the best day EVER!

 We told the kids it was time to go...but didn't mention where. They all assumed we were taking Rebecca back home (because they knew nothing of the luggage in the trunk or packed food). No one even questioned why Brian was going with us on a Monday. Hilarious! 

Braden felt sick for the first half of the drive which was sad for mama but perked up after eating lunch. The kids did lots of talking and played games before I passed out electronics (which they played together somehow:) 

After two hours and no questions from them we said we were no longer in North Carolina. We learned that we need to work on geography because we asked where they thought we were and the answers were: Alabama! Georgia! South Carolina! West Virginia!  Uh...no. Once they figured out Virginia (by looking at signs) they assumed we were going to mom and dad's....until I said it only took 3 hours to get there.

Half way on our trip Brian realized he forgot Rebecca's suitcase. The entire thing. So we stopped off at Walmart to get her some clothes to wear (of course it would be the ONE time I didn't pack extra for the kids or we would've been all set!) I totally messed with the kids and told them that we had arrived. They did NOT think driving three hours to go to Walmart was very fun and let me know lol! Thankfully they were so focused on each other that they somehow missed the Great Wolf Lodge signs that were EVERYWHERE!

 We told them to look up and see where we were. THIS was their reaction

 They were slightly excited:).  Then Rebecca found out we were sleeping there and was even MORE excited! (It hit me that the only time she had been there was for a day special)

 It was all decked out for Christmas and beautiful inside!

 We haven't been to the Williamsburg GWL before so it was fun to explore new things like the lazy river, surf simulator, and hot tub:).

 Ephram LOVED his time there and was much more into it than the last time we took him! He went down all the slides he could go down over and over, played in fountains, came with us in the wave pool and down the lazy river.

 One of the main reasons we wanted to bring Rebecca was because we were going with the Klick's and new that all the other kiddos would have a best bud there.  It was so great for each of them to have a friend but it also meant we didn't see much of them! Cailey, Braden, and Kinsey were usually off going down slides with friends while I played with Ephram. It was also fun to go down slides with the grown ups...then with each of the kiddos.

 The toddler area was fun and the younger girls spent time going down those slides with Carter and Ephram.

 having a BLAST!

 the kids liked this surf simulator and Braden got quite good at it!

 Girls getting ready after a full day of fun...I opened the door and found them drawing on the mirror.

 We got an awesome homeschooling deal a few months back (kept this secret a while!) where we could stay in any room for the same price so we picked this amazing one!  Brian and I had a separate room and there was a huge eating area.

 After dinner we went down for story time and it SNOWED!

all the kiddos together! ours, the klick's, and the millers!

 

Ephram and I headed back to the room while the other kids went to the arcade with
Brian. Since he couldn't go he got a special present: Wolfie!  Both Ephram and I were alseep before
9:00!

 Day two (Tuesday)...ready to go!  We were down as soon as it opened so the kids could go on slides over and over again with no waiting.

 finally able to capture great pics of them on day two!  These four went down on everything over and over again.

 This was the first time that they SAID Braden was tall enough for the tornado. I'm not sure how that happened since Kinsey is a little taller than him but we let him go on.  He LOVED it!

 Then they had races...which the girls won both times:)

 Caroline and Kinsey had fun going down the slides together too! All four girls went down for a while.

 carter and ephram in the toddler area

 snuggling in the wave pool

 they were cold at this point...LOVE this picture!

 quick lunch break before going back in

 We stayed until 4 then drove home to do the Jesse tree and unpack.  The girls thought they had one more night together and then I told them another surprise. That the next day (Wednesday) Laura and all the kids were coming for another night!