Family Fun

A couple of weeks ago I realized that Steve had February 15th off from school. We decided it was time for a quick get-away since we hadn't gone anywhere for a long time! I started looking up places that would be within 2-3 hours of our house and found The Bavarian Inn in Frankenmuth, Michigan. I'm so glad that I found this place. It's perfect for a family with little kids. There are 5 indoor pools, a huge arcade, eateries, golf, little shops and all kinds of stuff. You really wouldn't even have to leave the hotel if you didn't want to because there are a few places to eat throughout the hotel. We opted to get out a few times to check out the shops and restaurants they have to offer within walking distance. 

This is the kiddy pool room. The far pool is 1 1/2 feet deep and the closer one goes up to 3 1/2 feet.

This is a play area for kids. It was painted so cute!

Another shot of the 3 1/2 foot pool. Notice how Steve and Grace are the only ones...Grace was up at 5:45 Saturday morning and 6:45 Sunday morning saying "C'mon guys, let's go swimming!" The pools didn't open until 7 but it was nice going down right away before it got too busy. We typically went down from 7-9ish to swim and then came back up to the room and got dressed and went to look at shops and eat lunch and then back to the room for a nap around 12:30. Then swimming again from 2:30-4 or so and then back up to get dressed, relax for a bit and then get ready for supper. Makes for a very fast day! One of my favorite things was that the pools all close from 11-1 every day for cleaning. It helped quiet things down and made so downstairs wasn't as crazy.

Samuel was a trooper the whole weekend. He was indifferent to the water. He didn't fuss but he wasn't all smiles either.

This pool was fun too. It starts out at 2 feet deep and eventually gets to 4 1/2 feet deep. Grace loved it because she could go out pretty far by herself before it got too deep. I didn't get a picture of the "adult only" pool or the pool that had a waterfall. It was more for older kids so we didn't spend a lot of time there.

Our little man. He spent a lot of the time strapped to me in the carrier so I don't feel like I got a lot of pictures of him...or me! :)

This picture just makes me realize how against little girl swimsuits that don't have straps that crisscross in the back I am. I ordered this one online last week because hers from last year is way too small. It didn't have a picture of the back but I needed one in a hurry so I ordered it. The straps kept falling down and stretching out. How irritating.

Cute guy in a cute swimsuit humoring his mother.

Taking a break in the hotel room. Grace is interested in scissors and cutting things. Letting her use real scissors worries me but I found these Melissa & Doug scissors that cannot cut hair and cannot cut skin. I was sold (although I haven't tried the zigzag pair yet). And after using them I still love them (I tested them out on my own skin and hair...I'm such a loser). :)

Another mini-Steve. 

Grace picked out this huge peanut butter cup at a local sweet shop. When I asked for a bite I was told "Not right now Mom, I'm good." Don't worry, I got a bite eventually. :)

Completely exhausted. 

We had a blast and can't wait to come back again! There is a great balance of things for kids to do and things for adults to do and things we can all do. I'm so thankful we had the chance to get away for the weekend. Luckily we still have tonight and tomorrow morning before we have to leave. I decided to use nap time to take the opportunity to do this post...it feels great to not feel guilty being on the computer at nap time. At home I always feel the need to clean and get stuff done while they are sleeping. If only I had maid service every day like I do here. :)

Happy Boy

These pictures make me smile. Samuel loves to be talked to and these are his typical responses (I only wish I had a video of it so you could hear his giggles and cooing too):

Grace at 2 1/2

Sadly, this is how much snow we've gotten this year. She attempted to make a snowman. :)

Grace loves giving her baby a bath, changing her diaper, brushing her teeth, putting her down for a nap, putting her in time out, etcetera. 

Pudding...yum!

My how time flies! At 2 1/2 Grace loves:

Elmo's World

Word World

her brother, cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents (we hear about them on a daily basis)

to talk, sing and ask questions (constantly)

Sunday school/singing Sunday school songs

Kindermusik

taking baths

her big girl bed

mac & cheese

toast

grapes

bananas

hotdogs

cereal

chicken nuggets and french fries

any dipping sauce (ketchup, ranch dressing, bbq sauce)

play-doh

grocery shopping

letters (and knows all of her capital letters and some lowercase - yay for bath foam letters!)

coloring/drawing

books/reading/being read to

her baby dolls

"helping" wash dishes

Grace also dresses herself for the most part and thinks she needs to pick out her own outfits although some of them get vetoed depending on if we are leaving the house or not - shorts in February...things like that. :) And my favorite - she is potty trained and has informed me many times that she can do it "by myself". It's nice that I don't have to do anything unless she poops and needs help wiping. :)

Grace-isms and quotes:

Calls Samuel Sam-Bam

I was trying to untwist her car seat straps and couldn't get them untwisted and exclaimed "What in sam scratch" (which is something I grew up with my mom saying). Grace replied "I don't know what Sam is scratching mom." 

I hit a squirrel with the van one day and Grace decided that both the van and the squirrel probably needed a band-aid.

When Samuel spits up she will come running and tell me "he's dripping mom!" 

When Samuel cries she wants to know "What's his matter mom?" 

Almost gives me a heart attack by screeching every time she sees a bug. I try to explain to her that I'm not a huge fan of bugs either but I don't scream when I see them. Still waiting for that lecture to kick in. I almost put the car in the ditch one time because she screamed when she saw a ladybug crawling towards her. Good grief. 

Is so excited to start preschool next year. I often hear "when I get bigger I will go to school!" I need to document that because my guess is that someday school won't be quite so exciting. :) 

She is quite the girl. 2 going on 16 but we love her like crazy!