what a great vacation it was!!! we visited great wolf lodge again for the third year and had a mini christmas there with my in-laws. it was so much fun...and i was also grateful i wasn't 7 months pregnant like last time.
anyways, this time i was free to move about and play with the boys and also, in the end, i managed not to lose my folder of the precious pictures like last year (which is why there is no post about our trip from 2013) boy i had a tough case of pregnant brain, didn't i?
it's true
we were all the way up in the 7th floor, some kind of forest, and at the end of the hall a bright shining star greeted us each night.
the coolest part of the lodge? indoor water park. i love it even though it was a bit nippy in there...the hot tub though, was a nice remedy.
i refused to buy elena a bathing suit in december. she had outgrown her little one from the summer and for one day in the waterpark? a onesie would have to do. it was pretty cold for her and the whole splashing of water in her face by other rampant + careless kids did not please her too much.
the next morning, we had breakfast in their restaurant and they had the cutest little waffles! not to mention a stellar omelette bar *yummo*
and as always, we had to take family pictures in front of their ongoing fireplace. it was pretty much magical.
we crossed the street into the gaylord and visited the ICE! exhibit. we had not been to it in two years. this was also dreamworks last year with the gaylord, so i wanted to catch it before it all went up in the air. i was told there would be an ice bar too -- oh, you don't even know how i wished it would be possible.
a highlight of the event was going up the steps to the giant ice slide. this year, however, there was a trend. uh-huh...a trend.
the trend of sticking coins onto the ice!!! it's 9 degrees in there so the coins, with a bit of babas, stuck immediately. it was super awesome!
and after a bit of waiting and lolligagging, we went down the slide.
they had a room at the end that showed how these guys shape the ice into the characters that we see. these guys are from china and sculpt the entire exhibit in like 40 days. you should see some videos of it -- truly amazing artists. and the conditions they work in! brrr.
by the end of the exhibit, our noses and cheeks were so rosy and we were ready for some hot chocolate. my phone ended up dying 5 minutes into the exhibit it was so cold so I was only able to snap a few pictures with my dead battery on my dslr. which was totally fine. i enjoyed my time better that way :)
so there it was.....christmas can't get grander than that. i totally love how they make over the lodge for christmas.
It's this ginormous atrium that was about 80 degrees Farenheit in there, but it seemed like it should be cold...hmm. So after we had unwrapped ourselves from all our coats and gloves, we took some pictures. 
They had EVERYTHING decorated! HUGE snowmen, Santa's, tiny trains, reindeer, lights, presents, gingerbread houses, anything you can think of, it was there. 
Giant Gingerbread House... 
Inside ICE! it was about 7 degrees...so they gave you parkas to keep warm. We all felt like blue blimps. Your face was so cold, but the rest of you was warm. 
