Gaylord Texan ICE

Jason was able to visit Green Bay this year for the Cowboys vs Packers game. Since he would be gone for the weekend, I wanted to do something fun with the kids. Somehow, Nana and I decided the Gaylord Texan would be "fun."

We invited my aunts and Cooper's cousins to go along with us for the trip. While I did have fun on the trip, I'm still traumatized a bit. Saturday started much earlier than planned when Caitlin woke up crying. Her crying woke up Cooper, who was very excited and way too excited to go back to sleep.

Our first stop of the morning was Buc-ee's for breakfast. Cooper went to his own stall in the bathroom and we quickly realized the door knob was broken. Buc-ee's is known for their clean bathrooms and the fantastic feature that the doors go almost to the ground. Which means little kids can't crawl under them. I quickly grabbed a manager who tried to open the door. Soon, half of the bathroom was closed and there were 6 employees trying to rescue Cooper.

After 5 minutes, I asked for a hammer. After 20 minutes I insisted they start using the hammer to break the door knob off of the door or I would be finding my own sledgehammer and I would be happy to do it myself. It was right about that time I walked out to call Jason and one of the employees DID actually beat the door knob off of the door. Strike two for the morning.

We managed to finally gather our breakfast at Buc-ee's and make our way to meet the rest of the crew. Thankfully, the remainder of the drive went well and I made it to the hotel without any detours.

We spent the afternoon exploring the resort and putting the kids down for a nap. We tried to cut the naps short, but Aly & Caitlin were not really fans of that. After waking them up, it took a while to convince the two of them that dinner was a good choice. But, they finally agreed.

We finished dinner and walked around the hotel a bit more. Cooper would only get this close to Santa.

 

Cooper wanted to do the Elf on the Shelf Scavenger Hunt, and I promised that if he napped we would do it together. After dinner, we went to explore the ICE area and pick up our Scavenger Hunt book. With dinner in her belly, Caitlin was finally in a better mood.

 

Getting a photo of these 4 was going to be impossible.

 

We finally made our way back to the room so that the girls could take a bath and get ready for bed. Cooper and I headed out to find the Elf's around the hotel and figure out their names. I have to say, that was one of my most favorite times of the weekend. 

 

Once back in the room, the kids finished watched their movie and started to wind down. I found myself really happy the Gaylord has upgraded to the new Marriott TVs that are equipped with Netflix. We were able to find a kids movie for them to watch with ease.

 

The next morning, we started with breakfast and a quick photo shoot.

The aunts took Brielle to stand in line for ICE while we grabbed some pics of the kids. And realized it was much harder than it was worth.

This is what Caitlin wanted to do most:

Santa went on a break to the North Pole, so we took the opportunity to borrow his chair.

 

Then, Caitlin decided to run for a touchdown.

 We finally gave up and made our way toward ICE.

 

I'm pretty sure Cooper had just taken Brielle's paci away from her.

 The sisters tried to take a photo together without the kids, but the girls were NOT having that.

 

After what seemed like a really long morning, we were finally able to make our way into ICE. Everyone bundled up in our parkas, and we were off. 

 

It was cold. Somewhere along the way, Caitlin's mittens went missing. I worried the entire time about her hands being cold. The kids mostly seemed to enjoy the ice slide. Cooper was off on his own, going down again & again without hesitation. Caitlin was supposed to only go down the kids slide, but kept going past the workers to make her way down the slide for bigger kids. I laughed at the workers trying to get her to go back, only to finally send her down the slide anyway.

 

This was the point where Caitlin realized she was cold and she stomped her feet, yelling "I WANT MY NANA." The. End.

We exited the ICE Exhibit and rested in the activity room. Nana had promised Cooper he could snow tube. He loved it!

After all of the fun, we finally headed back home. The trip home wasn't the best - apparently it rained quite a bit Saturday night and flooded some roads in Dallas, causing a detour. Then, about an hour and a half from home, Caitlin had a "stomach ache" and we had to pull over so that I could completely change her clothes. That was pretty well the icing on the cake. The adults were laughing to the point of tears, Cooper was crying real tears because of the awful smell, and Adalynn was the most unhelpful flashlight holder ever who seemed to not care at all that Caitlin was covered in...gross. Trying to change a diaper through tears is hard.

Overall, ICE was fun and I enjoyed spending time with the family, but I am not sure how much fun I had. I can say I won't go again on a Saturday - it was insanely crowded at the hotel and crowds with little kids is stressful. I'd love to go when it was less crowded.

Happy Birthday, Cooper!

Almost three weeks after his birthday, saying I have a 6 year old still doesn't exactly sound right. Plus, to me, 6 doesn't mean much. 5 meant he could go to kindergarten. 6...is just a number.

Cooper would not agree.

We started the morning with his requested birthday cake pancakes. Funny enough, he asked for them and thought I would be making them the day of his party. Even at 6, it can still be confusing when your party isn't on your birthday!

After breakfast, Jason & Cooper walked to school. Jason had volunteered to be the Watch Dog Dad for the day and was able to spend most of the day with Cooper. I joined them for lunch and learned that Cooper was VERY excited about his dad joining them, according to his teacher.

After school, Pops came to pick the guys up and they went shopping for new boots. Cooper has outgrown the ones he just got in March. Caitlin should never need boots at this age! We met Nana, Aunt Sassy, Uncle A and Rachel for dinner at Chuy's before coming home to unwrap a few gifts.

I say this every year, but I can't believe how old he is. And how quickly time flies by. Cooper still loves Star Wars, super heroes and dinosaurs. He wants to play outside often and is really enjoying his new basketball goal. He loved playing baseball and soccer and can't wait for basketball games to start.

Cooper is really loving school. I kept thinking as the months went on he would start to complain about it, but we might be in the clear. He's learning quite a bit and seems to be strengthening the skills he had. I love hearing him read and seeing the work he brings home.

He's extremely funny. Even his teacher has commented on how funny he can be. He is constantly making up jokes, and Santa was nice enough to bring some real joke books for Christmas. I can't wait to see what the next year brings.

Cooper's 6th Birthday Party

After attending Eileen's party earlier this year at a local swimming club, we decided that would be a great option for Cooper - and a nice break in the middle of winter!

Cooper decided a Justice League theme for the party and was insistent from the beginning that he wanted a cake, not cupcakes. We searched Pinterest for ideas and selected our top choice. Jason & I worked on the cake and cookies over the week leading into the party. Overall, I'm really happy with how the cake turned out!

The kids had so much fun swimming! Caitlin was fearless, as usual, and did not hesitate to go down the frog slide.

After over an hour of swimming, many of the kids were getting tired. We moved into the lobby for snacks and cake.

A big thank you to everyone who joined us to celebrate Cooper turning 6!

November Phone Photos

November flew by, as many months this year have. The month started with this girl showing off the first (and maybe only?) smocked dress I will buy for her.

We played a lot of soccer.

Caitlin was sad the Aggies were losing.

Caitlin found something at Costco she wanted.

Cooper wrote my shopping list one morning.

We went to Haley's birthday party where both kids loved roller skating.

Cooper had Western Day at school. The kids had been talking about it since before we left for Italy. I loved watching them dance!

I was finally able to put up the Christmas tree. I love this time of year!

Cooper decorated his own tree.

And figured out how to take selfies on my phone.

Cooper & Jason went camping in the backyard over Thanksgiving break.

No camping trip is complete without a campfire and s'mores.

We decided to start reading Harry Potter with Cooper.

I went shopping the day after Thanksgiving and the kids went to Brielle & Aly's house with Jason. Cooper just loves Brielle.

Jason's family came to visit and we decided to celebrate Cooper's birthday early. He tasted a pumpkin roll I made for Jason to take to work & fell in love. I was happy to make that for his birthday cake.

The first Sunday of Advent brought out our Christmas outfits.