Bedtime Necessities

Carolina's before-bed-beauty routine:

Pearls- check.

Bow- check.

Something sweet- check.

And she's off to get her beauty sleep!

Great Wolf Fall Vacation

I have SO much catching up to do on our blog so I'll try my best to catch up and keep things in some kind of order.

Way back in October, we were super stressed! We had been near closing on a house and had changed our minds and were starting to negotiate on another house (our final choice!). We had been to so many houses and spent so much energy in the process and the whole family was just D-O-N-E with house hunting/buying.

Mike and I had wanted to do some sort of getaway in the summer but all of the house stuff just kept dragging on and there were so many papers to supply to lenders and the seller each day that we just couldn't go on any kind of trip away. We were desperate for some down time and some quality family time.


We love Great Wolf Lodge because it is so close (15 minutes from our old house) and yet it feels like a world away! We booked a night there right at the end of October ( and coinciding with Mike and Carolina's birthdays) and it was so much fun.

This was our third trip to Great Wolf so Clay was pretty familiar with the territory but Carolina didn't really remember it much. This time she was old enough to do so much by herself and she had a blast.



I didn't take many (if any) pictures the first day because I really wanted to enjoy just being with the kids and not worrying about the perfect shot (or dropping my camera in the water!) so all the pictures are from day two.

Our kids are best friends and we love that. It was so neat watching them pal around together and do slides and just have a good time.






I love this next pic because that HUGE splash coming at Clay is little Carolina! Can you see her sweet feet at the bottom of the splash?


We really encourage the kids to be brave and do things a little out of their comfort zones and they both do so well. We were so proud to see them do the BIG water slides that are three stories tall (they don't have any height requirements on them either!).

(This isn't anyone from our family on this slide but look how big it is and both kids conquered it!!)

Carolina wasn't a huge fan of the big slides but she has such a strong spirit that she didn't complain at all. Clay LOVED the big slides. He and Mike would go to the top and he would be down and back up before Mike was even finished going down all the way. I love seeing them be adventurous!

Carolina loved so much about Great Wolf but one of her absolute favorite parts was the rack of life vests. They had several of them scattered about the water park and each rack had about 50 life vests. Can you just imagine the fun of being (almost) two and having an unlimited supply of things to buckle?? She loved it!


The toddler area was the popular place for us on this trip. They have great slides for toddlers and the water is a little warmer than everywhere else. The kids loved doing the smaller slides again and again. Clay still wasn't a huge fan of the wave pool or the lazy river but the hot tub was a big hit with both kids.


The second day, in addition to the water park, we went to the Kid's Club and decorated a pumpkin and played in their playhouse. The kids had such a great time painting the pumpkin and Mike and I loved sitting back and watching them play.




At nighttime, they have a clock tower puppet show which is really sweet and totally captures our little ones' attention.


Since we went so close to Halloween, there was a costume contest every night. The show is really fun but it was so special for them to see all the other costumes and do the extra activities for Halloween.


Clay got to go up and show off his costume and say his name. He did such a good job and the other kids loved his penguin costume! We did the clock tower show two different nights so it was fun to get one more use out of last year's costume and this year's too.



I was so proud of Clay taking a picture with the wolf. He used to be so scared of all things in costumes and now he is so big and brave!


We had the absolute best time at Great Wolf this trip. I am so glad we decided to go! We didn't think about the house dilemma or talk about it. It's so nice to shut off our phones and not worry about anything except Clay and Carolina. They loved having our full focus and we loved getting to shower them with attention without distractions. I could have stayed so much longer but...there was a house deal to be made!

We love, love, love Great Wolf Lodge and we are already looking forward to our next trip!

Our Strong-willed Child

Yes, she has on fleece footie pajamas and a puffy jacket. Some battles just aren't worth the fight.

Welcome Home!

The Skloss family has moved! We just purchased our first home and we couldn't be happier! It's been months of searching, signing contracts and houses falling through but we are so happy and relieved to have closed and moved in to our new home.

Here's some of the details:

We went from 3 bedroom, 2 bath, 1200+ sq. ft apartment to a brand new, 5 bedroom, 3 bath, 2871 sq. ft house. It's been a BIG change for us! We are loving having so much living space, closet space and a playroom (and one of my favorite spots--a laundry/mud room).

We've been moved in just two weeks today and the kids are adjusting so well. Clay is always eager to go "back to my new house" whenever we are out running around town. Mike and I are just thrilled to have more space for EVERYTHING.

More details to come on our new space (with lots of pictures) but for now--I've got boxes to unpack!!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Carolina!

Carolina turned two yesterday! She had a sweet little day except that she was a little under the weather.

We started her morning off with her birthday bucket and a birthday song. She wasn't shy about her song--just a little confused, I think. She immediately got into her bucket which had some of her favorite things. She got Elmo, Cookie Monster and Big Bird figurines, an Elmo book, a birthday play outfit, a birthday dress, a birthday gown and some foam letters and numbers for the tub. She wasn't too impressed with the clothes (maybe next year!) but she loved her Sesame Street stuff and her letters/numbers.

She came out to the living room to her big birthday surprise-- a see saw! It's the perfect size for her and Clay but it took her a little while to warm up. She finally got on it and she and Clay got going and boom! she fell forward and hit her face. Oops.

It took her a long time to calm down from her fall but we got settled and ate a breakfast taco birthday breakfast (complete with candle/song). She was still pretty whiny as the morning went on so we could tell she was feeling a little yucky.

We went to the Purple Cow for lunch and she continued to act puny while we were there. She laid her head on Nana's shoulder the whole time we ate lunch and barely touched her strawberry ice cream for dessert. As nice as it was to have a quiet lunch, we all missed her normal wild restaurant diner self (especially on her birthday!).



We were supposed to head to the Nature and Science Museum after lunch but we were worried that Carolina wouldn't be up to it. We had a quick change of plans and headed to the "Animal Museum" instead (AKA Petland).


The kids both had a great time there and it was the perfect place for our little animal lover on her birthday. We played with a puppy, pet rabbits and all the other little creatures they have. She loved it!




We came home and the kids went down for naps and I started on her cake creation. I was very unsure about what kind on cake to make but at the last minute I found one I liked and it worked out well.

We did our (younger years) birthday tradition with a small party and Aunt Rebecca came over and joined us. Since Carolina's such a homebody, we grilled fajitas and did fun sides.


After dinner, Carolina got to eat her Sesame Street cake (she recognized all of the characters--thank goodness!) and open all of her presents and she caught us by surprise. She was really into the gifts and couldn't wait to open another one.



Some of her gifts this year were a latches board, a Cinderella costume, a princess book with sounds, a magnetic wooden dress-up doll, a membership to the Nature and Science Museum, some new CD's and a counting piggy bank. She loves them all!





We ended our night with a drive around looking for Halloween decorations and it was the perfect end to the perfect 2nd birthday!

Two Little Pumpkins

Grapefest 2010

Back in Mid-September, we heard that Grapefest was happening and I thought it would be a cute little outing for the kids. Luckily, Anita was willing to extend her visit for a few hours to give me a hand and we had such a great time!

We went early in the morning and there was an area (totally free!) that had a huge sandbox, an area with 20 or so tricycles to ride, a petting zoo, tables with crayons and tables with playdough and blocks. It was so nice and completely uncrowded.

Clay immediately went for the block table and Carolina went and sat down right next to him--so sweet.




Clay loved playing on the bikes and Carolina liked playing at the playdough table with Nana. We switched kids back and forth and hit all the areas. It was morning so the weather was still pretty mild and they had stations set up with water. Everything was in close proximity and the kids had a blast moving from one play place to another.




Clay was a little wild in the petting zoo and tried to chase the rabbits around. I think they reminded him of our cat, Landry, and he just wanted to sit and hold one. That didn't happen. I had to put my foot down though when he tried to pick up the miniature goat. Oops.



Carolina wanted to stay in the petting zoo area for a good part of the time but everywhere we went she would stand at the fence and watch all of the rides. She was so eager to ride something (which came as absolutely no surprise to me given the adventure queen that she is).


Finally, when we had played in the play area for a while we decided to go try out some rides. Nana got us some tickets for the carousel and we watched as it went around, excited for our turn. When it finally came to our turn, Carolina was NOT having it. Anita had tried taking her on and when she wouldn't stop kicking and screaming, I tried too. Needless to say, Carolina and I watched from the sidelines and she was more than happy with that.


We decided to pick another ride and see if she would do okay on that. Clay picked some bears (reminiscent of the spinning tea cups) and I tried to take her in there. Again, lots of kicking and screaming. I guess it turns out she's not so adventurous after all! Oh well, I was excited to ride since I've always loved rides and I was talking big about how they never make me sick. Well, that was before 72 turns inside of an enclosed bear. I didn't lose my lunch but I did feel like I was on that ride for the next two days or so. Clay loved every second.

We let Clay ride on some airplanes and he loved those too (no such luck with little sister).

Finally, we decided to let Carolina pick a ride she would like to go on. She chose some cars that didn't actually leave the ground. We got up to her turn in line and the ticket man said she was too short. Bummer.

After our adventures on the rides, Anita and I decided it was time for some air conditioning. We had lunch at a cute little Italian restaurant that also had some awesome gelato.



Grapefest definitely exceeded my expectations and I'm so glad we went- and I'm so glad Nana got to share it, too!