Great Wolf Lodge videos

Finally got a chance to edit / upload videos from our waterpark vacation a few weeks ago.

Both boys enjoying the side-by-side slides.

Fort McKenzie also contains two slides that our boys spent over half of the time sliding. Here is a video recording both boys and momma sliding down the faster of the two slides. Notice the happy boys at the end of the video.

 
Here is a close-up video of their happiness.

Some would say the the indoor waterpark's centerpiece is the bucket which drops about 1000 gallons of water every 5 minutes or so. The bucket is three stories above the platform, which is about 6 feet above the ground floor. If you look closely, there is a red metal water defuse plate to keep the 8,000 lbs of water from knocking you out!

When we were here last year, I promised myself that I would buy a water-proof video camera to capture the rush of water that you would experience under the bucket. This is what the new camera captured. The first video is of me standing up...

I have seen some kids lying down under the bucket, so I decided to record that viewpoint too.

Jacob could not help himself and wanted to experience the big bucket for himself...

Second Annual Varesic Family Vacation to Grapevine Texas

When I ask Matthew, "What is your favorite place?" He always says Great Wolf Lodge (an indoor/outdoor waterpark resort). Granted he only has 4+ years of experiences to draw from but he has been to many kid focused places. He has been to festivals, carnivals and of course Schlitterbahn, Splashtown, and Seaworld. Great Wolf Lodge has remained  #1 in his eyes. Jacob mimics Matthew in so many things so if Matthew likes something Jacob is almost guaranteed to like it too. So in late August a few weeks before Matthew started school we went to Grapevine,Texas to enjoy another four days at the waterpark. Needless to say the boys had a great time and enjoyed many slides and water features and most of all the BIG BUCKET that dumps 1,000 gallons of water on willing vacationers below. Matthew did not wish to go down any of the big slides because he doesn’t like enclosed slides…Arghh this was a new development. Oh well, there was still plenty for him to do. Tony and I gave each other a break from the boys periodically. Tony enjoyed the featured “funnel slide” the Howling Tornado.. or as Matthew calls it the Bongo Hat Slide or other big/non-Matthew slides. We would go on one of the slides or enjoy the adults only huge hot tub. This gave us some much needed relaxation from this exhausting trip even though it was only 15 minutes at a time.

 

 

We also enjoyed the the outdoor part of the waterpark. Being very close to DFW Airport in Dallas we saw many planes flying low for a landing. Matthew and Jacob love to watch the planes. Jacob would make the sound of the airplane, AHHHH as he made the sign whenever he spotted one.

On our third night we enjoyed some of the other resort activities. Matthew played a fantasy scavenger hunt game called Magiquest, Jacob colored his own T-shirt, they both played in the arcade, and Matthew made a new friend for Bongo, Oliver the Raccoon.

Also on the last night we went to Storytime with Wiley (the Great Wolf Lodge mascot).

After experiencing the waterpark for four days we started the next leg of our tour which incidently was across the street at The Gaylord Texan Resort. This was a first time for us so we were not sure what to expect. We walked in to a HUGE air conditioned atrium, or as Matthew called the atrium an "inside outside". Each section of the resort had the theme of a different region of Texas. There were many Texas characters including, "Tall Paul", who called Tony "Shorty".

 

Also we discovered the Golden Cowboy living statue. This "golden statue" would sit on the bench. He looked so much like a statue that patrons would sit down next to him still thinking that they were seated next to a statue. The Golden Cowboy would then turn to them and say something and startle/amuse/scare all around him. Jacob saw the statue move prior to us taking a photo so he refused to sit next to him on the bench. Matthew did not see the statue move previously so he was one of those unsuspecting people who was startled/amused.

I finally took Jacob in my arms to sit for this photo. He still was not happy.

We ate dinner one night at the Mexican restaurant on the River Walk. It looked a lot like the San Antonio Riverwalk. The Alamo was only a few steps away.

Of course we found opportunities to relax in the hotel room. The boys are "Mama Surfing" in this photo.

I took this photo even though I am an Aggie and do not like Longhorns.

The downside of the trip was that the water park/swimming pool area had only one slide and the boys were not big enough to ride it and Jacob would not cooperate to let me take a relaxing float around the Lazy River. By most standards the pool at The Gaylord was spectacular. However, we had just been to the Great Wolf Lodge so it was a let down.

On Saturday morning Matthew attended the Dragon Training Workshop. The Gaylord Texan had many Dreamworks characters including Hiccup from "How to Train Your Dragon" and of course the dragon.

Matthew created a viking hat and then he rode the dragon. 

Jacob did not get to attend the dragon training but we went down to the atrium to find Dadoo (the way Jacob says Matthew). We took this photo but hope that Unkie Jude will feel okay since they said "Go Texans" as we shot it. 

On our way home from Grapevine we made another stop at In-N-Out Burger. We visited on the way in to Dallas/Grapevine, once for a visit with Uncle Tone, and once on the way out of Dallas on our drive home.Tony likes the burgers so much he ordered a Double Double Cheeseburger to eat at the restaurant and ordered one for the drive home.

Children’s Museum (aka The Most Exhausting Place on Earth or ADD land)

August 5, 2012

On Saturday April 14 Jacob had his 2^nd birthday party at The Little Gym in Friendswood. Jacob had attended several months of classes at The Little Gym and enjoyed every minute of them. He climbs on obstacle courses, jumps on air tracks, and walks on balance beams. Of course they do a parachute game similar to Matthew’s experience with Gymboree. Jacob’s birthday party included all of these fun activities except they were all centered around Jacob.  Attending were Deda, Nana Sande, Grandma, Grandma, Gavin and his parents, Yoshi (Jacob’s daycare provider), and of course Matthew. Although we anticipated having more kids and family at the party, Jacob had a GREAT time.

Waiting for Matthew to finish reading class (Jacob at St Thomas University)

Sunday August 5th
Starting in June Matthew has been taking the Baylor Alumni Association’s Summer Reading Program for PreK. He has been attending classes with his daddy every Saturday for 6 weeks. The class is to help Matthew with the preparation to start reading at the same time it teaches the parent the best methods to keep the child reading. I thought it was important for Matthew to get a head start on this since his hearing impairment might make it harder to sound out letter sounds and start reading. Matthew and Daddy have enjoyed the classes and learned some good children’s books for beginning readers, ie. Caps For Sale (it has monkeys in it), A House for Hermit Crab and others. Tony and Matthew were given homework to do and a workbook to work in.

This weekend Matthew attended a Sunday make-up class at St. Thomas University. The four of us went to Houston and while Matthew was in class Jacob and I explored the campus. Of course Jacob started off our exploration with 20 minutes of incessant crying because his big brother Dadoo left.

Sophia and Matthew at Jonathon’s party

August 4, 2012
On Saturday morning at 9:30AM Matthew and Jacob enjoyed the birthday party of Jonathan, Matthew’s friend from Mrs. Beard’s class. The boys enjoyed the jump jumps and riding bull. However, the highlight of the party for Matthew was getting to see his friend Sophia before she moves to Japan. Jacob was a little jealous that Matthew had a girlfriend there and he did not... sibling rivalry.