Truthful Tuesday 5/15/12

Truth.


I wish I had a plane that I could hop on and fly away for a day. Alone. Just to recharge my batteries.

Reality.


I don't. So I day dream about going away to places near and far.


Truth.


I love my family, but sometimes I just want to go forward, free.

Reality.


I am a responsible Mother and Wife and running forward, free is not one of those things you can do if you are a good Mother and Wife.  I am sure it would get really old, really fast.  It is just the idea of being free that seems amazing.  I have to think to myself, "what would being free really entail?"  I would be missing out on free kisses, free hugs, free conversations, free love from my kids and husband.  I would miss that. Truly.


Truth.


I want to be a recording artist who sells recordings.  I want to be on Broadway.

Reality.


I have a job and 7 kids and one wonderful Husband.  Time away from all of them right now is not much of an option.  The truth is, they need me.  I am the house Secretary, Treasurer, Organizer.  Things would not function well without me and it would be costly to try and replace me. I still record stuff, but it is out there for free and for now, I'll take the joy of making the recordings, even if it is just on my iPad or Droid Cell Phone. 


Truth.


I hate rehearsing in front of other people, unless it is my family.  I want people to see the finished product, not the yuck that comes with the stuff on the way to making it sound great. 


I love the bond that I share with those who listen to my song.  If I am singing the song properly, there is a connection between me and my listeners that is broken if sung in a wrong key or if the timing is wrong. 


I love that a song can bring people together to a different place.  I love it when I am singing at Mass and people close their eyes so their ears can hear better.  That means I am doing my job to get the message I am trying to send to them.  That God loves them and that there is hope.  I am fortunate to have the honor of being the one who gets to tell them that message.  Really honored.


And that is just the truth!


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....

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Christmas afternoon.....ahhh....the craziness is over, the clean up begins (and never seems to end!!)
It's hard to believe that one day I might actually miss all this craziness, but I think there is a chance I just might.  PLEASE note....I am not an expert at filming, so please forgive me for I am still learning!!  The unsteadiness of the camera adds to the craziness of the morning and gives you a feel of what its like when you are actually there!! :)
Loudly yours,

Alicia

Five Kernels of Corn....

It is the morning of Thanksgiving and I have stolen away for a quick entry before the craziness of the day begins.  Quiet is never a word you can use on this Thankful day, but at the moment, I have that luxury.  This year, our family is going to try a new tradition.  Let me give you a little background.  Last week, on the radio, I heard about another family's tradition of placing 5 kernels of corn on each plate to signify 5 things to be thankful for as well as to remember that the Pilgrims were thankful, even though they had as little as 5 kernels to eat a day.  Here is a great reference: The Amazing Mess.

I think it will serve well as a reminder for us to be thankful of the things that we have in life. The Amazing mess site shows what each kernel stands for:

Kernel 1: Bounty and beauty of fall
Kernel 2: Love for each other
Kernel 3: Love for family
Kernel 4: Friendship
Kernel 5: Freedom to worship God

I love it!

In honor of the five kernel story, I am going to practice what I will say at the table here.  

Kernel 1: I am thankful for the health of myself, my family and friends
Kernel 2: I am thankful for the love present in my life
Kernel 3: I am thankful for the love of my family and for their undying support
Kernel 4: I am thankful for the great friendships in my life that thankfully include my family
Kernel 5: I am thankful to God for all the blessings He has given me and my loved ones.


I am also thankful that even though having a large family of 7 children can get crazy, it is never boring and there is a lot of love to go around, even though it comes in spurts!!


I am thankful that Gavin is doing great on his missions trip.
I am thankful that Justin is happy in his senior year of school.
I am thankful that Nathan is adjusting to his Freshman year.
I am thankful that Rachael is enjoying Catholic School & is doing well.
I am thankful that Vianne is discovering her talent & doing well in school.
I am thankful that Vincent is excited about participating in sports and has the energy to do well at the sports he chooses.
I am thankful that Gabriella is very self motivated and thoughtful.
I am thankful that I have an amazing husband who supports me in countless ways.
I am thankful that I have a family who loves me.


I am blessed.


Happy Thanksgiving!!


Loudly yours,
Alicia