Easter Triduum

The last post for the Friday Five, asked about what my Easter Traditions were and I mentioned some things, but really almost felt guilty skipping over the really important parts of the days leading up to Easter.  Many people call it the Easter Triduum; it is the 3 days leading up to Easter.  It starts with Holy Thursday and ends with the Easter Vigil.  

I am an off again, on again Holy Thursday participant, but I never miss Good Friday. It, to me, is one of the holiest days of the year.  In the Catholic Church, we fast, to me, meaning to eat one regular meal and 2 small ones the whole entire day, praying, going to Mass and singing.  I have the privilege of leading the congregation at Good Friday Mass Service at 3 pm and join with the choir at another Church at 7 pm.  It is a time of deep reflection of what Jesus did for me and to take the time from my crazy, busy life to show Him my gratefulness.  

For me, time is so precious since I do not have much of it to spare.  Taking time is a true sacrifice for me and on Good Friday, I am more than willing to make that sacrifice for Him.  

Saturday, for me, is a lay low day, since Easter Sunday, it all starts up again with Easter Baskets in the morning, Children's Choir at 8:50am then a quick exit to another Parish to lead their congregation at 10:30. After all that running around, a 30 minute ride to our cousin's house for a lengthy, happy meal with family.  Following that, a ride home to relax.  A true pleasure.

This year, I devoted some extra time and made a movie on Windows Live Movie Maker, dedicated to my Savior, Jesus Christ.  I hope you will take the time to listen.

Happy Easter.

Loudly yours,

Alicia

A review of last year's trip to the Lodge!

**NOTE**
This if from last year's trip to the Great Wolf Lodge.  We are returning this month and I needed to review it, so I thought it might be nice to share it with you!

Alicia


This note is dedicated to helping those thinking of going to the Lodge. I had a great first experience with my family.

ARRIVAL: 
We arrived at 10 am. 
We thought we would not be allowed into the Waterpark until 1pm, so we arrived early to play Magiquest. Unless your kid knows what it is, you could totally get away with NOT paying the $27 and up per child price. 

The lobby was really cool, but my kids were a little freaked out by the animated kids and animals. We did not return for story time. 

We thought we had to check in later, so we went to the MagiQuest place first to purchase our wands and activate them. 
 $100.11 for 3 wands and 4 activations.
(since Vianne already acquired hers at a birthday party.) 
My kids had not much of a clue what to do and just ran around gathering gold points wherever they could. Cute, but not mandatory. 

We found out that they would allow us to go into the park at 11 am, which we did and were happy to get in earlier than planned. We did, though, have to stand in line, to let the front desk know that we had arrived to get the passes for the park, which are wrist bands. 

At check in, have the credit card you used to book your stay as well as a picture ID ready for them to process you. ( I did not have my proper credentials and had to wait longer!!)

Our arrival at the Lodge. Cute place for a shot at the entrance in the Poconos, PA.

WATER PARK: 
Towels...don't even bother. 
They are very stocked and warm. Mmmmm...love warm towels! 
The hotel also has an abundance of towels. 
 No need to bring your own.

The park is very loud! This freaked my daughter out and she hardly went near anything the first day (she is 2 1/2) 
She took to it the 2nd day. 

The park has SO much to do and enough to please every age group. 

My 17 year old thought it was good, but he was lacking in kids his own age to hang out with. ( I think it was just bad timing for him.) My 13yr old, 9 yr old, 7 yr old and 4 yr old loved it. 

I felt safe with some of the kids running around playing on their own for some of the time. Once I even caught my 4 yr old putting on the charm with some teenage girls in the family hot tub. He told us that was his favorite part of the park....such a ladies man! :0)

You could smell the chlorine in the air, the minute you walked in the park, but I have to say that I don't feel over chlorinated from being at the park for the day. It was a bit muggy at times, but the temperature overall was great. Perfect for the water. The water temperature was wonderful unless you went into the hot tub, then the pool water. I loved the variety of splashing machines, toys and spouts, but wished they had some of the chairs parked a little bit further from the splash bucket that was right in front of the "beach". 
Their beach, to me, was near perfect. Not too hot, not too much sun, waves that were fun and predictable, and best of all, NO SAND!! YES! Loved that. (Our family loves to go to the beach and I love them, so I go too, but I hate sand and sometimes the water is too cold and it gets really hot.) 

GWL is the perfect compromise. Loved it. Oh, and the life vests, what a relief to know that I did not have to worry much about drowning. They were great to have on hand for the little kids.

Bella finally in the pool!

The WATER SLIDES:

The Double barrel drop I went in.....what was I thinking?!

Another one of my favorite things.....
A slide for EVERYONE!! 
 Thrill seeker, check; Baby, check; Middle of the Road; check. Roller Coaster lover; check. Want to keep together on a slide? Check! Besides some of the lines, which could get long, the slides were great. I loved the family raft ride, River Canyon Run, which always had the shortest line ( the middle line) because I was able to experience the fun with most of my family members, including my 4 yr old. It was a blast. I also LOVED the roller coaster blue slide, The Hydro Plunge Coaster. SO much fun. That one I rode with my 17 yr old. Great ride. The Double Barrel drop...just too scary for me. If you like being scrambled like eggs, go on the Double Barrel Slide. It was like a wild disco ride/Charlie & the Chocolate Factory. Again, not for me. The slides got easier to ride at 8pm, since the lines were less; the same went for 9 - 10 am. (An advantage of staying overnight at the hotel.) The closing time is technically 9 pm, but they give you time to pack up and leave, so there is no great rush at 9 pm, but they do kick you out of the rides, pool, etc at 9 pm.

>

Where the Double Barrel Drop spits you out...

View of the beach from the stairs to the slides. Loved the lighting. Just right.

HOTEL STAY:

The Grizzly Bear Suite was great. Spacious and comfy, nice bathrooms, with a Jacuzzi tub (which I loved). Larger Mini fridge, small microwave, a table, balcony (nice to watch the stars) 3 televisions, closet space too. 
 The ONLY thing I did not like....the beds. I woke up SO sore that I had to sleep at the feet of my son on the pull out. Therefore, I got very little sleep since he kicked me most the night. I will be bringing an air mattress with me for the next time, for sure.

 We brought our own food for snacks and bagels for breakfast, which worked out great, since it was an inexpensive way to feed them breakfast. There is a Starbucks in the lobby if you need coffee, or a Dunkin Donuts Drive Thru not too far down the street. 

One great thing about the hotel, is that they allow food to be brought in. If you can remember to bring your own water, please do!  A much less expensive alternative to buying it at the hotel!!

Happy Diner to be

We ate out at Friendly's down the street (great service from Danielle) the first night.  ($82 with tip for 7 people-Vianne was too sick to eat). 

(The 2nd year, we went on a Wednesday night and were lucky to be able to take advantage of the kids eat free deal....so I think the bill was more like $30!!)

The plaza deli had great sandwiches and cost us about $45 for lunch for 7. ( Not so bad for $6 per person) Plenty of people were there with packed lunches and goodies as well as those who indulged the snack bar there. The fries were good, but it took a very long time to get our $3 fries. 

BRING WATER. Their vending machines charge $3 per bottle. Since I was making an attempt to save money by bringing snacks, I wish I had more sandwich baggies and larger zip locks for food storage or to save uneaten sandwiches to be saved for later.

Many of the people there are running around with no shoes, but I chose to wear my Crocs, which they do sell there in a little crocs store. (Did not see prices) They have several shops to purchase things you may have forgotten, but know that there is a Kohl's not far from the hotel on 611, where we purchased a couple of things. ( Goggles, being one of them!) Walmart is not far either, but there was a lot of traffic on 611, so a normal 10 minute ride could turn into much longer.

WHAT I WISH I BROUGHT WITH ME:
More plastic baggies for storage
Some garbage bags for dirty clothes
Air mattress
Goggles

SOME THINGS I AM GLAD I BROUGHT WITH ME:
SNACKS
PAPER TOWELS
UTENSILS
PAPER PLATES
KIDS' PILLOWS
Water Shoes/ shoes to wear in the hotel room

DID NOT NEED:
Towels
Many shoes

view from the bar...no, I wasn't drinking!

Bella's favorite thing to do...squirt the water!

<Photo 10

The Lazy River....

Easter Five question Friday! Well....mostly....

1. What is your favorite Easter tradition?

My favorite Easter tradition is to go Easter Egg hunting on Easter, go to Mass and visit with family.

2. Are you a "shower" or a "long, hot bath" kind of person?

Oh my gosh, long, hot bath. Just love it. I heard on the radio once that you should bathe with a bottle of Hydrogen Peroxide and 2 cups of Epson Salt at least once a week.  I. just. love. it!!!!

3. Can you parallel park and if so when is the last time you did it?

Yes, I can parallel park, did it last week.  Would love one of those cars that did it for me, though. Not a favorite thing for me to do.

4. What is your favorite Easter candy?

It has to be the candy covered Cadbury Chocolate Eggs, but I have not seen them this year.  Also love Brachs jelly beans.

5. Easter: do you go all out with the Easter Bunny or focus on the religious part of the holiday?

95% religious.  We mention the Easter Bunny, but because we follow Lenten traditions, we follow with the true Easter meaning as well.  It is big celebration of love.

Five question Friday!

1. What is your favorite sign of spring?

 

Oh, the flowers!! Right now, the daffodils are springing up in my garden and they make me so happy to see them!!  I love the way they spring up more and more every year and this year, they are a sight to see. :)

2. What was your best birthday ever?

 

Believe it or not, my birthdays usually stunk every year.  This past year, it was awesome. I could not have asked for a better birthday.  Nothing special, but it was just an amazing day all around. I especially liked being wished "Happy Birthday!!" all day long by my facebook friends.  

3. What is your favorite dessert?

 

Death by Chocolate.  Best ever!!

4. What is the best excuse you've ever used to get out of a ticket?

 

I am so sorry, officer, I just didn't realize it.  <Puppy dog eyes>

5. Do you wake up before your alarm, with your alarm, or after hitting snooze several times?

 

Thankfully, I have an internal alarm that gets me up every morning. Do I bound out of bed every morning? No, sometimes I get more zzzs, but it depends on the workout schedule for the day.  If its a longer class, I get up right away, it its shorter, I might linger for a few more minutes.  Usually, I have to get up earlier because I have to clean the living room up in order not to trip on anything while I am working out, so I will usually get right out of bed.

Five question Friday!

1. If you could change one thing about yourself what would it be?

 

If I could change one thing, it would be to be wiser and anticipate more what the other person is feeling before saying or doing anything.

2. Write about a time when you got lost.

 

I know I have been lost before, but nothing specific comes to mind. I do know that I always found my way back and that I usually can tell by my gut that I am going the wrong way.  It's kind of like a pulling back sensation.  I think of it as a gift. :)

3. Camping or 5 star hotel?

 

Oh, so 5 star hotel. Not the outdoorsy type.  Not overnight, anyway.

4. Have you donated blood?

 

No, hate needles.

5. Do you have a budget or do you 'fly by' most months?

 

Daniel and I have a budget that I run and we keep to it, mostly. :)

Wordless Wednesday....

April Fools!

Been crazy busy, but had to pop in to share my best April Fools joke.  It was a long, long, time ago, but it was a good one, simple because I pulled it off. ;)

I was the 3rd key manager at a local store in our area (that's like asst, asst manager) that caters to the trend setting, night club/ teenager type of woman. (Or those of us who want just one piece to jazz up our wardrobes a little bit) 

It was a normal, busy day and there were a fair amount of people in the store.  My manager was at the front of the store, straitening the merchandise and what not.  I was toward the back of the store and was devising a plan to trick her.  I was pacing the dressing room floor and presto! It came to me.  Our dressing room was the type that was open with mirrors all around and everyone could, well, you know....see each other. I would pretend that a man was in the dressing room trying on women's clothing.....very awkward if you were a woman trying on clothes.  


So, I got as hysterical as I could, and ran toward the front of the store, yelling, "Mary! Mary! There's a transvestite in the dressing room trying on clothes!!! I don't know what to do!!"  She ran, in a panic to the dressing room (God knows what was going through her mind) and when she got there...you got it....APRIL FOOLS!!!  She was so mad, but only for a minute, then was cool with it.  Mission accomplished.

These days, its not as lively in the April Fools department in my life, but that's ok.  I got to fool Nathan yesterday when I told him there was no school.  (He was half asleep)  April Fools!

Thankfully, the snow storm that never was is in the books.

I guess Mother Nature played her own April Fools joke.  Fine by me!

Loudly yours,


Alicia