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As you can imagine...a trip like this with a small child could be quite stressfull, but our Jolea girl did such a great job. We did get a little bored and stir crazy after a while...
By the time we finally made it into Grapevine and to Uncle Julio's for supper, Poppy was ready for a margarita to calm his nerves...ha ha...he had done a super safe job of getting us all there safe and sound and in 1 piece too...Great Job Poppy! Our family has always loved this restaurant and it was the perfect fit for our special Christmas Eve dinner. While we were there, a super star decided she would sit down and join us for supper too.
We enjoyed a delicious meal together...and prepared to head back into the elements and press on towards the Gaylord Texan Hotel, where we would be spending the rest of our evening. By the time we had gotten up from our table and headed back out to the car, the tahoe was covered in ice and the bad weather that we had spent all day traveling through had finally made its way into Grapevine. YIKES!
Luckily the hotel was only about 5 minutes from the restaurant so everyone could rest a little easier knowing that. When we got there...we were overwhelmed by how HUGE it was. There were lights everywhere...twinkly ones, bright ones, white ones and even a Santa in a boat on a small pond pulling reindeer on ski's...it was really cute. Jolea was in awe, as she looked out the windows! We dont normally use valet services...but the wind was howling, the snow was blowing, we were frozen and valet parking sounded like a great idea at the time. Once we checked in and headed to our room, this is what we saw :)
It was a nice place...very clean and modern and the beds were comfy too. Too bad we didnt get an interior room so we could enjoy looking at all the awesome Christmas decorations. Once we got all settled in, we all got "winter-ready" to head down and visit the ICE exhibit. This year, ICE! told the story of The Grinch by recreating cherished scenes from the book in intricately carved, larger-than-life, interactive ice sculptures set in a walk-through world of ice. Jolea is a HUGE fan of the "Gich" also known as the Grinch...so this was the perfect theme for her. It was AWESOME :)
Here she is ready to have some FUN
When you get there they give you huge parkas to wear! Its a bone chilling 9 degrees inside the exhibit. A word to the wise...dress with gloves, hats and scarves...even the parkas dont take the chill away. My hands were so cold it was hard to push the button on the camera to take pictures. I ran off and forgot my gloves at home...in Abilene...Ugh! Jolea was so cute in her parka...you couldnt even see her hands or legs...she was like a little penguin waddling around...it was cute!
Family Shot...Daddy, Jolea and Mommy
Grammy and Poppy
Mommy and Jolea posing inside the igloo...CHEEZ
Daddy and his girl
Snuggling with Poppy...XOXO
The following pictures are of the actual ICE carvings themselves...they are so intricate in detail and color. I cannot imagine the man power and hours that go into a project like this one. It was well worth the 20 dollar tickets that I thought were a bit pricey at first...there are lots of pictures because I just couldnt narrow it down to a few...Ooops! The flow of the sculptures followed the story-line...so many of the images should seem familiar!
After we finished walking through the ICE exhibit, which took about 20 minutes...Jolea got a first hand encounter with the Grinch himself. I thought for sure she would hit "panic" mode once she got up close and personal with the green thing...but to my surprise she loved on him and hugged on him and had a really great time with the "Gich"...which at times sounds a lot like "another" word...if ya know what I mean :) Here she is doing a meet and greet with the star of the show!
Look Mommy...Im hanging out with the Grinch
Hugs and Kisses from the Sweet Grinch
We mingled around the gift shop...looking at all the sights and taking tons of pictures of course! There was just so much to see...so much to look at...and more lights and poinsettia's than I have ever seen before! Here are a few of my favorite shots!
Jolea peeking out the train window...
Family shot inside the sweet sleigh :)
There were several "sweet spots" that were designed especially for taking photos...of course I made the family hit almost all of them :)
Me and the Hubs
Me and my Mama
This is a life size Gingerbread house that was located inside the hotel. It was made of real edible ingredients and I just thought it was PRESH :) and it looked so DELISH too :)
I wanted a better picture but this was the best I could come up with! Look at those ingredients would ya...
500 lbs of sugar
200 lbs of powdered sugar
90 lbs of brown sugar
NEED I SAY MORE?
By the time we got checked in, went to the ICE, walked around and checked things out...it was late and our little angel was running on fumes! We couldnt call it quits yet...because...Santa had delivered stockings to our hotel room...and they were full of sweet goodies!
Since Santa delivered all of our "big" presents to St. Joseph Michigan...He must have made a special stop at the Gaylord just for us...and he delivered our stockings right to our room...what a sweet gesture :) Everyone got some really great gifts...and we had the time of our lives...just being together!
Once the stockings were emptied and everything was packed away...it was lights out! We had a long Christmas Day full of traveling that started at 5:30 AM...and our fingers were crossed that we would be able to leave the runway...ON TIME. Our Gaylord experience was a good one...but we could have easily spent a couple of days there to take it all in. Maybe...ahem...my hubby will take me back there for our anniversary this year...hint hint
Coming up next...a week in St. Joseph Michigan with Aunt Penny and Uncle Mitch...what a fun adventure that was :)
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