Sunday, January 11, 2009

Great Wolf Lodge

We had a great time in Williamsburg at Great Wolf Lodge. If you've never been there, I highly recommend it, but it is quite pricey.
The kids and I drove down to Williamsburg yesterday morning and met up with Jonathan and his parents. We made our way over to the Lodge around 4:00. Once we checked in, we changed and went straight down to the waterpark. We were going to get our moneys worth! Owen loved the big slides and Logan was happy to float in the lazy river. Emma enjoyed just swimming and showing off her new swimming skills. We also enjoyed the wave pool. It was quite crowded when we first got there, but by 8:00 it had cleared out considerably. We stayed until 8:30 or so and headed back to the room. We finally made it out for dinner around 9:30. Needless to say, everyone was very tired and it was a long meal. We went to bed and when we woke up, we headed right back out for a few more hours of fun. We hit the arcade and headed home around lunch time.

I tried to take some pictures, but the lighting was very poor inside. I also don't have my computer yet, so I couldn't fix all of the photos. We took pictures with a waterproof camera, so when we have them developed, we should have some cute pictures. It was a lot of fun, but now I need a break from the weekend!















Thursday, January 8, 2009

Touching Base

Hey there...hope you are having a happy new year.

We are back to school and the crazy schedule. The kids are doing swimming lessons again, so every Monday and Wednesday we head to the pool right after school. The kids enjoy it and they are really improving. I want to keep them going and keep the momentum up.

Everybody has been grouchy going back to work and school this week. I think this week is harder than the beginning of the school year. Yuck! It doesn't help that we thought we might get a snow day this week...but as usual, the weather man gave us false hope. I hope it snows soon - it seems like forever since we had some snow to play in.

Jonathan and his parents headed to Williamsburg yesterday. Jonathan and his dad do a woodworking shop run through Colonial Williamsburg - every year. The kids and I are headed down on Saturday. We're going to meet up with them and then go to the Great Wolf Lodge. Emma has been there and had a blast, so we are looking forward to it. It will be a quick trip, but a lot of fun.

When we get back, we'll be preparing for Owen's birthday on Wednesday and his party next weekend. I will try to post pictures Sunday night. Have a great weekend!

Thursday, January 1, 2009

Pictures

Pictures from WilliamsburgLogan hitched a ride from Daddy.

I so badly wanted to leave them here! HA!
Memaw and the kids
Family Shot



Washington D.C. Pictures
You know it is cold when Owen is snuggling up to Emma for warmth!

Happy New Year!

We have been busy the past few days. We are having computer trouble, so I haven't been able to post anything. Jonathan was able to sign on to his computer, so I will try to post a few pictures later.

Last week, we went to Williamsburg to see all of the decorations. Memaw and Pepaw were down, so they went with us. It was a beautiful day and kids enjoyed walking around Colonial Williamsburg.

Yesterday we took the kids to the American History Museum in DC. We rode the metro - Logan's choice. He got up in the mornng and put on his Thomas train because we were "riding the train" - duh! It was quite precious. Anyways, I think the kids had more fun on the metro than anything. Owen would try to stand up without holding on. He only fell a few times - one time coming within inches of hitting his head on the bar - I don't know how we would have explained that one to the doctor! :) We always have high hopes for museums. I don't know when we will learn. Owen was really into it - almost too in to things. He is just like Jonathan. He could look at things forever!!! Emma and I are not as patient, and of course Logan had little to no interest - he just wanted to get back on he train. The museum was insanely crowded, so once we finally made it out of there, we headed next door to eat lunch at the Natural History Museum. (The American History museum just opened after being closed for 3 years and isn't completely finished). We dropped $70 on lunch for hot dogs and chicken fingers. Good thing the museums are free! Anyways, we walked back to the metro in 50 mph winds! It was so cold - especially compared to the 65 degree days we've been having. We got on the metro and headed home. Logan was happy again and Owen was back to his daredevil ways. Looking back, we DID have fun, although it didn't seem like it at the time. At least we can laugh at what morons we are! Ha! Ha! When the kids are older, we will take more advantage of all the wonderful things DC has to offer.

We had promised the kids that they could stay up late until midnight last night. So, we went out for a late dinner to help keep them awake. We came home and did our confetti poppers and got ready for the new year. They managed to drive us crazy every second of the evening - what were we thinking?! We had confetti strewn from one end of the house to the other and Owen was totally out of control! Emma was happy to watch the Jonas Brothers on Dick Clark's Rockin' New Years Eve and Logan was the most subdued out of all of them. He couldn' stand all of the confetti, so he got out the dust buster and tried to clean it up - what a good boy! Anyways, the new year came in and the kids were like..."that's it?!" and we were like "yeah...now go to bed!!!" We finally got them settled around 12:30 and decided they would not be staying up late next year! Jonathan and I like our quiet time.

This morning, Logan was up at 7:30 - guess he didn't want to sleep in. We've had a pretty lazy day. One funny story - just don't tell Emma I told it - she and Jonathan were working on her pine wood derby car and she went upstairs to look for something. Next thing I know, she was screaming...I mean like somebody was dead screaming!!! I heard bump, bump, bump and the screaming continued. Then Owen joined in the screaming and at this point, I was really scared. She couldn't stop screaming long enough to tell me what was wrong. I thought one of the cats was dead - she finally got it out that somebody was in the boys' room. I slowly walked up the stairs - scared out of my mind - to see a concerned Logan standing at the top of the stairs trying to see what was going on. I did what every concerned mother would do - I laughed my head off! I laughed so hard, I couldn't stop crying. She says she hurt her ankles when she jumped from the top step - and I still couldn't stop laughing. Luckily Jonathan had a little sympathy while I composed myself. So...if you ever need an actress to do some screaming for you...call Emma!

One more bit of good news - Dad is home! He came home yesterday and the thing he is happiest about - he gets to watch Penn State in the Rose Bowl. He did very well and he admits that it is going to be a long road ahead...but I am so proud of him. I just can't wait until we get to see him and celebrate. Way to go Dad!

Wishing you all a happy and healthy new year!

Thursday, December 25, 2008

One More Picture

Oops...somehow I forgot to add this picture. I think it is my favorite from all of them. They had just put out their cookies for Santa. Why can't they always get along like this?

Merry Christmas!

We hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas. We have had a wonderful few days. Yesterday we went and saw Santa and we made gingerbread houses. We went to the Machis for dinner last night and then came home and prepared for Santa. Emma was up before the sun this morning and couldn't wait to wake up her brothers. We held them off until 7:15 or so and then there was no holding them back. Emma and Owen both got the DS that they wanted and Logan got his Lego table (along with many other things!) Memaw and Pepaw came down last night and spent the day with us. We made a turkey and all the fixings for lunch and just enjoyed the kids playing and getting along all day. Tomorrow we're headed off to Williamsburg to see the decorations. Happy Holidays! Enjoy a few of the Kodak moments from the past few days.

We always spend Christmas Eve with the Machis - ever since we stopped traveling to PA for Christmas. We had a delicious dinner and the kids always have fun together. Emma and Tyler are 11 months apart, Owen and Grace are 10 days apart and Logan and Nolan are the babies of the bunch. They all get a long so well.Emma was a bit frustrated making her gingerbread house. It only fell apart a few times - Daddy had to condemn it!
I loved her Santa hanging out of the chimney.
Owen and his gingerbread house - icing everywhere!
Logan posing with his house.
Emma and the final product.
The kids posing with their finished houses.
Getting ready to open their gifts from each other on Christmas Eve.The kids in their new PJs - ready for Santa.Christmas morning - Logan was not thrilled to have his picture taken. He just wanted to go downstairs!

Mommy and Logan

Monday, December 22, 2008

Christmas in PA

We had a wonderful weekend in PA - quick, but nice. We celebrated with the McElwains on Saturday and enjoyed spending time with Connor and Maisie. We had a delicious lunch and had lots of fun opening presents. On Sunday we headed up to Cara and Nathan's to celebrate with the Herseys. The kids woke up to a dusting of snow and you would have thought it was a blizzard. We didn't get much snow last year in VA, so they were excited to play outside. I hope we get at least one good storm this winter. I bought those snow boots last year and they were never worn. I think we can squeeze their little feet into them for one more season!!!! Anyways, we had a great time with the Hersey's. After a wonderful day there, we headed back to VA. It was a quick trip, but Jonathan had to get back to work. The kids and I are enjoying our winter vacation already. We cleaned and made room for more toys today. Tomorrow, we plan on baking cookies.

Dad is doing great. He finished detox and is now headed for rehab. He is still positive and Mom says that he's taking classes and is doing well. We missed him at Christmas, but we know we'll have a chance to celebrate when he is through. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers. We appreciate it more than you know!

Check out the dusting of snow - they don't ask for much!
Connor and Logan...best buds!
The kids waiting to open presents at Uncle Nathan's.
Emma with Maisie and Madison. She is drawn to her little cousins.Logan with his Thomas set from Uncle Brett and Aunt Katie. He was in heaven.
A great shot of the McElwain cousins.