Gaylord Texan Resort

We went up to the Gaylord in Grapevine to see the holiday decorations and ICE exhibit.

Here are some reindeer skiing behind Santa's speedboat in the lake out front.Here's part of the atrium in the center of the resort. The balconies all belonged to hotel rooms.

Brad really wanted to ring the bell up in that tower.

A river wound throughout the atruim. There were also all kinds of shops and restaurants.

On the Riverwalk.

We had lunch at the Riverwalk Cafe.

A gingerbread shop.

All the trees, lights, and decorations were really amazing.

We had a great time seeing it all.

Santa and Mrs. Clause made an appearance with a couple of live reindeer late in the afternoon, but by then the kids were so tired, we decided to just wave at them from afar.

Trains at the Gaylord

Trains, trains everywhere! Jackson and Noah really loved them. Too bad there wasn't a miniature one we could ride.







My favorites were the little cable cars!

Ice at the Gaylord

Imagine a 14,000 square foot structure, kept at 9 degrees, filled with two million pounds of hand-carved ICE! The ice will be carved into magical life-sized holiday monuments and sculptures by artisans from Harbin China.

That was taken from the Gaylord's website. And they were right about the temperature...it was cold!


They gave us these parkas to keep warm, and they worked pretty well. Jackson got the smallest size they had, but I think it could have fit me. He looked cute dragging around in it, though.Noah got to stay in his stroller wrapped under a special blanket. I think he was the warmest of us, by far.
We wandered from room to room admiring the sculptures.



That entire sled was made of ice, except for the cushions, thankfully.

Here is an entire ice bridge covered with just a rug for traction.
An ice nativity.

In one large room were four huge ice slides which Brad and Jackson tried out.
I didn't think Jackson would like going down directly on the cold surface, but he kept climbing back up for more.
It was so beautiful. I'm thinking we're going to make this an annual family tradition.

Bringing home a tree

After being sick all weekend, I finally rallied myself Sunday afternoon to go Christmas tree shopping with my boys.

I've always wanted a squat, little tree, and this year I was determined to get one. At the first three tree lots, however, I found out those cute trees were the first to go. Jackson loved running around and counting all the trees. I think he was in some kind of forest heaven. Noah mostly seemed cold. It was a bit windy and chilly out today.

Finally, at a nursery, I found my little tree. We decided to stick it on the coffee table to ensure it'll actually make it to Christmas. As you can see, somebody is already quite interested in it!

The great part about getting a petite tree is that it fit in the back of my jeep...nestled amongst the strollers...and came with the stand. All Brad had to do was carry it in and stick it on the table. Voila! Plus, we'll only have to use one string of lights.

Alas, that was about all the energy we had for the day. The trimming of the tree will probably have to wait till next weekend unless I muster the energy to climb into the attic sometime in the week. We'll see.