Almost Hawaii

Michael had the week off last week (random right? No, he can't have Christmas, Thanksgiving or Spring Break . . . I guess the last week in January was the next best choice). On Wednesday Michael and Seth spent an evening in the nosebleed seats at the Jazz vs Trailblazers game watching the Jazz clean house. Michael cheered for the Jazz, Seth for the Trailblazers. At least they can still agree on the Red Sox.

Thursday we took the kiddos to Great Wolf Lodge indoor water park and hotel for a couple of days. Because if you can't go to Hawaii, an 84 degree water park with three rambunctious punks is the next best thing!

Alice on the jet-ski. Those who eat like birds shall have skinny little bird legs. So let it be written, so let it be done.
Not surprisingly, Seth was the most aggressive with his water.
My family on a floating sea serpent.
This was the charming little sleeping area for the kiddos in our hotel room. They were exhausted by the end of day one . . . and we still had another day to go!
The Lodge has an interactive scavenger hunt (Magi Quest) all around the building. We bought the kids a wand and they completed quests, found treasure, saved pixies and became Master Magi.

At the clock tower for the bedtime show and story. The punks liked it, but the animatronics don't hold a candle to Disney's. Sorry Great Wolf.
The next day we were back in the water! Shocker . . . a picture of yours truly in a swimsuit! I had to crop this picture . . . you could see a little too much of Cleveland. Michael likes the original shot, but I thought the internet wasn't ready for it yet.
Seth would have lived in this wave pool the entire two days if we had let him. He enjoyed it even more than the water slides. Thomas is bellowing "Don't let the water 'plash my eyes!"

Vixie let us borrow their waterproof camera. Groovy, huh?
Almost Hawaii, people. Almost. We still had a famously good time.

Going Coastal

We rented a little pedal-surrey and toured Seaside in it. Boy, did my legs burn by the time our hour was up.
Ate corn dogs, ice cream, and a pound and a half of Saltwater Taffy. My nutritional neurosis was on vacation.
The Oregon Coast is not famous for its warm sunny atmosphere, but there is still sand and water . . . and that's enough for us.
Michael has a tendency to fall asleep whenever he sits or lies down (yesterday he fell asleep in a chair in the lawn & garden display at Target while the kids and I shopped for school supplies). Falling asleep on the beach is a dangerous thing to do.
It's just like Baywatch!
On the way home we stopped and ate at a local landmark, The Pig N Pancake. It's not recommended, but we felt like we needed to try it out at least once as we've been making fun of it for four years.