Fun
Having A Splashin Good Time!
Karlie going for a ride under the water! Hang on!
Brina going for a ride under the water. She didn’t relax as much because she was more concerned that Jake could hold his breath longer and wouldn’t come up for air in time. He did!
This one makes me laugh! The girls were standing in line behind us chit – chatting. I am not sure what they were talking about it, but Brina thought it was hilarious! Love it when the two of them make each other giggle. Hope they remain great friends their entire lives!
Getting up on the lily pad took some extra energy – it was slick! Towards the end of the second day Brina was getting tired and chilly so we put a life jacket on her for the last hour. She didn’t want to stop playing in the water so this was a good compromise! Resting on the lily pad for a little bit and talking about their day.
Trying to hold on as the lily pad was spinning in circles! Not sure how they still had the energy and all those giggles left in them, but they were having a grand time!
As we were getting ready to wrap up for the day Brina had to do one more run before we left Great Wolf Lodge.
Karlie trying to smile through the tears! “I just don’t want to go home Mom, I’ve had so much fun!” She wanted me to walk around and take a bunch of pictures the last 5 minutes they were open and kept asking me “Mom, are you sure you got enough pictures? I don’t ever want to forget our time here together!”
Karlie with a big smile as she finally crashed on the trip home.
It didn’t take long before Brina was asleep too.We had a wonderful time together at Great Wolf Lodge. On the way home Jake and I figured out that we spent about 20 hours actually in the water playing! Considering we were only there for a day and a half we packed a lot of fun into that time. The girls had a great time and we had fun too. All of us were exhausted! Despite Karlie’s fear of not getting enough pictures I think we have plenty to look back on and remember this wonderful trip together.
Another Day of Fun!
Breakfast anyone?!
Since we were all exhausted last night after a full day of water fun we decided to postpone the cake until breakfast. I don’t think we have every let the girls eat cake for breakfast, but your 9th birthday only comes once in a life time so we might as well celebrate and enjoy it. The girls were super excited to eat their cake and it was delicious! Thank you Tip Top Cake shop for the great cakes and thank you Jake for wrapping them very careful so we could pack them up to North Carolina!
Everyone ready for another fun day!? All smiles and ready to go!
Karlie loves being in the water and splashing around!
A quick shot of Brina as she is swimming under the water!
Here comes Karlie with a big smile on her face, I wonder what she’s up to now!
Brina having fun in the water!
A close up underwater picture of Karlie! She looks mischievous!
Karlie coming right at me, at least she’s holding her breath!
Brina Bee!
A picture under water of Brina doing her flip.
An underwater look at Karlie’s flip!
Brina wanted to do it again!
Going down the River Canyon Run again. Are you ready?!
Jake’s laughing as we start and Brina has her eyes shut tight!
Karlie having a blast on the ride!
Brina checking out what was up ahead of us! So much fun going on these rides with the family!
A Birthday Celebration at Great Wolf Lodge
Karlie and Brina’s Birthday cakes from Tip Top Cake Shop!
We didn’t do the normal traditional birthday party for the girls because we were going away for a weekend together as a family to celebrate. They didn’t know it at the time, but we still ordered small individual birthday cakes for them. The day before we left on our trip I took them by the store to pick up an item, they were a little confused when we walked into the cake shop, but thrilled once they saw their cakes. Karlie’s was white cake and she used her favorite green, blue, and black colors for accents. Karlie’s first response was “How did she know my favorite colors and that I like vanilla!” Brina’s was a dairy and egg free chocolate cake with pink, orange, and yellow accents. Brina’s first comment “It’s beautiful Mom, I LOVE it!” Even something as simple as little cakes can get them excited! The cakes tasted amazing! You would never guess that the chocolate one was egg and diary free it was delicious!
We brought with us their gifts they got each other a couple small ones from us. When Jake put the suitcases in the room he found a perfect spot to display the gifts. The girls were amazed that the hotel staff would put out all their gifts for them, until they realized it was Daddy that did it. They were having so much fun in the water park while Jake was unloading the van! Thanks Babycake for doing that for us!
Brina very excited about her gift from Karlie!
Oh boy….Brina got Karlie another nerf gun….. She’s excited! Wonder who will be a walking target for her the next few months, ha!
I love it when the girls write little notes on their gifts to each other. So sweet!
My wild and crazy man! Love you Jacob!
Brina is so very excited. She got a leash for her dog, something she had been wanting!
Jake blowing up the balloons. I found these cool balloons at Hobby Lobby that have LED lights inside that make the balloons glow in the dark. I thought they would be a neat way to wrap up the birthday celebration as they went to sleep. They were suppose to glow for 12 to 15 hours, but they are still glowing several days later and the girls have them in their rooms at home now!
Wow, glowing balloons! What a great way to end a special day!
It is hard to take a picture of it glowing! Happy Birthday Karlie!
Happy Birthday Brina! Princess Snow White will watch over your balloon as you sleep!
Two very tired and almost asleep kids. What a fun day at Great Wolf celebrating their birthday. Hopefully they will treasure this time and memory for many years.
We were so exhausted by the time we got done with the water park, gift unwrapping, and everything else that we decided to save the birthday cakes until breakfast. Everyone was ready to crash and get some sleep so we could get up and go early the next morning! We figure it’s not everyday you get to have cake for breakfast so why not!
Great Wolf Lodge – Water Fun and Story Time
Brina had to do one more round of the Big Foot Pass the first night. She zipped across really quickly too.
Karlie was entertaining to watch bouncing from log to log!
Brina all smiles!
Jake having fun!
They all three stood on the edge of the mushroom where the water was pouring down. Hilarious expressions!
Karlie loving her time at Great Wolf!
Karlie liked to fill up buckets and then convince me to stand next to her so she could dump them on me. Silly girl!
Going down the River Canyon Run one more time before we call it a night. Karlie…..”I can’t look, it’s too dark……”
Karlie’s got her eyes open now and ready for the next twist and turn down the slide.
Brina was a little concerned. They liked it a little bit better in the daylight, the tunnels were pretty dark at night.
Story time at Great Wolf!
Checking out the arcade.
Listening to the animals and trees telling a story. The girls thought this was fascinating!
We packed a lot of water fun into the first day we were at Great Wolf. The girls went on all the rides, tried out all the pools, and activities. We had a BLAST! Everyone should sleep good tonight!
Basketball & Slide Races at Great Wolf Lodge
Another one of the girls favorite spots to play was the pool with the basketballs and hoops. It was enjoyable for me too, I forgot how much fun it was to play basketball. The girls were quite impressed that I could get it in the hoop fairly consistently, ha!
Brina smiling as she gets ready to put one in!
This picture cracks….me…up….. It was hilarious hearing Karlie screeching as we went down the Howlin’ Tornado! I had my back to the slide so I couldn’t see the drops, but Karlie could. Karlie was “howlin” the whole way down while Brina was completely quiet and wide eyed. The trip down to the big drop was so fast I only had time to snap two quick pictures and one was covered in water spots!
Having a grand time!
Jake helping Brina float.
Karlie’s relaxed and floating around having fun!
Brina carrying up her mat for the next big slide!
Karlie’s got her mat and is ready to go!
We all went down the Mountain Edge Raceway at the same time. Jake won by going faster than the rest of us.
Hanging out in the pool waiting for the hoop to open up.
Playing basketball
Brina having a blast playing basketball in the pool.
Having fun!
A Trip to Great Wolf Lodge!
Great Wolf Lodge
For the girls birthday party celebration this year we made a special trip to Great Wolf Lodge in Concord, North Carolina. It was a rainy day with showers on the way, but we made it safely. We spent the ride reading books, talking, and playing games so it passed quickly. They were super excited to arrive and have a splashing good time!
We made it to Great Wolf Lodge. Here’s a quick shot of the girls waiting patiently on the “bear” seat as we get checked in. They are ready to go check out the pool area!
Standing under the huge bucket at Fort MacKenzie waiting for (1,000 gallons) of water to tip the bucket and splash everyone. They loved this one! It’s a lot of water!
The meeting of the minds….or are they really just working out their plan of action. “Hey Dad! What should we do first!”
Splashing and testing the water in the wave pool. Karlie having a grand time!
Brina all smiles and having fun!
Brina taking a break with Jake after she got hit by a couple of good waves in a row.
Karlie is loving her time in the water!
All four of us on our first trip down the River Canyon Run! Thankfully, the raft held 4 people even though we weren’t sure what to expect. Both girls were old enough to ride all the slides which was a lot of fun doing together. Brina’s not so sure as we take off at the top….
Love Jake’s expression in this one. Makes me smile!
Karlie is squealing as we whirl down the slide. Hilarious watching their reactions. One benefit to having a water camera is you get to capture some of the crazy moments too!
Filling up the buckets!
Brina riding the waves in the wave pool!
Karlie loving the waves! They both always wanted to be in the deep end so they could get the higher waves!
Karlie all smiles as she carries her yellow tube up for another fun ride!
Brina pausing briefly to look at me as she stands in line shivering. It was warm in the water, but a few times while standing in line it felt a little chilly. Thankfully the lines were really short and we were in the water a lot more!
Karlie smiling as she dives under water!
Look out here comes BRINA!
This was a fun one – Big Foot Pass. You had a rope overhead to hang onto as you walked across the floating logs. Karlie stood up the first time, but decided after that she enjoyed hopping from log to log across the pool better. Karlie’s was determined and made it across every time!
Brina was definitely the most talented at this activity. She just bounced across from log to log making it look so easy. Trust me it is not as easy as it looks, we all did it! Brina finishing up. She did this activity many times!
Jake even made it across without falling off…..although a couple times he was close!
We had a blast at Great Wolf Lodge! More pictures to come soon. Thankful for a chance to get away with the family, celebrate the girls birthday, and have some fun together!
Birthday Dinner at Joe’s Crab Shack
Joe’s Crab Shack was the girls choice for their birthday dinner!
We promised the girls that we would take them out to dinner for their birthday and gave them the choice of what type of food they wanted to eat. Both girls agreed they wanted a restaurant that served seafood. Once we narrowed down a few options they both chose Joe’s Crab Shack for their special dinner. They both love seafood and Joe’s Crab Shack is a fun place to celebrate too.
We made it to Joe’s Crab Shack! They look excited! Whose hungry?!
Brina and Karlie were not sure about the “bibs” but when they saw other birthday adults wearing the birthday bibs they decided it would be okay for the evening. “Let’s Get Crackin – Birthday Crab”
It didn’t take them long to figure out the table had a lot of cool coins, post cards, and neat items sealed into it. It was like a scavenger hunt looking for the coolest items!
Happy Birthday Brina and Karlie! Dinner is served!
Wow look at all that delicious food! They are getting better at shelling the seafood, although at times pieces would come flying across the table which was rather entertaining. Thankfully Jake was there to help!
The waitresses at the restaurant gave the girls blue blown up guitars to strum while everyone sang the Joe’s Crab Shack version of “Happy Birthday!”
Opening their gift from Grandma! It’s not every day you get to open a gift at dinner time!
Thankful that Jake was able to meet us at Joe’s for the birthday dinner! Even though he was probably covered with the flying pieces of seafood by the end he was still smiling!
Thankful for the opportunity to go out to dinner and spend some time with the girls. We are blessed to have them in our lives and look forward to celebrating many more years with them. Praying for them as they continue to grow up (too quickly). Hopefully, they’ll look back on these birthdays and our moments together with big smiles!
The girls had a great birthday with a lot of fun activities and sweet messages, wishes, cards, calls, texts, and even videos with the happy birthday song from family and friends. We appreciate each person that reached out and made their day extra special. They went to bed feeling loved and grinning from ear to ear!
Greenville Gemstone Birthday Celebration
Karlie very carefully picking out the perfect rock bucket to mine today!
I picked the girls up a few minutes early from school on their birthday and took them on an adventure to downtown Greenville. Our first stop was the Greenville Gemstone store. A couple months ago the girls studied about various types of rocks for their Science unit so we thought this would be a fun and educational experience for them. They LOVED mining the gemstones and finding all the cool treasures. It was a great activity. They had a blast identifying the various gemstones they found too.
Getting started on mining their rocks. They were quite excited whenever they found a treasure!
Brina found a huge one and the bonus is it was amethyst which is their birthstone! Cool find on her birthday!
Karlie was so excited and trying to do her mining task it was impossible to get her to look up for the camera. She was having a blast finding all the neat stones!
Brina on the other hand stopped every time she found a treasure to show me. This one was a beautiful green! “Look Mom your favorite color!”
It was hilarious watching both of them! Seeing their expressions and hearing them giggle. Once they found a gemstone they would compare it to the charts that they were given to try and figure out what type of rock it was, there were moments of discussion if they couldn’t figure out which category it fell into.
Karlie pauses for a brief moment to show me some of her latest gemstone finds!
Brina carefully putting each rock into her bag so she doesn’t break any of them.
Karlie still hunting for treasures!
We were thrilled that they enjoyed this fun adventure.
The beautiful gemstones Karlie found during her mining experience!
All the neat gemstones Brina found while mining!
Proud of their cool gemstones. They couldn’t wait to show Daddy their treasures while mining today!
After we finished mining their gemstones we headed for a relaxing walk through downtown Greenville. It was a beautiful sunny day, perfect birthday weather! We made a brief stop in OP Taylor’s Toy Store to check out all their neat toys. Talked with Grandma few a minutes on the phone then went to Mast General Store to pick out 5 pieces of candy out of the barrels. They each picked out different candies and were very good about sharing them so everyone could taste the different candies they found like cow tails and cherry mash just to name a couple!
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Happy Valentine’s Day Girls! They were greeted by the little treats left on their bar stools when they walked into the kitchen for breakfast!
Valentine’s Day is a great day to celebrate with the ones you love! We don’t usually do anything huge on Valentine’s Day, but we do try to take time to make it special for the kids as well as have some time together as a couple too. Spending time with the ones you love, showing, and telling them how much you love them shouldn’t only be done on Valentine’s Day!
“Owl Be Your Valentine” goody bags for the kiddos!
They are awake and ready for breakfast!
A fun Valentine’s Day breakfast!
Our Snowman – Rainbow Sherbet
Karlie and Brina proud of their colorful snowman!
Of course one of the fun activities every kid wants to do during a snow storm is build a Snowman! While I cannot say our snowman will win any prices for being perfect or expertly made, especially since it was the girls and I who put him together, he is pretty colorful to look at. We had a lot of fun building and creating him together!
Since we were already doing the spray painting we decided to do something different this year with our snowman. We call him – “Rainbow Sherbet!”
Rainbow Sherbet added a little extra color to our white yard!
The girls are hoping Rainbow Sherbet will last for a few weeks. I am hoping he’ll last a couple days! Once it starts warming up everything melts quickly in South Carolina!
Karlie and Brina had the help of a certain black lab named Skipper! She was proud of their creation too, ha!
Karlie is armed with a paint spray bottle, wonder what she is planning to paint now!
