It's in the Bag!

Packing 3 kids for a two week vacation can seem like a daunting task, but to me, the 5 hour flight was what I was most worried about. For months I have been stashing away activity books and other goodies to keep my little angels busy while we were in the air. Nothing worse than hearing "I'm bored" for hours on end!

Each kid got a new suitcase for Christmas from their Grandma Flutter. They are the perfect size to be considered carry on, which saves us a ton of money by not checking them at the ticket counter. I set out their flip flops the night before, because even though it is chilly in Oregon, I knew it would make getting through security much easier.

Their backpacks are loaded to the top with activity books and snacks. I am SOOO glad I packed snacks because come to find out, US Airways does not give out complimentary snacks...at all. Just drinks. You will have to pay an inflated price to eat their food and quite honestly, I would have paid just to have something more to eat, but nothing on their menu list looked good to me.

Here is a look at what I packed in Zander's bag. Most everything fit inside a large ziplock bag, which made taking it out on the plane much easier. The majority of the books and activities were purchased at the Dollar Store or at the dollar area of Target and Michaels. Target had dry erase boards, pens and erasers!! Dollar Store had the zipable pencil pouches, colored pencils and pencil sharpeners, all which got used a lot!

Just before school got out, I found these cute luggage tags in the dollar bins at Michaels!

Going up to Seattle

We spent the whole next day in the water park. We were even allowed to use the park after we checked out of our room...so we did!

Hayden had a ball splashing everywhere. He couldn't get enough.

We went down all the slides and floated in the wave pool until we were water logged and ready for our next adventure.

Before leaving we checked out "Scoops" a spa just for kids under 12. It was darling! Here is Natalie sitting on the pedicure (ice cream sundae shaped) bench. The boys spent some time in the arcade while Natalie and I picked out our souvenirs. Next stop Seattle...

Dan was able to get a room on trade that was just 2 blocks from the Space Needle...so we walked around a lot.

Not sure what these cool structures are called but they are part of the science exhibit there. We took the Monorail to downtown Seattle and did some shopping.

Here are the kids and I posing on some of the sculptures near the Space Needle.

We spent an afternoon hanging out at Pike's Place Market. Got some fresh berries to enjoy as well as a nice fish and chips meal. Dan also found some cool Scrooge McDuck comic books to add to his collection. The kids love it when he reads them his old comics.

Andy and Taly drove down to spend the afternoon with us. We went up to the top of the Space Needle. That was fun...I haven't done that in years.

I think we had the most fun trying on all the sunglasses in the gift shop!

One night I stepped out and got some great night pictures of the Space Needle.

More Fun at Great Wolf Lodge

Let's Get Wet...

Here's the wave pool

This section is a series of things to climb up on and basically get really wet on your way to the water slides.

Here is the big bucket that fills up and dumps water over the whole area.

Here is comes...

No one is safe once the bucket tips!!!

Father's Day Dinner

We ate at the on-site restaurant and got to eat under the tents!


All you can eat crab legs for Dan!


Yum, yum...good food!

Bed time

At 8:00 pm all the kids get to wear their pajamas in the lobby for a special show at the clock tower.




Then there is a story read afterwards with Wylie the Wolf.


All the kids had a great time.

Here they are all ready for bed after story time.

Meanwhile, Dan was upstairs watching the NBA finals in the teen room. Father's got in free on Father's day!

Natalie summons me in...

to tuck her in to bed way up on the top bunk!

Zander was excited to sleep in the cabin...


Good night, sleep tight.

Father's Day Fun

Last Sunday on our way to the Great Wolf Lodge in Washington, we stopped off at a rest area for a picnic lunch.

The entrance to the lodge is really fun with huge wolf carvings and lots of rustic touches everywhere.

The lobby has huge vaulted ceilings with a clock tower that expands three stories tall.


Here is the check in counter...it was just like Disneyland...waiting 30 minutes in line. Fortunately, although check in wasn't until 4 pm, we got to play in the water park while we waited for our room.


Here is the other side of the lobby. Through the windows you can watch all the action in the water park.

For the price of a regular room (4 person occupancy) plus the extra person charge ($30) , I was able to reserve the kid cabin room with beds for all three kids in a cute cabin.

The kids were so excited to see that inside our room was a little cabin just for them with bunk beds and their very own tv. Natalie was sure to call dibs on the top bunk!

Our room also included a log cabin bed for us and a fireplace in the corner.



So that concludes the first part of the tour...I'll be back to post some fun water park photos later.