Menu Plan Monday

Monday: At the in-laws for the Vikings game

Tuesday: Meatloaf, corn, mashed potatoes

Wednesday: Build your own taco bar

Thursday: NYE party (I’ll be making grape jelly meatballs, chips, queso & guacamole, fruit & dip, plus friends will be bringing other things over)

Friday: Taco Soup w/ toppings

Saturday: Pork Tenderloin, mashed sweet potatoes, southern green beans

Sunday: Chicken Fajitas & refried beans

Lonestar Christmas

In addition to hosting the ICE! exhibit, the Gaylord Texas goes all out on the Christmas decorations. Once we were done with ICE! we walked around looking at all the decorations.

Right after we let out of ICE! we were in the gift shop, where they had a train full of stuffed animals. Jonathan LOVES him some trains, so he moved all these stuffed animals into the next car and climbed on in. Last year, it was actually something that they let the kids play in, so I didn’t stop him. I would have if he’d just climbed on top of the stuffed animals, but I didn’t think he was hurting anything by doing this, and one of the associates was right there next to us. We put all the animals back and he was not happy to leave the big Jonathan size train.

And then, we found this in the lobby of ICE!… he was in heaven! I’m not sure how we had missed it earlier! He didn’t want to leave. Not even when Mimi offered to buy him a cookie or ice cream.

We wrestled him out of the train and went to get ice cream and watch the glass elevators go up and down. Don’t you wish you were entertained just as easily?

Then we walked around to check out all the trains and other beautiful decorations.

 

This was the giant gingerbread house. And giant gingerbread man, woman & dog.

Trains….   this picture sums up how Jonathan felt about the trains. 

One of several of the large Christmas trees they have on display in the atrium.

ICE! at the Gaylord Texan

Yesterday, I took the kids to see the ICE! exhibit at the Gaylord Texan over in Grapevine. This year’s theme is “How the Grinch Stole Christmas" and I think it might have been my favorite exhibit. This is the 5th year they have done it.

They keep it a frigid 9° F in the exhibit, because, well, duh, they need to keep the ice sculptures frozen solid. However, as we learned yesterday, apparently the colder it is outside, the colder they need to make it in the exhibit. So, yesterday was pretty much the coldest day we’ve had in 2009 so far, 18° that morning, which apparently meant, they needed to make it –3° F in there. Talk about cold!!

I tried to get through there as fast as possible, but still get our money worth. I think the kids would have stayed playing on the ice slides all day. I went down twice, Jonathan went down 4 or 5 times and Kaylin went down 6 or 7 times before I left with Jonathan. No worries, my mom went with us, so she stayed in there with Kaylin, but Jonathan was absolutely freezing and I was worried my camera or phone were going to freeze. They had warned us to keep them warm, as they had at least 10 freeze within the last hour. Of course, mom kept asking Kaylin if she was ready to go yet, and Kaylin kept saying no, but once mom said that was enough and they were leaving Kaylin said her feet were freezing!

Jonathan coming down the ice slide.

Kaylin coming down the other ice slide.

Jonathan and mommy trying to keep warm.

Poor Jonathan, do you see how big that parka was on him?

Family pictures

We had our annual family Christmas pictures taken at BluDoor Studios. So happy with how they turned out! ReJana and Mike really do a great job!