Great Wolf Lodge

We decided to take the kids to Great Wolf Lodge in Dallas for their birthday this year instead of having a big birthday party.

We drove down Thursday morning and got there around 1:30.

We dropped our stuff off in our room and changed into our swimsuits.

This is Chloe's bear that she had to stop and take a picture with every time we passed. She would hug it and sit on it's lap.

Since Chloe had the bear, Connor decided the wolf was his.

The indoor water park was huge and the kids could do almost everything. They just couldn't go down the big slides in the back.

Cooper did great. He didn't nap more than 15 minutes at a time that whole day because he didn't want to miss anything. He was stuck in his stroller for a lot of the time, or I held him, or David held him. He did get the water a few times but I didn't want him getting too cold so we kind of just hung out at our table and watched the big kids play.

Another stroller picture of Cooper. He really is this happy all the time.

We got a pizza and took it back to our room for dinner. After our baths, we put our jammies on and went down to the lobby for story time.

We had some time to kill so we went and got ice cream and of course we had to stop and take our picture with the bear.

This is what a long day with no nap looks like.

We took pictures before the story started.

We went back to the room after the story and got ready for bed. Everyone was so tired. Chloe had a huge meltdown and I can't even remember what it was about but she was screaming. And Cooper was so tired that all he wanted to do was to lay down and be left alone and cry himself to sleep so we just laid him on the bed and he cried while Chloe screamed and Connor just laughed. It was an intense 5 minutes. I'm sure our neighbors loved us. We didn't even realize when it was over. I was brushing my teeth and looked over to find this...

The next morning, we took our time getting around and went to the buffet for breakfast. After breakfast, we got our swimsuits on and headed back down to the water park.

And another bear picture...

And wolf...

After lunch, we went back to the room for a little nap and then went down and played some more until it was time for bed. It started getting super crowded that evening so I'm glad it was our last day.

The next morning, we got up and loaded the car and headed out. On our way out the door, Chloe got upset that she didn't tell her bear bye.

 

We went down the road to the aquarium at the Grapevine Mills mall. The kids loved it. Chloe followed along with everything in her book and tried to find what was on the pages. Connor was a little grumpy. I think he mainly was just over all the pictures.

After the aquarium we rode the carousel.

And then a little train that went around the mall.

Connor actually asked me to take his picture in front of the train. And when I told Chloe to go stand with him she refused. But after I started snapping, she decided she wanted to be in the picture, she just didn't want to turn around.

We ate lunch at Rainforest Café before we headed home.

I think the kids had a lot of fun and we plan on going back and doing it all again sometime!

Three.

Connor and Chloe turn 3 today!

Connor:

He is my sweet sensitive boy and usually just wants a hug from mommy when things aren't going his way. But he also loves wrestling with Daddy and Chloe. I'm going to be in big trouble when Cooper's big enough for them to wrestle together!

He is very detailed. He will notice little things and then ask 20 questions about it. He tries to figure everything out.

He's a rule-follower. At the water park, when he told me he had to potty, I grabbed his hand and told him to hurry with me to the bathroom. He quickly pulled on my arm for me to slow down and said very sternly "We do NOT run." Chloe was calling Cooper a "stinky butt" and he looked at David and said "Should we go tell her that we don't talk like that?".
 He tells on Chloe constantly and then points out how he's being a good boy.

He always brings his toys to Cooper to share with him but isn't the greatest at sharing with Chloe. If Chloe has something he wants, he will bring her something else he thinks she would want and then asks her to trade with him. Chloe gets so excited and will run and tell me that Connor is sharing with her and I don't have the heart to tell her that the correct word is "scamming" not "sharing".

When I take him to bed, we sing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" together and most nights I pretend to forget about it just so he will say in his sweet little voice "sing our song mommy". I also love when he says "Love you mommy" as I'm walking out of his room.

He has a nightly routine of getting out of bed as soon as I close his door and get down the stairs. He sits at the top of the stairs until we say "What's wrong buddy?" and he will tell us he needs to potty, even though he just went. And sometimes he just says "I need to tell you night night."

He's content playing by himself but is always asking where Chloe is. The first thing he says in the morning and one of the last things he says at night is "Where's Chloe?".

He randomly tells me that Chloe has "two brudders" and that Boomer went back to the North Pole.

Chloe:

She is my "threenager". She can make me laugh and cry all within about a 2 minute time span.
 She has a big personality and you never know what's going to come out of her mouth next.

She picks up on everything and is my repeater. If she hears it once, it becomes part of her vocabulary.

She cracks herself up all the time and I'm pretty sure she is her biggest fan.

She's a girly girl that truly believes she is a princess.

She is super clumsy and always has bruises on her legs. And if she bumps into you or falls on you or something like that she says "Sorry about that". And if she falls down, most of the time, she will immediately jump up and say "I'm okay!"

The other day, I heard her talking to Connor and she said "What's wrong Connor? Hmm? Talk to me. Speak up." Connor never said a word. He just stared at her.

She isn't the best at remember to wipe and flush when she goes potty on her own without me knowing. So I'm always finding little presents in all of the potties and the other night after they went to bed, I found one and knew she didn't wipe. So the next morning, I told her I needed to clean her since she didn't wipe when she went poo poo the night before and she said "Connor did wipe me." And it turns out he did. I asked him and he smiled and said yes. At least I know they have each other's "backs".

I'm so happy they have each other. And they've gotten so much closer since I had Cooper.

It's amazing to watch them handle the exact same situations and experiences so differently.

They play together a lot more these days but they still play side by side without really playing with each other. If you see one, the other isn't too far away. She's usually the one that follows him around and wants to do everything he does.

Sometimes I tell them to give each other hugs goodnight and sometimes they high five and they think it's funny to say "Best Friends Forever!" It's the perfect ending to my day every time.

I did a little interview with them yesterday afternoon. I know they didn't fully understand each question, but I let them answer however they wanted to.

We read the book "Guess How Much I Love You" sometimes before bed so sometimes when I ask them "How much do you love mommy?" they will say "As high as I can reach".
 So Connor and Chloe, I love you as high as I can reach, and up to the moon and back and down the river. You made us a family and I hope one day you understand how much we love you. It's been the best three years of my life. I've never laughed or cried so much but every bit of it is worth it. You made me a momma and I'm forever thankful for you.