Christmas was over...presents opened, joy had, stories told...and normally everyone has a case of the post-holiday blues.  In Ohio where the weather is more mild, its not so bad, but in New England where we annually get snow piled up over our fence, the feelings like stooping to get into a bunker.  Its time to hunker down and get to work.  But this year was different.  After Christmas we had this to look forward to:



We were all super pumped as Nanna and P-Pa had got us a night at Great Wolf Lodge.  It was a perfect way to rebound from Christmas and as you can see from the video above Isaac was seriously excited.  In fact it continued even to the hotel itself:



It was about an hour of chanting, in part because it took forever to check in.  GWL was absolutely packed.  Every spot in the lot was taken, even the islands and edges were overflowing with cars.  Perhaps it was because, while it was icy 16 degrees outside it was a perfect 85 degrees inside and inside had 300 foot water slides (which went outside, but miraculously stayed perfectly warm). 

Isaac hit a bunch of rides--the Lazy River, the slides, including the big kid slide found here (note the hairy dude...yikes naked sweater...ewww!):



and, of course, the Wave Pool.  We went in June, as Isaac's birthday present, and the difference, in just six months is incredible.  Isaac can not just touch in the Lazy River when he couldn't before, he can now walk flat footed.  It made the entire process so much more enjoyable.

We did everything we possibly could, even going outside in the hot tub.  The first day was so cold (16) that when Isaac and I went outside (Mom, being preggo couldn't even get it), my hair froze though my body stayed nice and toasty.  I can see why hotsprings do well in Iceland...its the bodily equivalent of chocolate covered pretzels.  We also had a great time playing indoor mini golf.  But the thing that Isaac loved the most was...wait for it...bowling.  GWL has a mini bowling alley, probably 1/3 the size of a real alley with proportionately smaller bowling balls, perfect for I-man.  And he just couldn't get enough.


Did you know that air time was a thing in bowling?

At the end of the two days were so wiped that we barely made it back home.  It was a great way to conclude an amazing break and the rarest of all treats--a vacation from a vacation.  Thanks again Nanna and P-Pa.  

Pacific Rim is a great popcorn movie. If you have even a twinge of like for King Kong go see it. Basically its a King Kong/Godzilla movie with cutting edge special effects and a real (real being a relative term) plot.  The 8 year old boy in me almost died of overexposure to awesomeness when watching it.  

The stars of the movie aren't the actors, but the robots and the monsters (jaegers, or hunters in German and kaiju, or monsters in Japanese).  Of particular interest to I-man is one particular kaiju--Leatherback.  Now Isaac has never seen the movie, even a second of it, as it is pretty darn intense, but he has seen the toys.  Every time we'd walk through Toys R Us he'd stop and look.  They are pretty amazing toys, with lots of detail, a great look, and tons of articulation (joints).  And only enough, even when passing through in June, he'd say he wanted one particular kaiju--the gorilla one called Leatherback. It was consistent, but it never seemed pressing, so we'd browse and walk on.  They were like $25, so I could pick one up anytime.

During the lead up to Christmas Isaac was pretty consistent.  He wanted a Wonder Woman, some stuffed animals, and Leatherback.  Despite being four, his list never really changed.  We thought it would, but through October, November, and December it was those three things over and over again. When it came time to consult with Santa, we started looking around.  The one kaiju he wanted seemed to have disappeared from Toys R Us.  Then it disappeared from toy websites (Toy Wiz is pretty good).  Then it disappeared from eBay.  That's the oh shit moment, right?  No eBay.  Apparently Leatherback was the toy from the movie collectors wanted most and they have bought up all of them.  

Then I found one on Amazon.  It wasn't $25 anymore.  It was $60.  That's a lot of dough.  But Isaac had been consistent in his desire and he is an awesome kid, so I decided to bite the bullet.  I dropped it in the cart and was ready to go when I realized that it would be delivered just about now, in January.  WTF!  Well, as it turns out, it was the last one anywhere in the world apparently and it was in Japan.  I then decided to go for broke and order it with expedited shipping. The total was a jaw dropping $104. Shipping was $43!  Oh well, we learned our lesson.  And as you can see from the video in the previous post, it was worth it.  

Christmas was a few weeks ago, but the videos are still fun to watch.  We have a collection of a few.  Stories in the next post.

PRESENTS!


Witch Fingers


Kaiju


Rancor