Picture with me if you will...
...Josey excitedly pointing out Historical Marker signs as Jacob gives him an as if I have any idea what you're talking about smile, Ben climbing out of the end of a waterslide backwards with feet in the air and his chin still down in the water, Jacob caught in midair as he jumps in front of a mirror from one hotel bed to the other, three boys in awe of the two puppies sitting beside them on the ride home, and finally Jake fast asleep on the floor beside two sleeping puppies.
My new camera is pretty great. I love it, I really do. The software that it came with, not so much. It somehow managed to download/delete with strong emphasis on the delete part, as in I have absolutely zero photos from our trip. So, how about a thousand or so words worth roughly one or two undownloaded photos?
The week of our trip I told the big boys that we would be going somewhere Friday and that I wanted to make sure everyone's rooms were nice and clean before we left.
*Side note - Jacob already knew about it. We told him the weekend before while the big boys were spending the night at their Nana's. We told him it was a secret thinking that he would tell "the brothers" most likely the second he saw them again. For the first time ever though, Jakers kept a secret. Randomly throughout the next couple of days he would say "Hey mom", give a big thumbs up, and attempt to wink .
So every day we all worked together to get one room super tidy and since Jacob didn't slip up I decided to give the big boys a clue after each room was clean.
The first clue was "One room is clean, so here is a hint - try not to get too wet in a town called Flint." Then I gave them a coded message that spelled out "We're going to a waterpark!" They informed me that my code was way too easy and then asked to see pictures. I opened up google for them where they typed in "water" and "Flint". I had to add Texas for them but they found it pretty quick The Waterpark @ The Villages.
The next clue I gave them was a harder code to crack. They tried for awhile to figure it out but eventually just asked if I would tell them how to decode it after the next room was cleaned. That's what they get for telling me my codes are too easy.
*Insert photos of Josey and Ben sitting side by side decoding a message that spells out a website and Ben totally flipping out as he types it in and finds himself face to face with lil dachshund puppies screaming "We're getting a puppy? We're getting a puppy!"
It was a short lil' trip but we had a blast. We left out on Friday with Josey pointing out all the historical markers all the way to Flint. The waterpark was pretty darn swell. The best part about it - it was indoors! It is hot in Texas ya'll.
*Photos that would fit nicely here - Jake standing on a trio of fake rocks while water sprayed down on his head, Josey with a big ole grin as he turns the wheel to let loose a downpour onto his brother, Adam and the boys floating along together in the lazy river, Ben's feet up in the air as he slides down from one of the bigger waterslides, Josey waving at me with a look of terror/glee as he ventures further into the wave pool, Jakers hiding in a little tunnel after I said "we need to be leaving in a little bit"
Here is some person that I don't know and that probably has tons of pictures of their own trip's video of the waterpark
It was lots of fun. We definitely plan on going back one day.
After the waterpark we head to a hotel in Athens, a good midway point between Flint and our final destination, Mabank.
Ah, the Quality Inn & Suites in Athens. I strongly recommend this joint and by strongly recommend I mean good lord don't go to this place. I was completely unaware until this trip that a lot of hotels (more specifically a lot of hotels' fire codes) frown upon my three lil children. I found out from a bunch of message boards that a lot of people lie and say they have two children and just sneak in the third. Well, being the fine upstanding citizen that I am a put down all two adults and three children in my hotel search. I can't guarantee that I'll be so darn upstanding next time.
Of the ones that I found that would accept my whole crew this one looked like my best bet. I think they use the word Quality somewhat loosely. At least they didn't claim to be efficient or anything. I had this conversation at the front desk -
"I have reservations for Fenlaw"
"Oh (looks around on the computer for a couple minutes) for one day this week?"
"Yes, for tonight" (why would I be there if the reservations weren'
t that night?)
"Oh (looks around on the computer again) will you be paying with a credit card?"
"Um, I already paid"
"Oh (more looking on the computer) oh ok, yeah"
Even so, the big boys thought it was pretty neat to be in a hotel and Jacob was positively thrilled.
*It would be nice if I could put photos here of - Jacob opening the mini fridge to take one sip of his drink before closing it and then opening it again to take another sip over and over again, Jake gesturing madly at the fact that "They have a phone! And a lalarm clock!", Jacob jumping from one bed to the next, Josey grinning proudly at the little bed he built for himself on the floor, Bink and I playing cards in the bed, and the totally awesome car with a big ole skull and horns tied to the front of it in the parking lot.
After a Whataburger supper, a game of cards, and much ooohing and aaahing by Jacob over everything in sight Josey decided to put a stop to the fun by locking us out of one half of our room. Luckily we were at least locked on the side of the room that was (somewhat) air conditioned. We made several attempts at breaking in to the other room before Adam said I should just call the front desk and tell them what happened. I told him yeah I was sure they would be glad to help and most likely bill us to do so. Eventually I discover that I can screw off the knobless side of the doorknob and Adam sticks the mini screwdriver that I happen to have in my purse (I've got everything in there) inside and pop the door open.
After that lil ordeal we thank Adam profusely for having the foresight to bring along the Roku player and settle in to watch a little Netflix...in nice little spurts of two or three minutes, top notch "Free wireless high-speed internet access" at this place.
Eventually the boys talk me into taking them down to the pool. I am happy to find now that I'm home to google that I was mistaken and they weren't the location claiming to have one of the biggest outdoor pools in Texas but the boys and I had a nice discussion on the title that it likely could claim "Ickiest, dirtiest, ewwest". The experience was made that much better in that we were joined by the cast of Teen Mom throwing back shots and trying to decide if appreciate is spelled apreshiat or if maybe it does have two p's in it. It was at that point I decided it best to go shower away all evidence of their "seasonal outdoor pool".
After a long night attempting to sleep on the slabs of rock they call beds (I actually got up at one point and slept for about an hour in a chair because it was so much more comfortable) I was looking forward to the "free continental breakfast" and buffet. In their defense looking again online I do not see mention of the buffet I was expecting. Silly me, this photo on their website gave me crazy ideas -
There is a buffet there in fact. It's of course completely empty save a box of plastic spoons but still it is there. The did have make it yourself waffles which the big boys liked. Since it is a hundred stinking degrees and they were attempting to cool this entire room which opened up into the entire lobby with one fan though we decided it best to grab some of the packaged bear claws and get on our way. Jake was the only one that wanted one and it had what looked like a big bite out of it right through the plastic. Lovely. One quick bathroom break and thorough handwashings and we went on our way.
Less then an hour later we were in Mabank picking up our puppies, yep that's plural, puppies. If you don't know our boys have spent the last several years desperate for a puppy but unable to get one because of Ben's big bad dog allergies. Finally on his last retesting the dog (and most of the other) allergy is completely gone :)
We used to have a standard red dachshund named Gypsy when the boys were wee willy winkies. She was a good ole dog that slept under the two big boys cribs and barked at anyone she didn't know trying to mess with her boys. She "went to the North Pole" (I am one heckuva storyteller) though before Bink's allergies kicked in and before Jakers was born. The big boys have told Jake all about her apparently though because he keeps asking me if we can "got get Gypsy back".
We knew we wanted another standard dachshund (fyi - standards range from 16-32 pounds, while Miniatures weigh 11 pounds and under) but they are hard to find around here so that is why we ended up traveling all the way to Mabank to get our pups.
We are now the proud puppy owners of Mars and Loki. Josey named Mars before he even knew we were getting a puppy because we had discussed that when we did it would be a red dachshund. Mars - the red planet - the boy likes science. After they knew it was two Ben kept trying to think of another space related name until Adam pointed out that Mars was also the Roman god of war. He suggested Loki for the lil' one. Loki is the god of mischief....I can tell already the name will suit him.
*This would be a great spot for photos of - The happy lil faces of the fellas coming home with two puppies in the car, Mars with a oh boy what did I get myself into look on his face as Jacob hangs upside down off of the ottomon in front of him, Mars and Loki cuddled up together, Jakers and Mars pulling on either side of a little pillow with their teeth, Ben in both delight and disbelief holding Mars on his lap, Josey laying down beside Loki rubbing his belly, and both puppies fast asleep on the floor with Jake asleep right next to them.
Look here, four, count em, four actual photos (the one with Jake I took early this morning, Mars was happy to see him awake, Jake not so happy to be awake)-
