Gaylord ICE!

My mom took all of her kids and grandkids to the Gaylord for their ice exhibit, and it was so fun...and cold....and hot.  I knew they gave everyone parkas, but I was still a little concerned about what the kids would wear, so we all (except my ever-hot-natured husband) bundled up in layers. 

Pretty much every portion of the exhibit requires that you wait in some sort of holding area.  The first several were actually really warm.  By the time we had our parkas on, I was sweating, which y'all know I loved. 

As usual, Hunter wanted nothing to do with posed pictures, so there are several of our family of 4, but only 3 of us are pictured.  Here's the first one while waiting in line...

The grandkids (minus Hunter) in line...

I decided to get a candid shot of him so we'd have proof he was there...

Hunter loves his hat and mittens.  He asked to wear them on the ride to Grapevine and again waiting in line, even though both places were pretty warm.

Vanesa is always so helpful with Charlotte.  She is one of the few people that Char will actually willingly go to when I am around:)

We finally let Charlotte stand on her own after much effort to keep her in our arms.  I was afraid she'd try to walk all around (we were stuck in this one spot for about 15 minutes), but she just stood by this post sweetly...

The boys waiting in the same spot...

As you can see, H pulled off his hat and mittens from the sauna-like heat.  We took off Charlotte's coat too, so she wouldn't suffer from a heat stroke.

They are so sweet.

We finally made it to the last room before the exhibit, and they handed out our parkas.  I didn't know if they'd have one for Charlotte, so I brought her heaviest coat, but they didn't fail her...

She was for sure the bulkiest of us all.  Hysterical.

They mentioned that you couldn't go down the slide if you didn't wear a parka.  Hunter didn't mind the parka too much (at least at first), but he had a big protest of the slide (before he even saw it)...

 

We're almost there!  Doesn't he look thrilled?  That's what waiting for nearly a century will do to a 3.5 year old.

After a required group photo, in which our son is crying real tears, and one more line to wait in, we made it to the ice!

Isn't that amazing?  It's all really ice. 

They had these ice slides in the second room, but everyone in our group except for Vanesa opted out...  

Yeah right, y'all.  It's 9 degrees (literally) in there. Why would I slide down ice when my body is already on the verge of frostbite? This girl has to keep moving if I'm going to stay happy....and that, my friends, is proof that Hunter is my child...in case you ever doubted.

Finally a shot of all 4 of us...


Poor Charlotte was soooo bulky...

After about 10 minutes inside the ice exhibit, Hunter started begging me to take off his coat...

Apparently, he was a little too bulky too.  So like any right-minded parent, I distracted him with the Snoopy house...

And with perfect sibling timing, Charlotte began to cry as soon as her brother's tantrum was under control...

At the end of the exhibit there was this tunnel...

That ice on the wall was so cool, but my picture doesn't do it justice.  Y'all know photography is not one of my strengths.

The tunnel lead you to one more room before you exited.  I was really surprised at the last room.  It was this nativity completely out of ice, and there was a tape of a man talking over the speaker telling of Christ's birth.  It was beautiful...

 
 I was so excited to show Hunter and remind him what this season is about.

After we thawed out a little, we went back into the hotel to look around.  They have so much fun stuff...lots of trains, which Hunter loved...

Charlotte liked them too...

There were also several gingerbread houses.  This one was made out of real candy...

...or at least had candy glued to it:)...

Thanks so much for such a fun afternoon, mom!  We had a blast and can't wait for next year!