Hailey finished kindergarten on a Tuesday.  On Wednesday morning we got up and told her to get ready for a surprise trip!  She got ready super fast and kept asking where we were going.  We would not tell her or give her any hints at all.

In the car, all ready to go- so excited!

Hunter was not as excited, nor did he enjoy the car ride hahaha

When we got to Niagara Falls Hailey recognized the area from when we were there last year.  She still didn’t know where we were staying though.

The Great Wolf Lodge

She was just a little bit excited when we got inside.  She loved that she could walk around howling

Check-in isn’t until 4, but you can start playing in the water park at 1pm on your arrival day.  We got there around 2 and our room was ready when we arrived.  Yay!!  So, we went to go check out our room.  Instead of room keys the Great Wolf Lodge uses bracelets that you hold up to the door to open it up.  Hailey thought that was pretty fun!  We also added a credit card to our bracelets (mine and Rich’s) so that we could make purchases without having to carry any money or credit cards.

Our room

Hailey stayed in the Wolf Den- she loved it!  She had her own little room and her own TV.  She thought that was really neat!!  And it worked out nicely at night because I could put Hunter to bed out in our room (they provided a Pack and Play for him) while Hailey could stay up and watch TV.

More of our room

After checking out our room we got ready to head to the water park.

Hunter all ready for his first swimming experience.

We were on the lobby level (I had requested this), which I had thought was going to be the same level as the water park.  The water park was actually down one more level, but it worked out perfectly and I’m actually glad we were on the level we were.

We looked around the water park while we were trying to find a table to park at.  We brought Hunter’s stroller in with us, which worked out great!  I’m so glad they allow strollers.  He liked being strolled around while he watched all the action.  Then later when he was ready for a nap I had somewhere to put him while he slept.

Some of the water slides.  They are all actually much bigger than they look.  They go outside of the building and swirl around before coming back in, so it’s hard to tell how big they really are.

Hailey loved floating along in the Crystal River.  We spent a lot of time relaxing in there!

Then I put my camera away so I could swim too.  We stayed in the water park for quite a while.  Hunter took a little nap in his stroller while Rich and I took turns taking Hailey on the various rides.  She had so much fun!

Then we ate dinner at Antler Shanty.  It was a buffet, and the price was a little high ($22 per adult, $10 for a child) which we expected, so we weren’t shocked.  The food was just okay.  We decided we would not eat dinner there again.

After dinner Hailey got her pajamas on to go to story time.

Hailey loved story time!!  When I asked her if she liked it, she said, “No, I didn’t like it.  I LOVED it!”

The girl who did story time the first night we were there did an amazing job!  Her name was Jill and she was so animated that she kept my attention the whole time.  I can not say enough about what a great story teller she is.

After story time Hailey got to meet Wiley.

Then we went to the store to buy Hailey a wand so she could play MagiQuest.  She picked out a pink wand and a unicorn topper.  Then we had to pay for her to play the game.  The total was around $50.

At that point it was getting late so we headed to bed.

In the morning we ate breakfast at the Antler Shanty, which was a buffet again.  The food at breakfast was much better than it was at dinner.  We thought there were characters at the breakfast buffet, but we never saw any.

Hailey brought her wand to breakfast and figured out that if she cast her wand at a tree in the restaurant the tree would light up.

The tree lighting up.

Hunter during breakfast.  I loved that we could bring our stroller in, that was so much easier than trying to put him in a high chair.

Overall breakfast was much better than dinner.  (Price was $16 per adult and $10 for a child.) Our only complaint was that the service was super slow.  We had to wait forever for drinks and for plates to get cleared.  When we were trying to leave it took forever- I had to leave with Hailey and Hunter while Rich waited to pay the bill because it was taking so long.

I love the fireplace in the lobby.  Someday when we build our dream house, I will have a fireplace like this

Hailey posing in the lobby.

Next we did a Quest which was a lot of fun.  Hailey definitely needed help, so it was a fun family activity.

Then we were off to the water park for more fun!

Hailey had a blast:

Hailey and Hunter in the wave pool.

Hunter enjoyed the water too.  They had a couple of zero entry pools and he loved sitting in the very shallow water and splashing.

It was all very tiring, so he took a good nap in his stroller.

More water slide fun.

We played for several hours in the water park, then took a break to get something to eat.  To be continued in my next post.

We went to Lake Placid for a weekend visit.  We had such a great time!!

Hunter on Beka and Bill’s balcony, enjoying the view of the mountains during his first trip to Lake Placid.

Hailey and Anika.  Hailey has been trying to convince us that we should move to Lake Placid so that she can see Anika every day.

Uncle Dave and Hunter

On Sunday morning we went to Island Chapel for church. The church was on a little island and it was so fun!

Hunter and Rich waiting for the boat to take us to the island.

All ready for his first boat ride.

Hailey all ready for the boat ride

When the boat started Hunter froze and stayed like this all the way to the island.

Anika and Hailey did a little exploring before church started.

Anika, Pa and Hailey

My dad and Beka both joined the choir

The weekend we were there was also our 12th wedding anniversary.  So, my parents gave us the wonderful gift of a night at The Olympic Motor Inn.  Hailey had her first sleep over (other than with Grandma and Pa) and spent the night with Anika.  My parents took Hunter for the night (even though he refuses to take a bottle).  They were only a few minutes away in case he needed to eat, but he did great!

The view from our balcony at the hotel.

We went out to eat at the Moose Lodge and this was our view of Whiteface Mountain during dinner.

Anika, Hunter and Hailey the next morning after a delicious breakfast of omelets.  None of them actually ate any omelets though

Time for a little swimming

Hailey

Anika

Anika and Hailey in the monster cave, growling at me as I tried to get a look

It was such a fun weekend!  We were sad that it went by so fast.

Our last day in Disney World  We weren’t planning to go to the parks but we had a late flight so we had a nice relaxing last day.

Yummy breakfast!  Hailey loved sitting at the little table that they had set up for the kids.  She sat there all by herself, looking way too grown up.

A little hula hooping in the lobby on the way to the pool.

Time for some swimming:

We had a blast at the pools!

Goodbye Pop Century… we made reservations before we left and we are staying at a different resort next year.  As much as we have liked Pop in the past we didn’t think it was as good this year.  The food court used to have amazing food but the selection and quality had both declined.  Plus we paid very close attention and the lines for the buses for Pop were always the longest at the end of the night.  Other resorts may share buses but their lines move much quicker.  Plus the other guests at Pop made us want to stay somewhere else.  So we’re trying a new resort next year.

Hailey on the Magical Express on our way back to the airport.

Playing at the airport while waiting for our flight.

We had a great trip to Disney World, as always, and can’t wait to go back!!

We got up nice and early on our 9th day- this would be our last day in the parks.

We were at Hollywood Studios for the rope drop.  As soon as the rope dropped Rich took off to get us fast passes for Toy Story Mania while Hailey and I got in line for the ride.

We love this ride!

I love the theming!

Hailey and Lightning McQueen

Hailey and Mater

Hailey meeting Ferb

And now meeting Phineas

Posing with Phineas and Ferb

A nice healthy breakfast- a cookie as big as her face.

Hailey and Rich had a last ride on Tower of Terror.  Then we went to see the newly refurbished and just reopened Little Mermaid show.

Hailey got to welcome everyone to the Little Mermaid show!

Ariel and Eric

We went on Toy Story Mania one last time

Me on Toy Store Mania

Then we headed over to Magic Kingdom

I love the castle!

This was the only day we experienced big crowds.  The crowds were pretty low at Hollywood Studios, but it was super busy at Magic Kingdom… it doesn’t look too bad here but it was really crowded.  It was the day before Labor Day, so I’m sure that was part of the reason.

Hailey found a Hidden Mickey- she became quite the little expert in finding them!

We rode on Snow White and then headed over to Splash Mountain

Hailey on her favorite ride (Splash Mountain).

After a ride on the Haunted Mansion it was time for our early dinner reservation.  We had originally had a dinner reservation at ‘Ohana but decided to change it.  We were worried we weren’t going to have enough time at Magic Kingdom on our last day, so we switched to the Liberty Tree Tavern.  I was really disappointed we didn’t go to ‘Ohana as that is my all time favorite.  But, I wanted to make sure Hailey had enough time to do all of her favorite rides again, so we wanted to be able to stay in the park.

Hailey coloring while waiting for our table.

Liberty Tree Tavern ended up being Rich’s favorite meal of our whole trip.  I liked it too, not my favorite, but still good.  I was glad we made the decision we did.  But next year I’m not missing out on ‘Ohana!

After dinner we went to the Laugh Floor… always a good show and different every time.

Hailey on the People Mover.

After the People Mover we went on Stitch’s Great Escape.

Stopping for a minute to make a little music.

Then it was time to go on Splash Mountain again… and again…

Riding on Buzz Lightyear

One last time to capture Zurg!

Then we rode Peter Pan and got off the ride just in time to see the fireworks.

So pretty!

Then it was time for Extra Magic Hours and the crowds did go down a bit, but it was still quite busy.

Waiting in line to ride Pooh

A yummy sundae for a late night snack and then we went to see Mickey’s Philharmagic again.

I love the castle all lit up!

In line for our last ride of the trip- The Haunted Mansion

Goodbye Main St.