Add this to your bucketlist while I check it off mine.

You must go to The Great Wolf Lodge!  It is a kids paradise and grown ups love it too.
  Where else do you see children, in their pajama, running through the halls playing MagiQuest at 9:00 at night?   And playing all day long in an amazing water park that includes a wave pool, a huge bucket that dumps water on you and tons of slides that are a-maz-ing!  We loved every minute of it!!  I was super impressed with how clean it was.  I borrowed Ranee's water shoes and didn't even wear them in the water park it was so clean  (I just wore them in the bathroom-which was equally as clean. . . but it is a bathroom) .  That is a huge deal for me.

**This is not a paid advertisement for The Great Wolf Lodge-we just love it!  :) **  Three weeks out of the year they offer HUGE discounts for homeschoolers.  We got a room that sleeps 8 (king size bed in the bedroom, which I forgot to take a picture of, 2 queen size beds....

  . . . a queen size sleeper sofa), and water park passes for up to 6 people were included for both the days we were there.  The regular price for the room and passes was $329 (not bad for all that is included), but we got it (with the homeschooling discount) for $139!  There are taxes and a booking fee that increased to $175 but those same fees would have been applied for the regular rate too. 


 

 You can check in at 1:00 on your arrival day and play in the park up until it closes at 8:00 if you want!  We were SO ready to get wet!

You can always tell where Jake is because of his lime green rash guard on.  That is me next to him getting dumped on.  I can't even count how many times we got dumped on.  A bell rings to let you know it is about to dump and people flock to it.  :)

 The wave pool is so fun.  It has different setting that switch ever five minutes.  We like the side waves the best because you could ride them all the way in to the "shore".  I think this was the only time the pool had so few people, but even when it was more crowded there was plenty of space for everyone.  See the lime green Jake?

Friends of ours were there the same days so we had fun riding on the slides with them.  This was "The Howlin' Tornado" and there are no words to describe this slide!  First time down: shear terror/fun!!!!  You don't know what to expect even when people tell you.  Heads up: huge drop followed by flinging back and forth up the sides of a HUGE bowl.  You are warned but you still won't believe it.  Even if it scares you half to death you have to do it a second time. . .

Jumping with Jaxon

We got to babysit Jaxon while Erin was at the dentist and we had a blast with him.  Jake took him on the trampoline and they had a great time together. 

 Sadie had to keep checking to make sure they were okay.  She would bark until Jake would have to yell at her to be quiet (that is what he is doing in the this pic) and say they were okay.  Jaxon thought it was hysterical!  I guess she finally figured out that his giggling was not crying and she stopped.  We have officially decided she must be a Lab/Collie mix (which Aaron has said all along) because she is such a herding dog!

 Jaxon met our next door neighbors dog, Maggie, and Sadie. . .

 . . had to come over and get in between Jaxon and the fence to make sure he was okay (I caught this picture right before Sadie licked his face and stood in front of him as if she was protecting him from Maggie).  As Jaxon was running around the yard, I would follow him and say things like, "don't go behind the shed" or "lets stay over here" and Sadie would come out of no where and herd him back in by standing in front of him and not letting him go.   

 Jaxon couldn't stop giggling when he would lay on his back in the middle of the trampoline and Jake was jump softly next to him.  The little bounces were enough to make him giggle nonstop!

It is so fun having a cousin, who loves Jake to pieces, live right around the corner. :)

The Rescheduled 12th B-day Party

We had to reschedule Jake's birthday party because he was sick the first time around, but it was well worth the wait. 

Let me say just two things about Jake's party: 1.) Boys are so weird!!  2.)  I am so glad Jake has such great friends. :)  Those with a boy or many boys will totally understand what I am saying.

Happy 37th Aaron

Glad we are the same age again. I am only 81 days older but Aaron never lets me forget it. :)  He never wants a big deal made out of his birthday (weird right?  I want my b-day to be all about me!!!), but we had his requested dinner (Chicken Alfredo Lasagna Roll-ups) and got the watch he wanted (and needed since his broke).  His parents and mine stopped by (I didn't take a lot of pictures because Aaron is not a fan) to wish him happy b-day and bring him some treats.

What 12 Looks Like...Unofficially.

We were headed to the library for a "field trip" today until we saw this:

 There must be a librarian convention or something-there were barricades and everything. . .So, we decided to take a little walk around downtown.  I had my camera (I rarely leave home with out it in my purse), so I decided to do an unofficial b-day photo shoot.  I take pictures of Jake every year after his b-day (we let it cool down a little so the pictures aren't of a sweaty kiddo), every year and do a post about it.  This is the unofficial b-day picture post because Jake wasn't dressed for the occasion. Jake was thrilled to be taking pictures!  Can't you tell from the first picture:

The fake grin says it all. . .

 But then he remembered that I could do this all day and he gave in. . .

 We tried the "sun is in your eyes so keep them shut until I count to 3, then open them" shots but it didn't work. :)

 Who is this young man and what did you do with my child?!?!?!?

 Nice one.

 Random tiny painting someone did on a wall.

 I just had to take a picture of this for some reason.  It spoke to me. . .

 This IS Jake.  This is the picture that really captures him.  LOVE IT!!!

 Random "horse bike" art piece in the park. . .

 We plucked a piece of hair from Jake's head that I would have sworn was gray.  It turned out to just be light blond.  I had him worried he was already going gray at the ripe old age of 12.

 We have so many cool painted walls in our down town. 

 Last picture!  Of Jake at least.

 How beautiful is this?

 Jake's pictures:

Dead mouse that we saw in. . .

 . . .this fountain.

Only a 12 year old boy would want to take a picture of a dead mouse. :)