Epic Celebrating :: GWL Edition

After a yummy breakfast buffet (whoever invented the waffle iron is a genius!) and more swimming at Sugar Beach, we packed up our rooms and headed out.
We had a little time to waste between hotels so we stopped at Toys R Us to pick something out for Tanner.  We had the brilliant  ridiculous idea to let Tanner PICK something out. Whoops.  Combine an indecisive 3 year old and a HUGE toy store and you can plan on a lengthy trip.
In the end he chose (with some big brother pressure) an airplane from the Cars 2 movie.  It still gets played with so in our standards- that's a hit. 

Pumba!! at Toys-R-Us

Give this kid a balloon and he is seriously entertained for hours.

Tanner even got a balloon and birthday crown- SCORE!


We walked around PetSmart, ate lunch at Fazoli's and then headed to Great Wolf Lodge.

Our rooms weren't ready so we changed in the locker rooms and 'dove in'.  The older two were off in no time.  Lucas and Landon even put on their swim trunks (can you say adorable?) and splashed around for a bit. Then it was nap time for Laura's boys and the twins and one of our 3 rooms was available so Laura and I headed up for nap time.

I told you they were cute.

For supper the entire group headed to Culver's.  All 19 of us! I am so bummed I didn't get a picture.  We get lots of gawks and smiles and stares when we go anywhere.  Thirteen kids from 9 years old to 6 months!!  Love it.  The best part? They were all well behaved!  Love it even more!

When we got back we sang "Happy Birthday" to Tanner and had some cake.  We took Grant, Tanner and Bryce down to the arcade room.  Stimulation overload!  They had fun though.

I almost beat the high score for the day. For real. I don't mess around.

So did Mommy.  Whenever I go to an arcade place, I MUST play this game.  There is just something about smashing those little guys on the head as hard as I can that I find so theraputic (does this mean I need therapy!?).  :)

Bed time for the kids, game time for the adults.  We played a few rounds of Apples to Apples (with Mom, Laura, Ben, Robb and myself).  Then Doug & Kate joined us and we played  The Game of Things.  This game is really hilarious.  I am seeing a purchase and game night in our future.  The jist : Tons of cards that say "things that...." like "things that would get you fired", "things that you never see in the country", "things that you keep hidden".  Everyone writes an answer down on a piece of paper, folds it and puts it in a pile.  Each player takes a turn reading what everyone wrote.  You go around the circle and try to guess what other people wrote.  Serious good times.  Even Dad was intriuged for a while (which is saying a lot!).  Adults headed to bed around midnight.

(left to right) Bryce, Auntie Laura, Trevor, Abraham,Pop-pop, Sofi, Abby, Gina, Kelly, Daddy and T-man!

Next morning was more swimming, more splashing, more fun fun fun!  One of the bonuses of our Groupon deal was late check out which was GREAT.  It also included a meal deal: pizza, breadsticks and salad so after a morning at the park (twins included) we went back to our room to eat lunch and pack.

Naptime for the twinkies!! They actually napped great in the park.
Look at Luke's cute little piggies peaking out.

Grant was big enough to do ALL the slides. He even went down the green one by himself! 
He LOVES the water. 

We had a great weekend. Great Wolf Lodge (although expensive) is a really fun place for a family vacation. I anticipate more trips there for our future!

The closest we got to a whole group picture (fail!).
Left to right: :Robb, Tanner, Laura, Kelly, Cody, Kate, Abraham, Gina, Sofi, Grammy, Austin, Grant