Post New Years Fun

We left town after playing football and made it to Jon and Tara's in the late afternoon. The kids quickly got to playing and we caught up on all the holiday fun. We decided to feed the kids and then go get dinner and see Les Miserables that night. Jon and Tara had already seen it and quickly said it was worth seeing again. It was really good...definitely one of the best of the year! We had made reservations to go to Great Wolf Lodge, but decided we'd stop in Olympia and tour the capitol building, which we've never done. I'm glad we did. It was interesting. Having grown up in Helena, the capitol was a landmark that I think I've taken for granted. I'm still partial to that building, but the Washington Capitol was worth stopping at. 

Prayer of Assisi at the entrance. 

Signing the guestbook

 The entire tour took place in one room...the state reception room.

Explaining the state flag. Washington is the only state to have a solid background as well as an image of a President. Owen knew both these facts from when we learned them earlier for Cub Scouts!

The only gold found in the entire building is found on the drapes in this room and in some of the other rooms.

 Our tour guid points out various images and scenes found in the marble.

George Washington...can you seem him?

Our tour guide told us to make sure and rub Washington's nose...it's supposed to bring good luck.

 I'm pretty sure that doesn't include picking it!

 From there, we traveled to Great Wolf Lodge, where the kids swam and slid to their hearts content in the indoor water park. They enjoyed the facilites from the time we got there at 3 until 8 p.m. when they decided they were hungry enough to leave. Let's just say we all slept well that night.

 I didn't take my camera in to the waterpark, so didn't get any pictures, but the kids had a great time. We went back in the morning after breakfast for a few hours before getting ready and checking out of our room, which we had to do by 11:00 a.m. The kids then went on the magi quest, which took a few hours. I enjoyed some outlet stores nearby.

 From there, we went to Portland and went straight to Christopher's cousin, Matt's house. We had arranged to go to dinner with his family, as well as Christopher's other cousin, Tim and his kids (his wife was working) and his Aunt Mary. We went to this Italian place where their specialty was the Pizzaghetti...yes basically spaghetti on a pizza crust. 

 I ordered a calzone...it was really, really big...

It was nice to connect with them and catch up. The kids were super tired so Christopher took me an the kids to the hotel and then he went and visited for a few hours.

The next day, Christopher took the kids to OMSI and I shopped. The kids said they had a lot of fun and Christopher even took some pictures.

 They got to tour a real submarine.

After re-connecting, I basically dropped Christopher off with Jonas, Owen and Sadie to go see Rise of the Guardians. Ansel and I went to dinner and then went to see the Hobbit, which I loved!

The following day, we hung out at the hotel and then went to watch Alyssa in her first competition as a LEVEL 8  in a new season with a new gym. She did awesome, and I'm glad we got to cheer her on. I didn't take too many pics, but here she is on the bars.

The boys got bored after awhile, (there is a lot of waiting in between times when Alyssa competes), so they had a football and found a vacant parking lot to play. I love that these guys know how to have fun together.

We left a bit after 3:00 pm.  and had a long drive home as we ran into some freezing rain and a detour to get our pillows at the resort Christopher and I had stayed in the week before. It was nice to get home after being away for most of the week, but it was a great get away!