Most of July 2011

July is when the reality of summer break kicks in as does fitting in all the fun you can before the summer ends.  The water playdates continued.  Lil Charlotte was precious in her suit, Jack & Nathan had a ball pouring water on each other, and Noah.....well, Noah was Noah.....CHILL!  

The Relle Clan decided to take advantage of the Gaylord Texan's (Grapevine, TX ~25 miles from Dallas) educator special of $99 a night.  I have stayed there before with both Nick and Angela in the past.  The facility is very overpriced, does not have a lot to do other than eat, and their pool leaves a lot to be desired.  But with this price and the opening of their new "water park" we decided it was worth giving it a try just to get out the house (particularly for Jack who didn't get out as much because of his baby brother....and his Mama does not like the HEAT!).  We checked into the hotel, Jack was so excited about the room....could have gone to a Holiday Inn a long time ago if we had known a room (like the ones at home) would be so fascinating for him.  We suited and lubed up then headed to the bus stop to ride to the park which was down the street but within the property.  Noah and I scored chairs (might have stolen them....still up for question) that had an umbrella.  That umbrella was the only thing that saved us because it was HOT!  Jack was too young to do a lot of the more involved activities but he LOVED the lazy river so that was great to cool off.  Jack and Nick played basketball a few times in one of the larger pools and we all played in the toddler area with Noah who LOVED the water even more when in a bigger scale than our plastic pool out back. I snuck in some food and drinks although we splurged for some junk food and a slushie.  We stayed for a long time and contemplated sticking around for the dive in movie later that evening to watch Cars, but decided against it since the room seemed to be enough to make Jack content and we'd all be more comfortable there.  So we changed out of our suits, had a loud but tasty dinner at The Rainforest Cafe in the Grapevine Mills Mall (dessert and all) then called it a night.  Noah had troubles sleeping (we didn't even bring up the pack and play thinking he'd love to sleep with me like at home).  Nick took him strolling up and down the halls and yet again, got the attention of every pretty lady a long the way.  The next day we braved the water park again and had a great time since we knew the lay of the land.  Dinner from LeMadeline on the way home (which luckily was only 25 minutes away rather than a long road trip).  Not much travel time+ Laid back agenda+ Almost reasonable amount of money spent= Great Staycation Summer of 2011!

 Here are a few bonus pics from the month.  Our sweet Noah rub-a-dub-dubbing in the kitchen sink.  LOVE that precious face of his!!! Jack and I didn't do as many of my planned summer activities as I had hoped, but we did manage to find the time and patience for a few of them.  Here is one of our marshmallow/toothpick structures.  Fun and tasty activity.  And what is the summer without lazy days, fun times, naps, and late bedtimes with late mornings.  Noah enjoyed the summer nights the same way as the end of the school year...in bed with his Mama and Daddy.....and neither of us minded a bit!