Thursday! He and I have had some long talks lately about our childhoods and things we have done and have never done. I found that my husband has NEVER had a birthday party. The year he turned 31 we went out to dinner with a few friends and I think that is the closest he has ever been... anyway I thought this was the year and he needed a party!!! So I called up all our friends and they came through. We met at this great pizza place in West Salem and they surprised him. I love that it actually was a surprise and he wasn't suspiciouse! We had pizza, his favorite cake (German CHocolate!) and played pin the tale on the Donkey. I wanted a pinata and a few other games but I thought the pizza place might not appreciate it... It was a lot of fun though. Happy Birthday sweetie! More surprises await you!!!

Look what I can Do!

Ruth has a new trick!!!
I can hardly believe that my baby is doing this. I realize that she is 16 months old and yes she should be doing this but I really just want her to stay a baby as long as possible. She is still very small and I am glad for that... but it is just flying by. Today I was sitting thinking about the fact that in 4 months she will be the same age my other 2 girls were when they potty trained... I don't think they make panties small enough for her, let alone the fact that she can barely even see over the toilet seat! CRAZY! Stay little little one!

Rapunzel Party!

Amelia wanted a Rapunzel birthday party... So this is the cake I came up with.

Brock made Amelia this cute little scrapbook for her birthday. It is all pictures of him and her.


Amelia wanted an Easy bake oven for her birthday. She LOVES it and has been baking away! She even did tiny pizzas on Friday night! FUN!

I don't know if you can tell from this last picture but Amelia lost her top two teeth (on her birthday!) She looks so cute!

Look Who's 7!!!!

My sweet girl is 7 already. It seems so hard to believe! The time seems to have flown by! We are so blessed to have Amelia in our family! She fills our home with love and joy! She is such a good sister. She loves to help with Ruth and Ruth just adores her. Today when I took Amelia lunch at school we sat with her and Ruth just kept hugging and kissing Amelia. Amelia is not only a wonderful sister to the baby but to everyone. She loves to help Hayden, and "trick" her into doing what ever it is that mommy has asked, she is one of Brock's best friends and they can play for hours with out an argument! She also looks up to her biggest brother and tries to help him out when she can as well. She loves to help me and quiet a bit lately she will come to me and ask what she can do to help just for no reason at all. She works hard at being a good girl, is a great student and is doing well in school. She truly is kind to everyone. I love this girl and hope she is always as sweet, kind, thoughtful, and fun to be with. She loves to dance, sing, and play. I love getting to spend time with her just one on one because she is so much fun. I am a lucky momma to have her! She is also very beautiful and I hear her daddy say that quiet often. He says it to me quite a bit even when Amelia can't hear him. He sure loves his little girl as well!