Attack of the Giant Snowman (and other adventures)!

This past week we had vacation. Truthfully, it was more like a staycation though since we were home most of the time. It was wonderful. It started last Sunday with our best friends, the Petersen's (hereafter to be referred to as "The Team"), coming into town. If nothing else, a week cooped up with them is always a blast, but we decided to have a few adventures.

These two boys always pick right up where they left off. They're the best of friends and I can easily picture them always being this way.

I didn't photograph a lot so I'll just tell you what we did. The boys all went to see 'Wreck it Ralph' at the dollar theater. I heard it really cute so maybe we'll have to go back before it leaves the dollar theater. We went ice skating at Notre Dame (a favorite for us this winter for sure). The adults had a fun grown up night out. We went to a nice dinner at our favorite place, Corndance, and then went to see 'Guys and Dolls' at the civic theater (Justin and I are totally community theater people now). We had a great babysitter that the kids loved and it was so fun to get a night out! We were going to go sledding one afternoon but instead decided to build the largest snowman ever!

First, Chase and the kids rolled out the base (they rolled it from the backyard to the front so it got big fast).

 That alone was pretty impressive.

They had to get the middle up on the base. I can't remember who suggested the plywood ramp, but it was genius! (And yes, it was about this point that it stopped being a kid project.)

 Then they had to pack it with snow so that it wouldn't fall off.

 Getting that head on was the toughest part. Missy is on a ladder behind the snowman.

 Almost there...

 And we've got it!

Our neighbors and random passers by were totally rubbernecking our snowman. One of our neighbors even told Justin that we should call the Tribune to come take a picture. Everyone was very impressed (me included)!

 Here's Justin with the snowman just for some perspective.

 He has arms but it's hard to tell because of all the other trees. Holy cow, this is one massive snowman.

Here's one more for perspective. Clayton and Lenny (I don't know who named him, but I like it). He's already starting to melt. It's sad. He's leaning pretty far forward. It won't be too long before his head rolls off with his body close behind. It's nice for now though.

Thursday and Friday were the most fun though. We all packed up and headed to Sandusky, OH. We stayed at the Kalahari resort. It's a really fun place that boasts the world's largest indoor waterpark. I'm not sure if that's actually true, but we enjoyed it regardless. We got a package that gave us money for the arcade, a free game of bowling, free blacklight mini golf, a really large two room suite (which we could have easily shared with The Team, but didn't and it was oh so luxurious), and two days at the waterpark.

I think that if we'd done nothing other than stay in the hotel room, my kids would have been happy.

Our first order of business though was to change into swimsuits as fast as we could and get down to the waterpark! Justin took the boys on all the older kid rides while I hung out (mostly) in the toddler area with the girls. Because I spent most of my time with them, most of the pictures are of them.

 As you can tell, Josie was having the time of her life.

 I don't really know what they're doing here, but Noah's face is killing me!

Sammie had gotten a little cold and wasn't feeling so well so this was kind of how she looked the whole afternoon. Sad, tired baby.

In the wave pool. I was pretty impressed with Clayton. They had life jackets available for everyone. Kids under a certain height were required to wear them. Clayton was just tall enough to choose whether he wanted one or not. He chose not and proved to Justin and I that he remembered how to swim! Yay!

Shortly after this picture was taken, Sammie, Josie and myself left the park. We grabbed some food, went back to the room, and got ready for bed. Sammie went out like a light. Poor baby was spent.

The boys got back to the room shortly after Sam went to bed and inhaled every food item that was on the table. It was like a scene from the cartoon with the Tazmanian Devil. They were eating so fast and so much and when they were done the area around the table was covered with food scraps. It was seriously disgusting.

Then they vegged and watched TV while we waited for Justin to come back after a grocery run. When he got back he took the boys to the arcade for a little while so I could put Josie to bed. After all the kids were asleep we got together with The Team (who had the room right next door) and played cards and ate candy.

The next morning, we ate breakfast in our room and Justin took the three older kids back to the arcade because this little one decided to sleep in until after 9:00! When she woke up she was still a little grouchy, but in a much better mood compared to the previous day!

Sammie was much more willing to play this day. She discovered her love of slides.

Josie was a trooper. She knew that there were other, better things out there beyond the toddler pool, but never complained about hanging out in there with us. Thankfully, because there were so many adults with us, she was able to go and do some of the other fun things for kids her size. The boys were waterpark animals. They rode a ton of rides, enjoyed the wave pool, played water basketball, and relaxed in the indoor/outdoor hot tub (which I did with them and it was heavenly). They never once complained and were very reluctant to leave.

Our drive home was (thankfully) uneventful and, sadly, The Team left late this morning. Justin is back at work and we've re-entered the real world. Sigh. It was fun while it lasted!

Thanks Team, for a great week! We'll do it again soon!