My Beautiful Mess

So many people have asked me about our little family vacation that I thought I’d finally get it onto my blog! This was actually our second trip to The Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine, Texas - we got to go last year with my mom, step-dad, and my brother and his family, courtesy of my mom and step-dad, and had such a great time that we take our little crew back this summer!

Though some may say the place is expensive, you have to consider what you might pay to stay in a hotel and for entrance to a waterpark for the entire family. At Great Wolf, everything is right there! All of your entertainment and food (though food prices are a little high). We took a step-up in our room selection since this was our only get-a-way this summer. The boys loved having their “own den.”

Great Wolf is open year-round since the majority of their “fun stuff” is all indoors. But during the summer, the outside pool and slides are also open. This year, Drew was tall enough to ride all but 2 slides (with an adult)!

And these are the steps that it takes to get to those slides - steps Ryan and I took over and over…and over…and over again!

But his excitement was worth it!

Not having a water-proof camera, it was difficult to take pics - most of these I took on our last day there and Cooper was off trying to become a Magi (tell ya about that in a minute) - but this was some of Cooper’s favorite things:

Floating lily-pads and animals - Coop loved climbing all over these! And don’t ask me about it, but I gave these lily pads a try - not a pretty sight!

This water fort is a blast to climb through! Plus, every 10 minutes or so, a large bucket dumps 1,000 gallons of water on top of it - and everyone in there! Drew did not like this area!

The other activity my boys loved was the MagiQuest - “a one-of-a-kind, live-action adventure game. Armed with high-tech wands, your family must solve magical challenges throughout the resort to gain powers (and points) and move to higher levels of the game.”

The quests take you all over the lodge (8 floors) so yes, this also required lots of stairs!!

This activity is an extra charge (buy the wand and pay to play) but one cool thing to note is that once you buy a wand, you can re-use it each time you come back. Cooper got one last year so all we had to pay for him was the $10 fee to re-activate it. Our entire family had so much fun solving these quests - and we saw many more parents getting involved with their kids!

Magi Drew and his wand

The biggest and most difficult task is defeating the dragon!! We talked to lots of kids and parents who had tried over and over again to defeat it so we were uncertain as to how things we go for us. As a matter of fact, when we were standing in line to give it a try, the family behind us was in line for their tenth try! But, behold, Magi Cooper DEFEATED the dragon in…how many tries??? ONE!!! And when you do, you get a special “badge” that says “I am a Quest Master at Great Wolf Lodge”. He was sooo excited!!

Defeating the Dragon

Dad pinning on his badge

We left the lodge proud, happy, and tired! Several times since we have been home, one of us has stated “I miss Great Wolf Lodge!” We highly recommend it!

A few other tips: every room has a microwave and small fridge so take food for breakfast and lunch. Then go to downtown Grapevine to eat dinner. Also, as for length of stay - we stayed 3 nights last summer and 2 nights this summer. Though room check-in is at 4pm, you can start using the water park and activities at 1pm. And though check-out is at 11am, you can use the water park  and do the activities all day! And get up and go - it is way less crowded on the slides if you get there when doors open at 9am! So chomp down some powdered sugar donuts, forgo the shower, throw on your swim suit and go!

Any other recommendations for family vacations?

When we knew that Dad was not going to leave the hospital, when we knew that the pancreatic cancer was too advanced, my younger brother almost immediately felt that he wanted to speak at Dad’s service. I started to think about doing the same, but felt uncertain as to if I could. And then one morning, I woke up early and the words were just there. I knew what I wanted to say. I knew that I wanted to let people know that, at least for the 36 years I knew him, this was the kind of man Dad was. And it did feel good to stand in the front of the church (thank God for a huge, sturdy altar to lean against!), to look out at all of the faces of those who loved him, and to honor Dad with memories that are full of love and laughter and a legacy. Below are those words. I also plan to detail out some of those memories in later posts, creating a new category called Dad Memories, so that I can have them all in writing - for times when I need them….

Thank you so much for being here today with us to celebrate Daddy’s life. This place is full because there is no one who ever met Dad and didn’t like him. He made everyone feel comfortable and genuinely respected. Even if he ever made you mad, I’m bettin’ you still liked him! But I have to know, if he did make you mad, afterwards did he look at you and ask “Do you want to wrestle?” because he did that to me all the time and I hated it!

Since Daddy was such a good Daddy, the best kind, I have a few parenting tips that I think Dad would have wanted you to know, especially if you are a daddy with a daughter:

· When she is little and she can’t sleep, give her a nose rub. She’ll go right out.

· When she starts first grade and she is scared about staying there all day and she feels sick every time she has to go….give her a silver dollar and tell her it is her “magic coin” – when she holds it she won’t miss home so much and her tummy will feel better.

· When she has dance recitals – year after year after year after….Go! Neither of you will forget it.

· When she is in Girl Scouts and it is cookie sales time, take the order form to work and sell those suckers to EVERYONE! Your daughter just might win “Highest Cookie Sales” and you might just become an honorary card-carrying-Girl Scout, like Dad!

· When she is in junior high and she goes to the movies with her friends, when you go to pick her up, even though you know she sees you, honk the van anyway, just to be sure! This will make her really angry, but for some reason you’ll think it is sooo funny! (And then you can ask her if she wants to wrestle!)

· When she turns 16 and starts to drive, tell her things like “If you get a ticket, I get your keys.” And sound real serious about it. But when she gets her first ticket and hands you her keys, turn all soft and give her keys back.

· Starting very young, keep telling your daughter that Oklahoma State University is the best college around. Take her to lots of games, and you just might brainwash her into going there – and believing that it is the best college around!

· When she is getting married, complain about the amount of money this is costing you, but then cry when you walk her down the aisle. And even though you are quite certain that her new husband will never be able to care for her like you do, love him like a son anyway.

· When she starts to have kids and she goes into labor, be at the hospital – bring her beautiful roses from Sam’s and be sure to bring a fishing pole for your grandsons. Neither of you will forget this either.

· And when your family goes through hard times, keep telling your daughter that you love her. Give her lots of grace and keep asking “what can I do?” even though there might not be anything you can do.

I have two boys, Drew age 5 and Cooper age 7, and I asked them what they liked doing with their Papa. They talked about planting sunflower seeds, feeding the birds outside and the fish in his 3 aquariums, and spending the 4^th of July with him this summer. I asked them how they would describe Papa – and after talking about what the word “describe” means, they settled on “funny – Papa was funny.”

So maybe I could have just told you this: LOVE! Love your family, love your friends, love God, love life. That is what Daddy did. He sowed seeds of love wherever he went. I am a part of the legacy of that love and if you knew him, so are you.

During the past week, some people have said, “Jenn, I am sure you are asking “Why?” right now?” But actually I am not. I don’t need to know why. And though I may feel that all of this is really unfair and may feel a little cheated, there are a few things I have come to believe thus far in my life –

God is very, very big…..He is very, very good….and He loves us very, very much.

I read this in Proverbs 3 this week and thought “this says so much about my dad and so my about my Lord.” So I leave with this from The Message:

Don’t lose your grip on Love and Loyalty.
Tie them around your neck; carve their initials on your heart.
Earn a reputation for living well
in God’s eyes and the eyes of the people.

Trust God from the bottom of your heart;
don’t try to figure out everything on your own.
Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go;
he’s the one who will keep you on track.
Don’t assume that you know it all.
Run to God!

In Oklahoma, when it is cold, we usually get ice not snow. It is a major drag. Especially if you have to drive any where. People in Oklahoma get freaked out when they have to drive on ice. Now, I’m not saying that I don’t, at times, get freaked out. I’m just saying, that perhaps, we all don’t need to be quite so cautious. It is probably O.K. to go more than 25 mph. Or perhaps we should all plan a little better, leave a little earlier. I’m just saying…Because it is hard to believe that a drive to where I work in downtown OKC from my kids’ school, a drive that normally takes 20 minutes, should TAKE 45 FREAKIN’ MINUTES!!! I’m just saying…

If it were not for the spiced pumpkin cappuccino that I stopped to get at the 7-11….if it were not for the new Alli Rogers Christmas CD playing in my minivan…if it were not for the fact that my rockin’ minivan has positraction (to be said with a New York accent like Lisa in My Cousin Vinny) so it totally rocks on ice…then i would have LOST MY EVER LOVIN’ MIND this morning!!!

I’m just saying….

On Thursday, we traveled into the enemy territory known as Norman, OK - home of that other university! We got there just in time to eat lunch on campus corner at a great place called New York Pizza and Deli - a tasty recommendation from Ryan’s co-worker, Jake. Then we went to the Sam Noble Museum of Natural History, or The Dinosaur Museum, as The Boys call it. Currently on exhibit is the Super Croc, featuring the real fossil skull of sarchosucus imperator who lived 110 million years ago. The best part of our day, however, was getting an unplanned guided tour from Tearle, an older gentleman who is a volunteer tour guide. He took a-liking to Cooper (of course who wouldn’t - he’s a great kid), and gave him and Ryan lots of interesting pieces of information, along with an occasional joke, as they went through the Hall of Ancient Life! Thanks, Mr. Tearle - you were a helpful guide!

(I think everything is working now. I can now properly use tags and categories, though I will need to go back and re-tag and re-categorize past posts - someday! But everything is working - hopefully!)

Before I completely hyperventilate and fall to the floor because school starts in 8 DAYS, we are squeezing in every last drop of summertime and time together that we can get! So in that effort, Ryan took a few days off from work this past week, and we traveled to some great Oklahoma destinations! (slide show follows) You can also get some great deals on admission prices to lots of Oklahoma spots by going to Metro Family Magazine’s Exploring Oklahoma website - our kids got in free to all the places we went! Even better!
On Wednesday, we went back to POPS in Arcadia, this time to take Daddy and because it was their 1st Birthday! They hosted a great party with a moon bounce, inflatable slide, an incredible face painter, a hysterical clown, and free cupcakes! We finally had some cloud cover that day so it wasn’t even that hot which was a bonus! Cooper was completely enamored with Chester the Clown and followed him around everywhere, waiting to be part of another magic trick or some funny bit. Drew wants the face-painter to be at his birthday party! So in other words, we had lots of fun! Happy Birthday, POPS!