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Category Archives: Tom

Great Wolf Lodge Surprises

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Did you know that all Great Wolf Lodge waterparks are not the same?! I didn’t until this week.

Anna got a steal of a deal on a weekday suite so we took the kids for an overnight surprise before school starts again.

As broken-bodied adults, we were excited about the hot tub (and, to a lesser extent, the lazy river).

Until.

We learned that this particular GWL does not have a hot tub!! WHAAAAAT?! I know, right? Fail. Big BIG fail. Ughhhh.

And then we learned that the lazy river (among other things) wasn’t open because they were short-staffed.

GAHHHHHHHH!!!!! 0 for 2 does not make for a happy mom.

But the kids didn’t care. And they ended up opening the lazy river later in the day so Anna and I got to be floating blobs for two hours.

But the water wasn’t warm enough for me and the air temp felt too cold, too. I think maybe I’m too old for this.

After checkout, Anna and I managed to find a somewhat secluded couch to relax while the kids are back in the waterpark. We can actually stay until close (!) but I’m thinking we’ll just stay until lunch!

Visiting our wedding brick!

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We were in Traverse City for lunch and a movie with the grandparents and kids—and I was charged with picking a lunch place. I chose The Filling Station which is what the dinner train (where we had our reception) has been turned into!

So of course we had to cross the tracks to the Traverse Area District Library to go find our wedding brick (egads, it was 20 years ago!). This was the first time we had to dig for it!

Just for reference, here’s where it is.

The best part about Christmas Eve?

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Friends, an amazing pizza (from leftover fish tacos that that boys gave me grief about but IT was freaking delicious!), and our first dip in the hot tub! Merry Christmas!

Butter and garlic crust, Tilapia, and cheese… Cooked then topped with lime crema slaw and Pico. Yuuuuum.

This pic makes the hot tub look soooo much bigger than it really is. It would be a stretch to have three adults in it at the same time—four would have everyone’s knees touching for sure!

And then we did the Saran wrap ball for the kids! We had about $60 worth of stuff in it!

And it was great fun…

Until two kids weren’t getting anything.

Don’t worry, they all ended up with stuff—and some trading was done. But it definitely wasn’t perfect.

And then I tried to get a Santa hat picture but Katie wasn’t really being cooperative. Oh well—it just makes memories!

Past year’s pics!

New job, new tub!

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Why yes, that’s an inflatable hot tub! Tom accepted a job yesterday (YAYYYYY!) so when we walked into Costco and saw this, we knew it was meant to be! (It also wasn’t nearly as expensive as we thought it would be.)

We are planning to get a real hot tub in the future, but that requires a lot of work first since we want to redo the whole backyard and deck.

So it was inside to warm up so we could inflate it, and then Tom rolled it outside, and now it’s sitting on the deck waiting to be filled and heated so we can use it Christmas morning!

Maggie could care less about the hot tub LOL.

An early Christmas present!

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So we got an early Christmas present for us…an Ooni pizza oven (we’d casually talked about it before but then after talking with Jim and Beth over Thanksgiving, our interest was renewed).

Tonight was the inaugural dinner with David and Anna (and kids) as guinea pigs. Initial setup was on the deck but torrential rain moved it to the garage.

Unpacking and setting up immediately upon delivery!
Tom made all the dough 24 hours in advance so they were ready for dinner!
About 90 seconds and it’s done!
First pizza a success!
My pizza with prosciutto, fresh mozzarella, Italian sausage, and basil.

And it was absolutely amazing! I foresee a lot of pizza in our future…

Shopping small this year!

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Y’all know I love me some Amazon…but big box stores will not care about you the way small business owners will because, unfortunately, you don’t mean that much to them.

Spending $100 at a large retail or department store during the holidays won’t make much difference to anyone—but spending $100 through a home business or small local business owner for the holidays means OUR business CAN continue! It gives us our pay, provides for our families, and helps us continue to do what we love without using harsh sales techniques.

You mean the world to us and in return we’ll treat you like gold! Just ask my clients who got $700+ worth of bonuses so far this month!!

Shop a home/direct sales/small local business for the holidays this year!! Tom and I just spent a few hundred at local Grayling businesses (h/t to Tip’n the Mitten). And silly me, I didn’t take a pic of our haul…but there was a bit of locally brewed beer, cider, and wine!

Katie’s down another tooth!

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Katie has had a loose tooth for quite some time. Of course, it became critical an hour after bedtime at gramma’s.

It was hanging by the tiniest string and of course she refused to pull it or to let us pull it. She wanted us to try and cut it (like David did with another of her loose teeth recently) so Tom was prepared…

But he ended up just pulling it out!

Jack O’Lantern World

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AN INCREDIBLE WALK THROUGH THOUSANDS OF HAND CARVED JACK O’LANTERNS (Link)

Of course they weren’t all real pumpkins since the exhibit lasts all month…but they were still hand-carved. It was definitely neat but something we probably don’t need to do again!

Most of the pics are Anna’s because mine didn’t turn out as good.

48th Birthday Adventures

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As you just saw, my birthday started with an amazing rainbow eye look to match my tie dye outfit. Plus the crown of course.

But the actual adventures actually started with heading with my bestie to pick up my other bestie and then head to Kenosha!

Trying to find catchers equipment for Owen and backup mitts for Evan at Play It Again Sports. What you do when it’s your birthday and wearing a crown and a mask.

Next birthday adventure stop: lunch at Frank’s Diner! It’s been two long years since we’ve been here and it was as delicious as we remembered!

No jalapeno bacon for the Bloody Mary this time. Womp wah.

Next? Crumbl—this will be birthday desserts for us with the kids instead of cake. They didn’t have my fave cornbread ones this week, though. And yes, we ate a few bites straight from the trunk!

I caught Anna sneaking some bites in the car!

Now birthday adventures are on a hiatus but I’m cuddling with my doggo so all is well.

Birthday adventures, mom style: taking Katie to physical therapy! Ha.

Birthday adventures, kid style: watching a movie!

The last birthday adventure! A margarita by the fire…with Tom and Anna and David. With an Ozzy Man Reviews topper. It was chilly so I had my sweatshirt on and they thought it looked like a queen’s cape!

All in all, a great 48th birthday!