Great Wolf Lodge

I do not even know where to begin to describe how amazingly fun this weekend was! It definitely was the most fun Eli's EVER had! He just was SO joyful and happy. Part of it was being with all the family and part of it was just staying at an amazing place so geared towards kids. We decided on going to KC a day early and staying in a hotel near the wedding. We weren't sure if Eli would sleep in the car on the way to the wedding, so we wanted him to be able to take a nap that day.

Before we left though, I had my first OB appointment. Eli came with us (big mistake), so I hardly remember anything because I was so distracted :-) I had to have the works, since it was my first appointment. They did do an internal sonogram, and Eli was able to see the baby with us, which was neat. He kept pointing at the little heartbeat moving on the screen. Everything looks great! The baby wasn't moving around like crazy like Eli was at his first sonogram (maybe this kid will have Brandon's personality?) One can hope :-) The baby is measuring the correct amount of time. I'll be 8 weeks on the 30th. I'm anxious to find out the results of the antibody test they did because I'm RH- and Eli is positive. I had Rhogam shots to keep me from producing antibodies (that could attack this baby if he/she is positive), but I had read a few stories where they didn't work and the baby had to have multiples blood transfusions in utero. I'll find out on Oct. 15 at my next appointment. Annoying negative blood!

After our appointment we headed to KC. Both trips there and back went great. We used my brother-in-laws DVD player, so Eli could watch videos. I put on some Elmo, and we were good to go! The first night there I went to a bachelorette/wedding party for my friend Amy. It was SO great to see her. She lives in NYC, but had her wedding in KC. The last time I saw her I was pregnant with Eli. We've been friends since preschool. She was a bridesmaid in my wedding! Friday we spent playing at this great play place in Zona Rosa mall, meeting my family at Cabelas so Eli could see the fish, and checking into Great Wolf Lodge. Eli loved the place immediately. He now is obsessed with Wolves. The whole time he wanted to walk around and look at all the wolves on the carpet, pictures, stuffed statues etc. He just kept howling and howling. It was so adorable. My mom took him swimming at the indoor water park that afternoon. We have a video of his reaction when he first saw all the fun water stuff. He was so excited. He loved the slides, playing basketball with Brandon and Grumpa, riding the water snake, watching the giant 1000 gallon bucket dump water on everyone, splashing around, and playing with all the water equipment and fountains. That night we went to the wedding at the Hawthorne House. Beautiful location for a wedding! Brandon played with Eli inside at around in the trees during the ceremony and then we all took turns playing with him during the reception. He did great. We were there 3 1/2 hours and I was so proud of him! There were toddlers all around throwing tantrums etc., but he was very well behaved. That night the rest of the family came. My sister/brother-in-law, and my brother and cousin Sam. All day Saturday we played in the water stuff. Eli was so excited he would literally be prancing to go downstairs. He loved using his "powers" on the elevators. Since this place is a kids resort, there were kids everywhere playing all the games, arcades, etc. We got the biggest kick out of all these kids with wands playing this Master Maggi game where you had to go to all these secret places throughout the hotel etc. Joel, Sam, and Will won Eli a stuffed wolf at the arcade that he LOVES. We kept calling Eli wolf nicknames because he never stopped howling the entire weekend.

He was SO happy to see my family. We shared a suite with my parents. Eli is so in love with all of them! He just kept asking for everyone by name and snuggling, kissing, holding their hands etc. It's so wonderful to see him adoring my family as much as I do! Sunday, we snuck in another hour of water fun before check out and headed out! I was sick last night when we got home because we ate SO much the whole trip. It was great to have every restaurant we needed right next to the resort. Made it so easy with Eli in tow! I am so extremely happy that I felt good the whole trip. Eli slept pretty good and took naps fine, so it made the trip so much better. Brandon and I have definitely vowed to try to take our kids once a year. Even if it's just for a night or two!