Weekend Wonderland

The weather in Seattle has been crazy this past week. Last Wednesday, weather forecasters predicted a big snowstorm so schools were cancelled, only to not get any snow at all in Seattle and Issaquah. But then Thursday we got a little dusting of about an inch or 2, even though Redmond, just a few miles away got 8 inches! Phil was sorely disappointed that we didn't get better snowfall in Issaquah, but I was happy because we had plans to go to Centralia over the weekend for a wedding, and I had been looking forward to staying at The Great Wolf Lodge for months.

Even though the forecasters predicted a huge snowstorm to hit on Saturday night, we headed to Centralia after our nephew Greyson's First Birthday brunch party. The snow started coming down around Fort Lewis but luckily we made it to The Great Wolf Lodge around 4pm just as snow was really coming down hard.



Hayden unfortunately didn't sleep a wink in the car, even though it was precisely during his nap time, so he was loopy by the time we checked into our room. He luckily took about an hour nap before we ate dinner and headed to the wedding. The wedding was about a 15 minute drive away in Centralia, and the roads were covered in snow at least 6 inches deep. Even I-5 was covered. We made it to the wedding along with a couple hundred other family members and witnessed the beautiful ceremony.


The reception was back at the Great Wolf Lodge, where Hayden got to party it up until about 9:30pm.





I took Hayden to our room while Phil stayed behind and danced with his family at the wedding. Needless to say, Hayden completely crashed for the night back at the hotel room.

The next morning we awoke to over 8 inches of snow covering the area. It was a beautiful scene. We packed up our stuff, and had a big breakfast buffet before hitting the amazing waterpark inside the Lodge.


I was totally impressed by the whole experience and can't wait to go back with Hayden when he's a little older. He was pretty apprehensive about the water, especially since water sprays at you from all directions without warning on some of the play areas! He really liked just looking around and watching everything. He liked the big wave pool when it was calm, but hated the waves. He was very clingy and whiney at first, but after a while, he got more used to it and enjoyed walking around holding our hands and exploring around. Phil and I took turns with Hayden so we could also go on some of the big waterslides. WOW! I felt like a kid again. They were incredible! Such a rush. By mid-day, Hayden was getting a little chilly so we called it a day and got all dry to head home.

The roads were still treacherous from the lodge all the way to about Olympia, but then just slushy the rest of the drive home. Hayden even managed to actually fall asleep in the car for about an hour of the drive home!

I highly recommend The Great Wolf Lodge to all families. It is totally family-friendly and a wonderful experience. I can't wait to go back sometime. I think the ideal age is probably 3 yrs old - 16 yrs old, but even Hayden really did have a great time. I would definitely recommend spending 2 nights at the hotel, that way you can go back to your room after the waterpark and shower and not use just the locker rooms in the waterpark to get dressed. It was especially challenging to do it all with Hayden by myself in the Women's locker room. I wish I had more pictures to share, but we were just so caught up in the excitement we didn't remember to take many. Plus, we didn't want it in the waterpark area. You'll have to just go and see for yourself (or check out the website!).

New Camera

For our Christmas present to each other, Phil and I purchased a brand new Canon Rebel xsi digital SLR camera. It is amazing and I love playing around with all the settings. I hope to also take a one-day workshop class where they teach you more about photography. This is my new favorite hobby! Check out these test shots!

Issaquah Highlands Christmas Festival

Our lives have been so busy lately it seems I have share-worthy details almost every day!

On Sunday, our neighborhood put on a Christmas Festival at the Blakely Hall community center and Village Green Park. There was live outdoor music, a 3-horse-drawn wagon ride, ornament and cookie crafts, Santa, Mr. Claus reading The Christmas Story (from the Bible), a live Nativity with a real camel, cider and hot chocolate. The goal of the event was also to help raise support for World Vision and the International Justice Mission. Our church along with another neighborhood church were the primary sponsors and volunteer coordinators for the event. I was supposed to help with ticket sales and the ornament craft table, but came down with a bad sore throat and headache, so thought it best I didn't interact with too many people.

Phil, Hayden and I donned our Santa hats and braved the cold weather to enjoy the festival. Luckily, the rain subsided for the evening and we all had a really nice time.



Hayden enjoyed the outdoor music a lot. He also like the horse carriage ride. There were song sheets of Christmas Carols so the people in the wagon all broke out in songs. It was fun to get into the spirit.


Hayden also REALLY enjoyed decorating a cookie and even more enjoyed getting to eat it! (SEE, I DO spoil him once in a while!)






We met up with some of our neighbor friends and enjoyed relaxing and chatting with them until the end of the event. Santa even came over to our group for a little while to hang and chat. Once again, I was surprised that Hayden wasn't afraid of him at all. Even gave him some "high fives"!

Boo Boo's.

It seems Hayden's mode of all-out running everywhere is a recipe for lots of painful crashes. The other day he came running into the kitchen, tripped, and landed face first into the corner of the cabinet by the dishwasher. It just breaks my heart when he gets injured, but amazingly, he recovers pretty quickly after a short hug and a distraction with a book or toy. He won't let me anywhere near the boo boo with an ice pack or wash cloth, so sometimes I have to wait until he's distracted to clean it up and get a look at the damage. His face is having more and more scratches and bruises every day. I hear this is pretty typical for this age. I'm doing my best to keep toys and obstacles picked up, but sometimes he just gets tripped up on his own 2 feet. Poor guy. :(

Phil watches 2 toddlers!

On Saturday mornings for the past few months, some of the moms from my Stroller Strides group have been training to run the Jingle Bell Run 5k (December 14th). On Saturday, my friend Christy's husband was out of town so Phil watched her son, Asher, while we went on our 3 mile run and had some coffee at the local coffee shop afterward. Phil had a great time feeding them Blueberry Pancakes (can you believe it!?) and the boys had a good time playing together. Phil did a great job babysitting both kiddos, although Phil got to see first-hand how Hayden still needs to work on sharing.

Santa Photo

I took Hayden to get his Santa photo taken last week. I was pretty sure we were going to have a red-faced screaming/crying shot, given Hayden's previous reactions to being placed anywhere and me walking away from him, not to mention on Santa's LAP! So I took him to Factoria Mall, where we recently met Santa at the Tim Noah concert. The Mall was completely quiet on a Tuesday mid-morning. With no one at all in line for Santa, they were more than happy to take their time with Hayden and let him get used to the situation. I brought a Christmas book that Hayden likes and gave it to Santa. After Hayden got a good look at the penguins and snowmen on display in Santa's North Pole set, Santa was able to lure Hayden closer with the book. I sat Hayden on Santa's lap as he read the book and I stood right next to him. By the end of the book, I was able to slip away and the photographer was able to get a bunch of photos. I was shocked that Hayden never cried! A few times he even smiled at the photographer's Goofy doll antics. Even though she was unable to capture a great smile in the photo, I'm just thrilled he looks as content as he does! Yay! Santa experience a success!! I even let Hayden eat some of the candy cane from Santa, and boy, did he LOVE that! No coal in Hayden's stocking! :)