Thanksgiving Getaway: Day 5 - Family Pictures

Since we were all together for what might be the last time in a while, we wanted to do family pictures with the whole family.  Boyd took the official pictures with his camera, but Tony also took some with his phone.  I think they turned out pretty good.

After we did all the pictures, we all got changed and then us ladies got ready to make wreaths.  We went to Michael's to pick up the needed supplies.  We also picked up some lunch on our way back to Wendy's.  After eating our food, we got started on our wreaths.  Julie made one a few weeks earlier, so she was our teacher. They all turned out way cute and it was fun to make them together as sisters!

That night for dinner we all ate left overs from Thanksgiving.  It was another good meal.  After everything was picked up, we then did our annual Christmas cousin gift exchange.  Since we were all together, it made sense to do it now.  The kids all loved getting a gift and watching their cousins open their gifts.  After that the kids played for a while longer before everyone went home for the night.

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Thanksgiving Getaway: Day 4 - Thanksgiving

We had plans to make two turkeys.  Tony and I (mostly Tony) was in charge of making the turkey in the oven and Gabe did a fried turkey.

Tony went to the store with the girls to pick up a couple things while Wendy and I went for a walk.  Wendy's neighborhood is full of hills, some really steep and others not too bad.  It totally kicked my butt.  I was so slow and totally in pain by the time we were done.  I obviously need to do more hills in the daily exercising.

When I got back, I helped Tony get the turkey stuffed and in the oven.  Josh really wanted to swim in Wendy's pool, even though it was really cold.  So, him and Megan decided that they were going to jump in the pool.  Josh went first and automatically jumped right back out of the pool shaking and trying to catch his breath.  Megan still wanted to jump in herself and reacted the same way, freezing.  They both automatically got into the hot tube and felt much better.  Gabe checked the pool temperature after that, and it was only 51 degrees.  So yeah, a little chilly.

After they showered and got dressed and the turkey was in the oven, we all headed over to see Julie's new house and all the work that Boyd's been doing on their house.  They had just gotten new counter tops in their kitchen the day before, so we were excited to see it.  Boyd has been so busy updating their house and it is looking tons better.  After we stopped by my parents' new house.  It is so cute, and I think it'll be perfect for them.  We then went back to Wendy's house to get the charcuterie ready for when our guests arrive.

The afternoon was filled with food, family, and fun.  We had plenty of food and good company.  We went on a golf cart and four-wheeler ride.  After our ride we walked around Wendy's property and found where we wanted to take family pictures the next day.  We then had some pie before everyone went back to their houses.  It was a great family filled day.

Thanksgiving Getaway: Day 3 - Drive to Auburn

Once we got in the car, we drove to the Giardellis outlet and ice cream shop that was only 10 minutes away from the hotel.  We ordered three different specialty ice creams for all of us the share.  It was yummy stuff.  

We noticed that the freeway was looking pretty busy, so we quickly got into the car and headed to Wendy's house.  The traffic was heavy at times, but not terrible. 

We made it to Wendy's house right before dark.  We unpacked the car and then the rest of our family came over and we all ate dinner together.  

After dinner we all drove about a half an hour away to get ice cream (again) at Leatherby's.  The menu was a little different then in Utah, but there were a lot of similarities and that was pretty cool.  It was fun having almost all of us (27 people - mom and Averee weren't there) at Leatherby's together.

Thanksgiving Getaway: Day 3 - Great Wolf Lodge (Day 2)

After we woke up and got dressed, we went downstairs to see what kind of breakfast they offered at the hotel restaurant.  They were all really overpriced so we decided to go find a place to eat in town.  We weren't able to use the water park until 10:00 so we knew we had plenty of time. We decided on the Black Bear Diner, and we shared two big breakfast meals.  We are not generally super hungry at breakfast time, so we thought this was perfect for our family.

After we got back, we got things ready to go back to the water park.  Since Allie and I got tired of swimming quicker then they others, we decided to stay in the room longer and get us checked out and the car loaded while the others swam.  After Allie and I did all those things we joined the others in the water park.

We all played and played and did everything that everyone wanted to do.  At lunch time we decided to get some pretzels and fries for everyone to share.  It was delicious.  I was pretty much done by then.  We let the kids play for a little while longer before getting changed into our clothes.  We said goodbye to The Great Wolf Lodge and headed towards Auburn once again.

Thanksgiving Getaway: Day 2 - Great Wolf Lodge (Day 1)

We ate some breakfast at the hotel before packing up the car and heading back out on the road.  The drive was a nice one from Winnamucca to Auburn.  Tony and I had bought some more Hank Smith and John Bytheway talks on CD and we all really enjoyed listening to those on our drive (okay, Allie didn't really like them).

We made it to Auburn and went to the office where Julie and Wendy work.  After showing the kids and Tony the office (I had already been there) we went next door and had lunch with Julie.  It was pretty yummy food and great company. 

After lunch we drove the rest of the way to the Great Wolf Lodge in Manteca, CA.  It is only an hour and a half away from Auburn, so that was really nice.  We were there before our room was ready, but we were able to check into the water park.  So, Tony checked us in for that and then we got our swimming stuff out of the van before going into the Lodge.  It is a super big hotel with an indoor waterpark attached.  They also have minigolf, mini bowling, multiple restaurants, and many other activities.

After getting changed into our swimsuits we found a spot to put our bags and then we explored all the different fun pools and slides.  Allie was hesitant to do the bigger water slides but loved the little kid slides.  Megan and the boys did really good with the bigger slides.  We played in the Lazy River and the wave pool together as a family.  

Once our room was ready Tony went and took our clothes up to the room.  Once we got hungry, we were able to eat in the water park area.  They had a couple choices inside the water park and places to sit down and eat.  We went with the burger and fries, and it did not disappoint. 

After eating Allie and I were pretty much done with the water.  So, we went up to the room and got changed so we could get our luggage out of the car.  Then Allie took a bath while I unpacked our bags and made up the sofa bed.  We then ran to the store and gassed up the car all before the others were done.  They were still loving it and stayed until it closed at 8:00 pm.  It was a fun day, and we were all happy that we had another fun day of swimming ahead of us.

Thanksgiving Getaway: Day 1

We checked the younger kids out of school early on Monday and then picked up Tyler after his school was over before heading out of town.  We drove to Winnamucca to stay night.  The drive was nice and smooth.  We stopped at the rest stop by the Salt Flats before driving onto Winnamucca.  

Tony checked us into our hotel and then we found a local restaurant to eat some dinner.  The food was okay.  We then went and got settled into our room for the night.