Another day in paradise

The awesome bonus to this birthday party?

It lasted for TWO days!

We started out the day by eating breakfast at Camp Critter,

the restaurant at the hotel.

Our booth looked like a tent!

I was a bit grumpy at first,

but lightened up after a bit

(what do you expect after a day like yesterday???)

Mom and West were festive as well

Then we headed to the lobby for the

Clock Tower Show

The animals on the clock sang and moved around.

Wes and I thought it was pretty cool. 

At the end of the show,

just like Mom said,

it SNOWED inside!

Really cool 

On our way back to the pool,

we stopped to mail our letters to Santa

Weston first...

Then me...

We were so excited to get back to the pool!

There was more sliding

I tried out the lilly pads today

They were quickly a favorite

Weston did some jumping

Also a favorite

And we did the big slides

(well, everyone but me),

the hot tubs, lazy river, and big bucket dump

(I braved it this time!) 

What an awesome place!

We were sad to leave.

But too exhausted to stay.

Something tells me we'll be back...

Best. Birthday. EVER!

 For my 5th birthday,

I chose something a little different.

Instead of a big party with lots of friends,

I chose a little party with my family and cousins...

AT GREAT WOLF LODGE!!!

We checked into our room,

and guess what?

There were BUNK BEDS!!!

There was even a window to our

special "cave"

This day is starting off REALLY well!

Then we headed out to the pool.

It was waaaay more than just a pool!

There was a huge fort

with water guns, buckets, and fountains

And a HUGE bucket on top that dumped 5000 gallons of water every 5 minutes

 Aunt Mandy, Mom, and Wes braved it

 Everyone really got into the water slides...

Austin:

West:

 And even Dad:

 I was not quite so brave.

I stuck to the kiddie pool slides.

Maybe I'll do the big ones when I'm 6.

 Dad and Mandy said the outside twisty one was awesome!

Mom was disappointed she couldn't ride that one.

Preggos weren't allowed. 

But Weston joined Mandy and Dad for a round!

It was quite the climb to the top!

We missed the landing picture.

Dad and Mandy said West got really quiet once the slide started.

They were afraid he was going to cry

(it was pitch black inside),

but he was smiling when they came out. 

We paused for some Icees and cheese sticks

 Then it was back to the action!

The girls lounged

The boys played

Everyone had a great time!

Amazing how the little Reed family has grown in the last 5 years!

Now you would think that was enough.

But the night is young!

After cleaning up a bit,

we hit the arcade for a few games before dinner.

Grandma and I played Batman whack-a-mole

I got Adam to play a round too

And I think Kayla beat Michelle at Connect 4

Weston took Dad for a spin

Weston's got this!

Like driving is hard...

After we cashed in our ticket winnings for some awesome

bracelets and candy, 

we headed to T-Rex for dinner.

I got some AWESOME gifts!

A marble maze set, Erector construction set,

this cool solar system kit, 

and the beloved John Deere 18 wheeler

I've been talking about for weeks

Wes was happy too. 

Then,

it was time for the CAKE!

Did I say cake?

I meant brownie sundaes complete with a smoking volcano!

This has been a great day!

Thanks everyone for coming!!!

To top off the night,

when we got back to Great Wolf Lodge,

it was story time

So we settled in for some cookies and milk

and a book or two.

 There was a long line to get a picture with Rowdy the Reindeer

(he's Rudolph's cousin),

so we opted for a picture on the polar bear ice sculpture instead.

We had to "poke the bear" for

Water Bear (Papa Mike) as well

And finally,

we took a few moments to quiet down and

absorb the day on the porch.

 Wow.

Best. Birthday. Ever.

Daddy's boo-boo

While preparing a tasty dinner including fried potatoes and onions,

Daddy made a miscalculation 

and mistook the end of his finger for a potato

on the mandolin slicer...

 It bled a lot.

This is dressing #4

We did our best to entertain ourselves...

Glove puppets

merry-go-round chairs

but about 3 hours in,

even though we were ANGELS (truly),

we called Grandma P to save the day with McDonald's

and bedtime. 

Mom and Dad stuck it out for another couple of hours,

and 5 stitches later,

Dad's finger was back in one piece

Ouch!

Helpers

Did we mention we are finishing our basement?

Daddy needs a lot of help...

Getting into the season

We put up our Christmas decorations today

inside and out.

Best of all was finding our favorites from last year:

reindeer antlers, Christmas necklaces,

and the singing reindeer

We've got the Christmas spirit!