The Many Adventures of...A Family With a New Baby! Jan - Dec 2016! New 11/7!

[mousehappync]

I'm trying to break my am NYT habit and get back to my am DIS habit, so here I am! I know this is ancient history, but so glad you figured out Maya's needs, and that Neocate was the solution. Hopefully Baby Emma won't have any issues, but if she does you will be prepared.

I can't wait to read about your May trip. I was fully planning to exchange two of our tickets for AP's in Jan and go back over Labor Day with Grady, but a combination of his truly heinous behavior (my kids were both just NOT good this go-round, mostly because they were run ragged by their mom) and all the uncertainty surrounding my best friend's health caused me to abort plans on that. If she's still here and able to travel, we will probably be in Cape Cod the week before Labor Day and that, on the heels of ten days at camp, seemed like just too much. But now I'm not sure WHEN we are going back to Disney, which is bizarre. I'm really going to have to be careful about missed school, but hoping to squeeze in a short (5 night) trip in either Oct or Nov. with Grady before he starts middle school and won't be seen in public with me anymore. After seeing the leaked Avatar ride photos yesterday, NOT going once it opens is TOTALLY not an option!!!

Can't wait to read more!!!

 

[Imagineer5]

I'm trying to break my am NYT habit and get back to my am DIS habit, so here I am! I know this is ancient history, but so glad you figured out Maya's needs, and that Neocate was the solution. Hopefully Baby Emma won't have any issues, but if she does you will be prepared.

I can't wait to read about your May trip. I was fully planning to exchange two of our tickets for AP's in Jan and go back over Labor Day with Grady, but a combination of his truly heinous behavior (my kids were both just NOT good this go-round, mostly because they were run ragged by their mom) and all the uncertainty surrounding my best friend's health caused me to abort plans on that. If she's still here and able to travel, we will probably be in Cape Cod the week before Labor Day and that, on the heels of ten days at camp, seemed like just too much. But now I'm not sure WHEN we are going back to Disney, which is bizarre. I'm really going to have to be careful about missed school, but hoping to squeeze in a short (5 night) trip in either Oct or Nov. with Grady before he starts middle school and won't be seen in public with me anymore. After seeing the leaked Avatar ride photos yesterday, NOT going once it opens is TOTALLY not an option!!!

Can't wait to read more!!!

I'm sorry, I meant to reply on that regarding your most recent trip and your kiddos acting up - I hope you still had an amazing trip

What, where on Cape Cod?! You know my IL's live there?? We're only like an hour away!

WAIT leaked Avatar ride photos? How did I miss that? I hear it'll be open Memorial Day, which is perfect for our June 2-9 trip, so I am really excited about that! We are also planning an October trip (5-11 I think) with my friends Lynda, Aron and their baby Brianna.

Right after this April/May 2016 trip, my AP expired. I had no plans at that time to return I think, so I didn't renew it (which is fine, since I didn't go back until December, went to DL in August though!) but I do have an AP burning a hole in my pocket but being preggo sort of puts and end to truly wanting to go until baby is here.

I'm sorry about your friend, that is terrible. Is she close by?

 

[rdkeim]

Coming out of the shadows to say I really enjoy your TR's. Your girls are beautiful. Looking forward to reading about your next adventure!

 

[schmass]

Cute 3 and 4 month photos! I hope the allergy issues continue to get better...we had Lola's 18 month check-up yesterday and discussed taking both Rory and Lola back to the allergist - hopefully we get good news for both.

The trip dates for the trip you're about to report on are almost exactly the same as our upcoming trip - we're going April 29-May 6th. Only one year off, haha.

 

[Tygerlilly]

I'm due 4/16, but my first was 14 days early, so who knows what this one will decide. She's already every bit as impatient as her sister is.

We will also be there in October for the girls first trip! The 7-14th. Although we are only doing 2 park days as a trial run to see how they do. But your report has given me plenty of hope that it won't be too bad with a baby (and toddler).

 

[mousehappync]

I'm sorry, I meant to reply on that regarding your most recent trip and your kiddos acting up - I hope you still had an amazing trip

What, where on Cape Cod?! You know my IL's live there?? We're only like an hour away!

WAIT leaked Avatar ride photos? How did I miss that? I hear it'll be open Memorial Day, which is perfect for our June 2-9 trip, so I am really excited about that! We are also planning an October trip (5-11 I think) with my friends Lynda, Aron and their baby Brianna.

Right after this April/May 2016 trip, my AP expired. I had no plans at that time to return I think, so I didn't renew it (which is fine, since I didn't go back until December, went to DL in August though!) but I do have an AP burning a hole in my pocket but being preggo sort of puts and end to truly wanting to go until baby is here.

I'm sorry about your friend, that is terrible. Is she close by?

They just FOUGHT the entire time, which is not really like them. I mean, they squabble occasionally over toys and stuff, but this was just constant picking at each other, which they never do. i also think we had a little case of the "greedies"-- with both birthdays and Christmas and DL and WDW all in an 8 week period, they were both acting pretty spoiled and entitled, which is my mommy pet peeve. It seemed like rewarding that with a trip was a bad idea, and by the time I got over being grouchy with them I couldn't upgrade the tix. I'm going to keep an eye on fall dates, though-- we have a couple of school holidays that could work with low crowd weeks.

Google the Avatar thing-- I forget where've saw it, but one of the blogs that posts to FB. They showed a super blurry picture of a person on the banshee-- YOU CAN FEEL IT BREATHING UNDER YOU AND YOU RIDE ASTRIDE LIKE A HORSE. Yes. I am also dead about this. I'm SO excited.

We go with this friend to Naushon-- it always makes me feel silly to talk about it, but it's the private island chain off Woods Hole that's been in her family forever-- she's a direct descendant of Ralph Waldo Emerson and the Forbes family. Ask your family if they know Hadley Harbor--that's the public harbor there where tons of boats anchor. It's like a cross between summer camp and a Wes Anderson movie-- but a totally amazing experience. Yes, they live around the corner from us, we've been friends since grad school, our husbands are best friends, our kids are a few days apart and best friends. It's going to be a really hard year unless some sort of miracle occurs--metastatic breast cancer sucks.

 

[Imagineer5]

If you don't mind me jumping ahead a year in time <3 I wanted to make a quick post about the 2 nights we spent at the Great Wolf Lodge in Massachusetts for Aria's 5th birthday!

Well first, I made this cake because DH's family invited themselves over for a birthday party that I didn't really intend to plan...(hence GWL visit)...but Aria asked me for a Moana cake and well, I can't deny her that! It was weird looking but whatever.

The frosting consistency was strange and runny because it was dairy/egg free for Maya to enjoy. Inside was 4 layers - 2 chocolate and 2 strawberry made from scratch (and tasted really good!). Aria was excited to have Maya help her open presents (because SERIOUSLY best big sister ever, I am not exaggerating when I say that!)

Maya was a huge help, you can see here

SIL brought her new baby Nora to the "party" and Aria was excited to see her too.

And the next day, we were off! It's only like a 1 hr 15 min drive to GWL, which is a nice change! Supposedly you're not supposed to check in until 1PM, at which time your room may not be ready but you can enter the water park. However, we were sort of twiddling our thumbs at home and decided to leave around 10AM. Maya usually naps at 9:30-11 or so, and well, we wanted her to nap in the car, so this worked out okay.

We got there with no line to check in, room was ready, and we could use the water park! Wow.

Along with the water park, GWL offers a lot of "extras" not included in your stay but of course enticing to any kid: a build-a-bear type thing, arcade, mini golf, magi quest wand game, etc etc. When I did the online booking, they offered a "Wolf Pass" for $99, which included: Magiquest game with wand, build a bear with game, Ropes Course, Mini Golf, 10-pin bowling game, 2 Laser games, XD Theater, Engraved leather bracelet, Fill your own candy bucket, GWL Swim Goggles, and some other stuff that I'm forgetting. Anyway it seemed like a good deal, and also nice not to have to shell out 10 here, 20 there, etc.

So first up on our way to the water park, Aria wanted to do the build a bear thing. She picked Violet the Wolf.

We stopped at the snack shop for some sandwiches and caprese salad (terrible), and headed inside the water park - there are two sections in the MA one (not sure about other GWL) but one section has a huge splash pad type area, small lazy river, basketball hoop pool, a rope type thing to climb across, two tube slides and 1 body slide, and a hot tub that you can also go outdoors in. That's the side we started in. We found a table quickly and claimed it, which I was happy about since it was like Noon so I hadn't thought it would be easy to find a spot to sit!

I took a lot of photos on my water camera, so if anyone is interested I can do another update next Monday with those (since they are still on the camera). But basically the water park time consisted of one of us running off with Aria while the other stayed with Maya. Maya was not very happy in the water - it was COLD. I took Aria through the lazy river and splash pad and watched her do the ropes course which I was SO proud that she did all by herself on the first try, then proceeded to do about 10 more times throughout the trip!, then Andrew switched and took her on the tube slides and stuff.

Maya did find something fun to play with

Unfortunately that was the ONLY smile I got from her, and the ONLY time she actually wanted to play with something, the whole time we spent in the water park during the two days we went.

After we checked out the other side of the water park - which had another kiddie area with 3 slides, a wave pool (with the warmest water in the place!) and a super-awesome-looking family raft ride, Tornado adult raft ride, and a droppy type body slide, we headed back to the room to shower and get ready for dinner, I was really hungry!

Of course we were early, as the restaurant (there is only 1, and it's about the quality of Applebees) doesn't open until 5PM, so we decided to do one of the games that you can do with the build a bear.

This was pretty fun and easy and Aria enjoyed it. Then we checked in for dinner, they had a cute little opening show with loud music, dancing, and kids had balloons. Maya was being REALLY cute with her balloon but she kept pouncing on it! I worried it'd pop but it never did. Dinner was a buffet-style and the waitress had no idea what to do regarding Maya's allergies. Considering I've read numerous things regarding GWL and allergies, I was really worried about that. I asked a chef to come out and he did, took me through the buffet and showed me safe things (Kid's chicken nuggets, letter-shaped tater tots, fruit, I think that was it). We were told they are a 100% peanut-free facility so that allergy wasn't a problem.

She ate those items (she gets her tater tot love from me hehehe). Then I realized I forgot to ask about dessert so went through the process again.

At that point, I was told ALL of the desserts come from an outside dealer and they cannot guarantee the peanut allergy is safe - which IF that had been her only allergy, could mean serious trouble If I had assumed that they were all peanut free! WTH?

Anyway, the ONLY thing they had was raspberry sorbet. And no one knew how to get it. The chef told me to ask our server to get a scoop of it. The problem was we hadn't seen our server since we ordered drinks. I stopped someone else, who brought over another one, who got our server, who acted like she didn't know what sorbet was. ANyway this was all super annoying. And if Maya was older and saw her big sister eating a plateful of desserts, I think she would have been REALLY sad to get a raspberry sorbet as her only option. SO - if you go with older kids with allergies, I would def bring along some treats for them! I was really missing those crappy pre-packaged Enjoy Life cookies Disney at least has, lol!

After dinner, we relaxed in the room for a bit and got our PJ's on. at around 7:15 there is a dance party in the lobby, and at 8 there is a character story time, both of which Aria was excited about. Both are also way past Maya's bedtime, but she was in a decent mood.

Yes, I was in my Disney sweatshirt that has a castle and says "HOME" lol!

The girls had a lot of fun dancing, the storytime was OK (and PACKED!) but Aria had a really fun night so that was what was important!

Then we went to sleep! But, Maya didn't want to go to sleep, and next door to us through paper-thin walls was an obvious newborn baby who also didn't want to sleep. We didn't sleep well that night at all Maya woke up with a rash on her face unfortunately, so that meant that most likely something from dinner hadn't settled well for her (BTW, there are mini-fridges in the room, and I had brought along soy & almond milks for her).

Aria however woke up excited because SHE TURNED 5!! What! She started out with a few presents <3

This one came along with a Mommy Daughter dinner and a move date coupon to see the new BatB:

(And she asked to wear it all day long and skip the water park, but we didn't do that)

We headed to breakfast at that same restaurant, had a MUCH better server, and chef, who offered to cook her separate foods in dedicated safe fryers. He said at dinner time, the fried chicken is coated in BUTTERMILK and all fried together. I told him that the chef last night told us it was safe for a dairy allergy, and he said he would send out an email to inform people of the mistake. This was all I heard about the issue, and I'm still upset over it - we carry Maya's epipen everywhere, and aside from some Benadryl she didn't need it thankfully, but that is a huge deal to me!

Anyway, she enjoyed her safe potatoes and waffles though was refusing to try anything until I basically stuck my finger in the maple syrup and put it in her mouth lol, then she started eating. After breakfast we went to the water park, which opens at 9AM, and were there about 8:45. The line quickly built up. 9:05 and they still weren't open! BUt they finally did, we grabbed the table I had been eyeing which overlooked the splash pad, and headed in to play.

Maya took her first nap in the stroller after fussing about the cold water and we took turns playing with Aria. For lunch, Aria was excited to get the Tipping Bucket ice cream lol

Then we were ready to head out so did some baths and stuff, tried to get Maya to nap, and decided to go use Aria's wolf pass to do some stuff.

Oh yeah, first up was the mining company? Which was basically taking a bag of dirt, washing it off, and finding some rocks.

Aria did the ropes course (Andrew chaperoned since she is under 48")

We also did the mini golf, bowling, and grabbed her wand. All cute stuff, and I was really glad we had ordered the Wolf Pass. Then she wanted to finish opening presents!

Knowing our earlier issues, we brought Maya some packets for dinner, and headed down - Aria dressed as Belle of course.

Maya got another balloon

Aria was chosen to cut the rope for the opening ceremony at the restaurant

Dinner was OK, no buffet, and their interesting quesadilla choice with a "chipotle crème" and pepperjack cheese was actually a cheddar cheese stuffed typical quesadilla - very disappointing. They did bring out a birthday "worms in dirt" for the birthday girl.

Aria requested to do the storytime, I wasn't feeling well, so Andrew offered to bring her down while I got Maya to sleep earlier. But first they played!

This is a headband to match Willa, an AG Wellie Wisher, in case you were wondering LOL

That night, Maya was crying for a good 45 minutes, and would not fall asleep. Have I mentioned before hating having to all be in a regular room?! Ugh! She was such a pain, plus I had a really bad stomach ache. Aria had a lot of fun at hthe dance party and storytime. I was sick in the middle of the night (won't elaborate).

The next morning, we went to Dunkin Donuts (onsite) for breakfast, Aria did her final item on the Wolf Pass, a glitter tattoo, and we headed out - she actually didn't want to go to the water park again.

Once home, we started talking about her final 5th birthday present - getting her ears pierced - which we intended to do the following weekend. But we'd returned earlier than expected, so I called up Claire's and asked when they might have two people available to do it simultaneously, and we headed over there!

Aria did great - cried for maybe 15 seconds, got a lollipop, and now wants to show everyone her earrings and keeps saying that she is so happy she got it done.

All in all, it was a nice family time, but I wasn't too thrilled with GWL. The allergies were the main issue, but overall I thought the value was pretty poor (food prices are less than Disney, but quality is really REALLY bad). Water park was okay, but cold.

I can see MAYBE returning when Emma is like 3, Maya is 4, Aria is 9, and all can really enjoy things. And I can go down some water slides, bc I really missed that LOL!!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Sanaa is always great and that's awesome you were able to eat so much there!

What a great CM story that tracked down the bubble wand for you! And very glad that Aria seemed to enjoy it so much!

Also glad dinner went well and that you MIL enjoyed her steak!

Cape May breakfast for your departure day sounds like a great idea - especially when staying there - bummer more people didn't want to go but guess nice to have a mini mommy-daughter date. Glad the flight home wasn't too bad

sounds like a fun birthday - though sorry you didn't like GWL very much. The activities sound fun but the food situation does seem pretty poor

Side note, what is an "AG Wellie Wisher"?

Congrats to Aria on getting her ears pierced!

 

[amazingact21]

Sounds like Aria had a fantastic 5th birthday! While GWL didn't sound like the best place ever, Aria looked ecstatic in all your photos and seemed to be enjoying the celebration weekend. That Belle ball gown is gorgeous! I think I might need to do some casual looking at princess dresses for Evie's future.

I hate that GWL did so poor with Maya's allergies. Well, anyone's allergies. That's not something you can mess around with. I guess even when Disney has crummy options, at least they know what their food is cooked in and won't potentially harm a person.

So sorry you got sick your last night there. From someone who's been there, I can emphasize with you!

Aria's new earrings look great. She seems like she's at the perfect age to get her ears pierced.

 

[Imagineer5]

So, I filled out an online survey GWL sent me after the trip. I noted the allergy issue during the survey - and that night someone emailed me saying they were refunding both of our dinners to our CC! I am not a complainer, and only wanted it noted so that chefs in the future can think twice about something so serious, so I am really happy they took note.

Sanaa is always great and that's awesome you were able to eat so much there!

What a great CM story that tracked down the bubble wand for you! And very glad that Aria seemed to enjoy it so much!

Also glad dinner went well and that you MIL enjoyed her steak!

Cape May breakfast for your departure day sounds like a great idea - especially when staying there - bummer more people didn't want to go but guess nice to have a mini mommy-daughter date. Glad the flight home wasn't too bad

sounds like a fun birthday - though sorry you didn't like GWL very much. The activities sound fun but the food situation does seem pretty poor

Side note, what is an "AG Wellie Wisher"?

Congrats to Aria on getting her ears pierced!

It was a nice ending to the trip, and I didn't mind too much getting to take Aria by myself and leaving miss grumpy pants in the room

GWL was okay. It wasn't Disney. I think that is the issue - I have so much experience with going to Disney that even the flight, hotel, tickets etc to WDW sounds more appealing than a 1 hour drive to GWL lol.

Sorry, American Girl Wellie Wisher. It's their new-ish line of dolls that's meant for the 4-7 age range. They're really cute

Sounds like Aria had a fantastic 5th birthday! While GWL didn't sound like the best place ever, Aria looked ecstatic in all your photos and seemed to be enjoying the celebration weekend. That Belle ball gown is gorgeous! I think I might need to do some casual looking at princess dresses for Evie's future.

I hate that GWL did so poor with Maya's allergies. Well, anyone's allergies. That's not something you can mess around with. I guess even when Disney has crummy options, at least they know what their food is cooked in and won't potentially harm a person.

So sorry you got sick your last night there. From someone who's been there, I can emphasize with you!

Aria's new earrings look great. She seems like she's at the perfect age to get her ears pierced.

Aria had an absolute blast at GWL, although I was surprised on the last day when she said she didn't care to go back to the water park. Then still ranked GWL as high as Disney on her fun meter.

I am STILL sick. It has been a heck of a week, let me tell you. I've slept so poorly each night, and I've gone through about 5 boxes of tissues.

Just after turning 4 Aria started talking about getting earrings, so we decided to make it a "thing" by saying she could do them when she turns 5. She was a little nervous of course, but did so well and has said about 1000 times that she is so happy she has earrings now. She's also really good about keeping them clean, turning them in her ears, etc, so I definitely think it is the perfect age!

 

[mousehappync]

I am RIGHT there with you, sister, on the GWL. Haha-- I told you in my report what I did to avoid it this year. We go to the one in Charlotte, and it doesn't have a lot of the extras like the ropes course, but it does have a second restaurant that is decent. My biggest beef is actually the magic quest thing-- some of the stops are down the hallways with the rooms. Our kids are at an age where they don't always want us to go with them, and I worry about someone with bad intentions snatching a line kid in a hallway. I will be happy if we never go again

BUt-- it looks like Aria had a great time! Her dress is incredible-- I wish they made that in a grown-up size I would have been LIVID about the allergy stuff. I'm always amazed that places that are supposed to center around children don't take allergies seriously. I bet it made you miss Disney even more! Please tell Aria that her earrings look beautiful, and that she looks at LEAST six with them pierced. Five is such a big birthday-- very bittersweet. Happy, happy day to her!!

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Sorry, American Girl Wellie Wisher. It's their new-ish line of dolls that's meant for the 4-7 age range. They're really cute

ah, ok - our American Girl catalogs go right in the garbage before Olivia or Emma can see them so we are out of the loop on that

 

[Imagineer5]

I am RIGHT there with you, sister, on the GWL. Haha-- I told you in my report what I did to avoid it this year. We go to the one in Charlotte, and it doesn't have a lot of the extras like the ropes course, but it does have a second restaurant that is decent. My biggest beef is actually the magic quest thing-- some of the stops are down the hallways with the rooms. Our kids are at an age where they don't always want us to go with them, and I worry about someone with bad intentions snatching a line kid in a hallway. I will be happy if we never go again

BUt-- it looks like Aria had a great time! Her dress is incredible-- I wish they made that in a grown-up size I would have been LIVID about the allergy stuff. I'm always amazed that places that are supposed to center around children don't take allergies seriously. I bet it made you miss Disney even more! Please tell Aria that her earrings look beautiful, and that she looks at LEAST six with them pierced. Five is such a big birthday-- very bittersweet. Happy, happy day to her!!

That is really weird about having to go down room hallways for the Magiquest. We only did a couple of the quests, but never had to do that per se. I did enjoy the extra things they had, though would be awesome if it was all bundled together in price (and you didn't have to walk through the arcade to get to the water park - I HATE arcades about as much as I hate casinos). Yuck!

I'm sure the designer could make you a Belle dress lol!

Hahaha she will love that compliment! Thank you! It is weird that she is 5, BUT also fits her? IDK she just seems so much older, probably because next to Maya she IS so much older lol. But people ask if I am ready for her to start school, and honestly I think she is 1000% ready! And I am ready bc I think she will love learning alongside other kids.

ah, ok - our American Girl catalogs go right in the garbage before Olivia or Emma can see them so we are out of the loop on that

Hahaha next time see if there is a 20% off coupon in there you can share they tend to send them to people who never order, not those who buy all the time.

 

[Imagineer5]

On an off-topic note, I am heading to Seattle on Saturday! (hoping to be over this never-ending cold by then!). I have meetings Tuesday & Wednesday outside of Seattle. If you didn't know, I grew up there, so Saturday & Sunday nights I'm staying with my Step-father Dennis' sister. They stayed with us in October and it was the first time we saw them in 6 years, so funny I'll see them again so soon!

I can't remember if I commented on the TR about the trip - when I first found out about the meetings I jumped at the opportunity, then priced out having Andrew, Aria and Maya come. But Andrew just doesn't have the time off and we didn't really have the free $$ for an unexpected trip, plus a place to stay (we wouldn't all stuff into someone's small city house). So it'll just be me.

I intend to do lots of driving around, see the house I grew up in, the school I went to, University Village shopping area where I worked at Pasta & Co my Junior year of high school (saving up for my 1st ever trip to WDW!). I'll hopefully be able to see my step-sister (Dennis' daughter) and her kiddos on Sunday. Monday I'll spend in downtown Seattle, going to my favorite restaurant Wild Ginger, seeing the Chihuly exhibit (which is new since I moved, but I have been to his studio outside Seattle before), visiting a really cool toy store called Magic Mouse Toys, and probably Pike Place Market to look for some gifts to bring home.

Then Mon-Thursday I'll be about 1.5 hours away from Seattle in a hotel room near Bainbridge Island.

Trying to think of adult-solo-time things to do, I've already downloaded a couple new books to my Kindle App & Audible app. Weather is going to be chilly but the hotel has an indoor pool so I might check that out. There isn't too much to do in the area where I'll be at the meetings, and while I'm sure many co-workers (who I don't know well) will be getting drinks/dinner after the meetings on Tuesday & Wednesday that doesn't really appeal to me (read: I can't drink so any further work talk sounds pretty awful lol).

But I'm excited about getting a little time to myself, especially considering #3 will be here in just over 2 months and I'll be home with all 3 for 3 months (which I am really looking forward to of course, but it's a little daunting to imagine Maya and a newborn at the same time).

So if you had a few days to yourself, what would you do!?

 

[TheMaxRebo]

You already have the Chihuly exhibit on your list - that was one of our favorite things we did in Seattle.

The other things were Brewery and Winery Tours - so that obviously doesn't help you

We did brunch in the restaurant at the top of the Space Needle and that was really nice

 

[Imagineer5]

You already have the Chihuly exhibit on your list - that was one of our favorite things we did in Seattle.

The other things were Brewery and Winery Tours - so that obviously doesn't help you

We did brunch in the restaurant at the top of the Space Needle and that was really nice

There are so many things I wanted to do WITH the girls & Andrew, such as the space needle, zoo, pacific science center, etc - next trip when we all go together!!

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

I can't believe how big the girls are, especially Maya. She's such a little thing in the trip report.

What a special birthday present for Aria, Great Wold Lodge. So sorry you had all the issues with the food. That's such a big touristy place, you'd think they could do a better job.

How exciting that you get to go on a solo adventure. I realize it's still work but hopefully you'll be able to do a lot of fun things too.

 

[schmass]

I was so surprised to read how bad GWL was about the food allergies. I had read this article https://www.allergyeats.com/great-wolf-lodge-the-gold-standard-of-food-allergy-staycations/ last year and it stuck with me how great they were supposed to be! Good to know that at least in MA, that is not the case! Although with cold water in the pools, I'm not exactly going to rush to get there anyway!

Happy Birthday to Aria!

 

[mousehappync]

Am I boring, because room service, a 9 pm bed time and watching junky tv is what I would do with evenings alone! I also know nothing about the area at all, but that sounds like a lovely little jaunt! Hope your cold goes away soon-sickness and pregnancy do not mix!

 

[Imagineer5]

I can't believe how big the girls are, especially Maya. She's such a little thing in the trip report.

What a special birthday present for Aria, Great Wold Lodge. So sorry you had all the issues with the food. That's such a big touristy place, you'd think they could do a better job.

How exciting that you get to go on a solo adventure. I realize it's still work but hopefully you'll be able to do a lot of fun things too.

Hahah I know, it was a big jump forward from the TR for Aria's 4th birthday to her 5th!! Sorry about that! lol.

I'm looking forward to it - esp since I get to revisit so many places. I'll be gone 5 nights but only working two days so not too bad!

I was so surprised to read how bad GWL was about the food allergies. I had read this article https://www.allergyeats.com/great-wolf-lodge-the-gold-standard-of-food-allergy-staycations/ last year and it stuck with me how great they were supposed to be! Good to know that at least in MA, that is not the case! Although with cold water in the pools, I'm not exactly going to rush to get there anyway!

Happy Birthday to Aria!

Agreed, I had read very good things about allergies at GWL - that they were up there with Disney in terms of taking care of kiddos. I called ahead and spoke to a chef too regarding it and he seemed really knowledgable. I need to learn to be a better advocate and ask more questions, I guess? Maybe they will really take my complaints to heart, though.

Am I boring, because room service, a 9 pm bed time and watching junky tv is what I would do with evenings alone! I also know nothing about the area at all, but that sounds like a lovely little jaunt! Hope your cold goes away soon-sickness and pregnancy do not mix!

LOL! I'm not sure about room service as an option (remember, government per diem budget here, so no frills!) but yeah, that is what I will most likely do (normally that'd be accompanied by a bottle of wine, but that's out).

Thanks, I feel like I might be finally on the mend? Of course, DH is getting an itchy throat and it's the end of the world - another reason I'm sort of glad to be leaving. He can learn how it is to deal with a cold AND the kids, as I've been doing that without complaint the last week (after work and on the weekends anyway). I wouldn't be surprised if his mom miraculously shows up to help out (eye rolling). I'm going to have to listen to it from now until Saturday though.