Grapevine Vacation!!!!

Last weekend was our family vacation to Grapevine, TX. It's a good 5 hour drive for us from the coast and I was dreading the drive. Long drives drive me crazy!!!!!!!!

LONG post ahead...beware!!!

On Thursday afternoon, we drove an hour to Houston and checked into our hotel for the night since we had plans there that night. We took the children to dinner at the hotel restaurant, which was one of the nicest restaurants our children have ever been to. They behaved PERFECTLY. After dinner, we ran upstairs to change into nicer clothes to go to the symphony.

That's right...we took our boys to the symphony. The Bugs Bunny Symphony to be exact. We had a great time listening to the orchestra play music as the cartoons flashed on the screen.

The next morning, we loaded up bright and early to get on the road. We stopped in Huntsville, home of my husband's college, Sam Houston State University, and visited the Sam Houston Memorial.

This was actually really fun and very educational. The kids posed by a replica of Sam Houston's head....

and we took pictures by the full statue.

The memorial center gave us stickers and lots of really interesting pamphlets we discussed on the next leg of the trip.

By noon, we were checking into our hotel for the next 4 days...GREAT WOLF LODGE!!!!! This place is amazing!!! I highly, HIGHLY recommend it.

We grabbed some pizza while we waited for our room to be ready. This room was awesome!!! It had a separate little log cabin room with bunks and a flat screen for the kids :)

We toured the hotel, mapped out all the places we wanted to visit, and started MagiQuest...a treasure hunt that takes place on all 8 floors of the hotel.

Caleb and Jansen got an activity book with 10 quests, each with riddles to artifacts that had to be found IN ORDER. We learned the "in order" part the hard way after going 5 flights of stairs thinking we had completed the quest.

The boys had to take a brief break from becoming Magi to take a trip to Medieval Times. The hubs and I had never been there and we all agreed that it was our FAVORITE part of the trip. We were transported back to medieval days with crowns and drinks, and led into our Red Knight row. They gave us red flags so that we could cheer on the famous Red Knight. The food was completely delicious and we all had the BEST time.

Saturday morning we got up early to restart MagiQuest until time to head to Lego Land. Really, really fun! Caleb made a Lego race car that won its race, Jansen made a replica of the Great Wolf Lodge, we saw miniatures of Dallas made of Legos, rode the Lego ride and shot at the bad guys, watched the 4D movie and got pelted with icy cold snow, and shopped in the official Lego Store.

Across the street from Lego Land was the Sea Life Aquarium....which we hit up next.

Very disappointing for the adults. They only let in a certain amount of people at a time and you had to go through each exhibit in a line...not so much at your own pace. The kids enjoyed it so that is all that mattered.

We spent the rest of the day at GWL Water Park!!! This place is amazing!!!! We all went down the 3 story twisty slides on inner tubes and had a blast. The hubs had rented a cabana for that day...the first time we had ever been in one. It had a tv, a loaded mini fridge, a table we played cards at, and a fan!

They keep it 84 degrees in the park at all times. The boys were swimming in the lazy river and the wave pool for the rest of the day. Way, way fun!

Sunday morning we woke up, grabbed some breakfast at the buffet,

and headed to the Vintage Railroad for a trip to the Fort Worth Stockyards.

We were in a Victorian train car with an attendant that gave the kids chips and popcorn.

On the way to the stockyards, the train was robbed.

Thank goodness the Sheriff came to make all the children on board deputies.

Once we got to Fort Worth, we shopped and ate some delicious food at Riscky's BBQ.

Once back at the hotel, we continued the MagiQuest, and then swam until the staff had to kick us out. MagiQuest was completed!!!! 89 flights of stairs and 3 days of playing and the kids finally completed the quest and became Master Magi. This is their team...Mario and Sonic...on TV.

They were so proud!

Monday we took our time playing at the hotel

and then took the long drive home. The boys were so good and the hubs and I agreed that this was our most fun, successful family vacation yet! What a blast!!!!

Sprinkle Muffins

My crazy picky eater Caleb is...well...picky. Mad picky. Crazy picky. Wicked picky. Super picky. The pickiest. He hates cheese in any form other than sausage and cheese kolaches and cheese on pizza. He will only eat peanut butter on toast folded over, and NOT even on toasted peanut butter sandwiches. So through trial and error, we have found that it is not often the food, it is the presentation.

I take that back. Many times it is the food. He has an unbelievable gag reflex that we don't really need to discuss right now. But along with Autism comes major food issues.

One thing the child will eat without fail.....MUFFINS!!!! I can put ANYTHING into a muffin and he will eat it. Veggies, spices, fruits, you name it. During the school year, he lives on them in his lunch.

So while we were on vacation (post to come tomorrow) he found blueberry muffins (his favorite muffin although he HATES blueberries) with "crunchy thingies" on it. He didn't realize it until he already put it on his plate from the buffet. The crunchy thingies were sugar sprinkles!!!!!!!!! WHAT???!!!

Why didn't I think of that???!!!

What a fun way to get the kids involved and add something special when muffins get boring!

Today we made some with these....

Ok, so I know. I am a sprinkle hoarder. I own it. Much like bacon and chocolate, sprinkles make everything better.

Easy! Prepare your muffins however you wish....homemade from scratch or using a mix. Today I used a mix because I had some in the pantry.

Let your kids add sprinkles to top off the mix to add a little color when it is baked.

Then add MORE sprinkles just before they come out of the oven if you wish. . They are for the kids, right?????

Enjoy the muffins of your labor!!!!

Shrinky Dinkin'

We received the Creativity for Kids Shrinky Dink Monster Lab that I won from Ginger Snaps and couldn't wait to get started!

Each boy picked out a few pieces to color...plus mom had to get in on the action. Somehow I feel 7 again!!!

Our creations before...

And after....

And set up....

These are super cool and super easy. I think Santa may be bringing my kids another set of these!!!

The new pool....

Boy, I love this pool, and I love my husband. My sweet hubby has worked so hard leveling our ground, setting the pool up all by himself, filling, putting the pump together and getting all the chemicals just right. We took our first swim in it last week before we left for vacation.

Let me paint this picture for you..

Cool, breezy night in South Texas. Some tunes from our ipod playing on the outdoor speakers. Clear night sky full of twinkling stars. Children nestled sweetly in their beds. The hubs and I relaxing in the pool.

It was so peaceful. The kids were able to jump in the next day and take a quick swim and this pool has been deemed a HUGE HIT!!!

The backyard is a total mess, full of wires, hoses, and dirt, but we will figure out how to integrate it into the yard soon. The main thing was...get this pool up ASAP because the 100 + degree heat was killing us!!!

If you can't have an in-ground pool....this one is the next best thing!!!

Intex rectangular pool-24X12X52 inches....Target special. Two enthusiastic thumbs up!!!

Update

Good news. My uncle's funeral was beautiful, my dad's heart is ok, and my mother in law is recuperating at home after her fall off the horse.

My dad was using Aleve to help reduce some knee pain that has lingered after a knee replacement. The doctor at the hospital informed us that chronic use could lead to liver or heart failure and that his chest pain was likely a result of this. He has since discontinued his use and is now slowly on the mend.

My mother in law took a nasty fall off a horse, and broke her wrist and pelvis. Luckily no surgery was needed and she is recovering at home. We visited her today and she seems tired and bruised, but is in good spirits.

In other happenings, we have our pool set up, we took our vacation, and we have some cool kids projects in the works. Blogging will resume this week now that everything is settling down!!! I have missed checking out everyone's blogs and can't wait to get reading and writing.

and now

And now my father has been taken to the hospital and admitted for his heart. On the way to take my uncle back home, my father in law called and said my mother in law had been bucked off a horse and was headed to the other hospital.

We are headed to each hospital....mother in law has a broken pelvis and wrist. My dad has something with his heart.....

So I am taking a blogging break. We were supposed to go on vacation tomorrow anyway, but I don't know if that will happen. We have already had to cancel one trip this summer because of my uncle...

My family needs all the prayers it can get right now. And if you don't pray, could you at least think good thoughts for us. This is a lot to handle right now.