March Snow

As it so often does, we had a late winter snow storm today to give Allison one last chance to play in her happy place!  After gymnastics, Ally and I packed up and went down to Gram and Pop-Pop's, where Gabriel was settling in to play. After a quick lunch Allison declared it was time to play in the snow.

Gabriel didn't have his snowsuit, but I had planned for that by throwing Allison's old one in my bag.  We all bundled up and headed outside, into the cold wet snow.  Allison and Pop Pop got right to work making a snow man.

Gabriel got right to work filling his dump truck with snow.



















I got right to work supervising it all.

Allison didn't like the idea of a snowman with stones for eyes, so she insisted on strawberries.  The finished snowman looked pretty good, for a while!  They were so proud of their work!

It was a lot of fun, but finally the cold wet crew was convinced to come inside for some hot cocoa!  Look at those cheeks!

Disney On Ice

Today we enjoyed the Disney on Ice show.  Winter cold season has hit our house hard, and John is down with a bad cold.  Gram went with us to see the show. 

Allison learned to enjoy cotton candy, which came with this silly hat!

Crafting with Mac

Trying to avoid germs this winter, and indoor day of play and crafts!

Color Me Mine

Today's Mac and Ally day plan was to go to Color Me Mine and do some pottery painting.  Allison put her own flair on an ice cream cone, mixing the brown and pink.

 Mac did a great job on his cotton candy ice cream cone.

 Afterwards, we had lunch and Ally enjoyed sitting with Emme.

We all enjoyed the day, I'd like to try to paint something myself!

Gabriel's Third Birthday

Gabriel and family blowing out the candles for his third birthday!

Pre-Christmas trip to Great Wolf Lodge in the Pocanoes

This week we took a pre-Christmas vacation to Great Wolf Lodge in the Pocanoes in nearby Pennsyltucky.  We had told Allison we were going to go away on a vacation, but we had not quite explained to her that we were going to a giant indoor water park, and that she'd be sleeping in a bunk bed.  She was thrilled with both!  When she first walked in to the room, she was very sad that there was no bed for her... it took her a moment to realize that she had a "wolf den" room to herself, with bunk beds.  She climbed that ladder over and over, but in the end slept on the bottom bunk each night.

The lobby was all decorated up for the Christmas season, beautiful.

 
And has a gorgeous stone fireplace.

We didn't take pictures inside the actual water park, and this one really doesn't do it justice. It was really awesome, with everything from mini water slides to the great big one (which John enjoyed) and a medium sized one the whole family tried!  The first time, Allison came down face first, and immediately said she wanted to go again.  On the first day she didn't like the "ocean area" - the waves were too strong for her, but the 2nd day she enjoyed that too!  John particularly enjoyed tricking me into walking under an full bucket of water, and pulling the rope....

Santa visited the Lodge while we were there.

Each evening in the lobby, the clock tower puts on a show and all of the little ones gather round to see. 

The first night Ally was a little reserved and sat with John.

The 2nd night, she found a spot for herself in the crowd,

and even stood for a better view. (Yes, I was upstairs to take this picture, but John was just out of camera view - can you find her?)

The show ends with snow falling in the lobby, a real wonder for the little ones.

After the show, it is time for story time around the huge stone fireplace.  The story is read by one of Santa's Elves, and Rowdy the Reindeer is by her side.  Look who is by Rowdy's side on the second evening....

And a follow up picture with Rowdy.

The other thing Ally enjoyed about the Lodge was her "magic wand".  The whole Lodge is set up with an interactive game where you go on quests and collect certain things.  Ally was too young for the actual quest, but she loved waving her magic wand and seeing the treasure chests open up!

 
We really had a great time.\

Visit with Santa 2012