Great Wolf Lodge Review

Visiting the Great Wolf Lodge with a family: Awesome.

Visiting the Great Wolf Lodge for a podiatry conference with no kids: Not Awesome.

Two weeks ago Daren and I went to the Great Wolf Lodge located about an hour and a half north for one of his Podiatry Conferences.   We invited everyone we know who already has kids and no one could make it, so it was just us, The Podiatrist and the Pregnant Lady.

Great Wolf Lodge is a kids heaven. Everything is catered towards kids and is very cool! Every restaurant is family friends and is themed is some sort of outdoorsy way. There is a very tasty ice cream and donut shop and, for the parents, a Starbucks.

Then there is the famous water park! It is huge. They keep it at the constant 84 degrees and the water is pretty comfortable too. They have a special water play area for the little kids that is stocked with fountains and waterfalls, a play house and fake jet skis that are secured to the ground and have water guns on them to shoot the parents.  Then comes the wave pool! Now that is fun. A wolf howls at the start of each wave session and there are two different patterns of waves that knock you all around. We spent a lot of time in there until I got knocked off of my inner tube by the fat kid.

The slides are big and fast.  I didn't go after the slides with as much gusto as I normally would since the baby I'm baking has asked me to be extra careful. Still, we did learn that if you ride the double inner tubes and put the...ahem...bigger person in the front you go extra fast. And then at the end the heavier person will get dunked as you shoot out of the slide and the person in the back gets launched! Its hysterical and awesome.

Other than that there is nothing for two adults without kids to do....so we drove to the casino.  At the casino I played black jack for three hours on $100.00. It was so fun and we both walked away with a little extra spending cash.

Again, I have no pictures because of the lost camera fiasco in Vegas.

All in all, go to the Great Wolf Lodge as a family. Do not go as a pregnant couple when you can't go on all of the slides or drink to pass the time.

Ode to my Hipbones

I've heard it said, that sometimes in your life

you meet a friend who, though only with you for awhile

changes you.

My Hipbones, that friend is you.

Hipbones, You have been with me for years. You have bravely poked out the top of my low rise jeans in college and helped hold up bikinis in Tahiti.

Hipbones, you have stood strong when I clumsily ran into counter tops, door frames, and chairs over the years, wearing your bruises with a silent strength.

Hipbones you have been courageous during countless yoga classes on hard floors while selflessly being pushed into the ground in order to allow Feet and Shoulders to arch and stretch towards the ceilings.

Hipbones, I have always loved you.

I've loved how I can rest my hands on you after a long run. 

I've loved how I can tell when I've needed to watch my portion size based weather or not you show up to the party in that dress we love.

I've loved how well you tan.

But alas, my dear sweet Hipbones, its time to part ways.

Hipbones, you have received a promotion. You are now part of the Lil B Security Detail. What a prestigious position and I can think of no one better, no one more loyal.

My Hipbones, I will miss you.

My Hipbones, I will not say goodbye to you,

only a bittersweet, see you later.

Multiple Choice

Which is more boring?

a) watching paint dry.

b) watching grass grow

or 

c) watching the Masters

I know, its a tough call for me too.

Highlights of my First Trimester

I'm 12 weeks ! This was my first pregnancy goal. I've made it to 12 weeks and I've made it through all of the First Trimester goodness. Here are the highlights.

-Taking 4 boxes worth of pregnancy test

-Hiding being pregnant from my closest friends for a full week while all staying in the same house at Glow Camp

-Being so afraid it was going to go away, I didn't want to get

 off of the couch and risk anything

-Nausea 

-Bursting into tears when my pregnancy symptoms would come and go and convincing myself that something was wrong. Only to call my mom and have her laugh at me over the phone and reassure me that its normal and I should learn to appreciate the days I'm not sick

-Nausea

- My new found deep love of orange juice

-Puking up my newly loved orange juice

- Turning into the Napping Queen ( sung to Abba's Dancing Queen)

-Bursting into tears after my mom left for her month long trip to India 

because I realized I didn't have one of her recipes. Thats right, just one, and yes she is available by phone.

-Dry Heaving

- Walking around feeling like some new 8th drawf combination of Sneezy, Dopey and Grumpy

- AND the time is took me 15 minutes to come up with the word Porcupine.

Plus, my all time favorite

- Running the Shamrock Run with my brother getting morning sickness in a port-a-potty!

It is no joke when people call pregnancy an adventure! Your formerly predictable body is now completely crazy and even you don't have a clue whats coming next.

And I feel so blessed that I get the chance to experience it.

Second trimester, even bigger bra's and maternity cloths....here we come!

A Heartbeat

A fast heartbeat is a healthy heartbeat.

Today Daren and I heard the heartbeat of our soon to be Lil 

B!

We are having a baby and its due October 21st.

Thank you for everyone who prayed for us, hoped for us, and walked with us. After attending Presentation Sunday, we were blessed enough to get pregnant with this little one and are officially out of the woods as far as miscarraiges go.

Today we heard the heartbeat of our baby! It was good, fast and strong at about 150

Here is our first baby picture at 8 weeks and 2 days.  Today we are in the middle of week 11.

Today, I heard a heartbeat and it was amazing.

Brief Brag

Oh what a wonderful morning, Oh what a wonderful day!

I have a fantastic husband.

Yesterday was my definition of a Perfect Sunday all thanks to Daren and the sun.   I awoke to the sun shinning in through the windows and the dogs up and ready for a walk. After seeing so much rain its always something to take note of when he get our first bits of sunny weather in the NW.  So much so that our pastor at church announced right away that everyone could be excused since it was so sunny out. He suggests that maybe we should close church for the day since we closed when it was so snowy, which is a regional rarity, so maybe we should also close when its very sunny!

I left home early to go and work with the preschool children for the 9:00 service. They put me in charge of the art project...pause for laughter from my family and close friends who know I don't have an ounce of artistic ability in my body.  Then my awesome husband came to meet me for the 10:30 service and even brought with him a whole bunch of granola bars for me to snack on during the service.

We find out seats in the balcony, where you can coffee, and he leans over and tells me that in his truck he has packed the dogs and a bag for each of us and we are going on a surprise hike after church! It was fantastic! I was so excited to get out in into the sun, and to see just what my husband had packed for me, that we actually did leave church early. Just a little, and we were certainly not the only ones. :)

We stopped at a little local deli to pick up handmade sandwiches and headed to our destination. Daren had done a great packing job and packed me everything I would have packed on my own! Hike #1 in "The Best Northwest Hikes with Dogs", Tyron Creek State Park. In the book it was only going to take up 1.5 hours. Well, true to form, we took a few extra turns and ended up hiking on this beautiful trail over streams and around fantastic Trillium for 3 full hours.  

The day ended with watching the Blazers game and dinner out with friends.

It was so romantic and spontaneous. In my book, it was a perfect Sunday perfectly planned by my fantastic husband.

Thank you Daren for the fantastic Sunday. You are wonderful!

Sarah D and The Doctor

My blog officially has a new name. Though its the oldest name Daren and I have as a couple.

Sarah D and The Doctor.

This is my friend Emma.

 We've been friends now for about 3 years, so we have actually known each other longer than Daren and I have.  She is the daughter of my former boss and now just plain old good friend, Wagner.

   

Emma and I used to hang out quite a bit when she would come into the office and her Dad would be in meetings. We would come up with all sorts of interesting things to do in my cubicle.  And occasionally I would get to pick her up from school 

and we would spend the afternoon together and she sometimes comes to our Halloween and Super Bowl Parties.

From day one Emma  has referred to me as Sarah D. Ofen if I meet someone who already knows Emma I get the response " Oh you're Sarah D"

When I met Daren she asked me what he did. And from that point on she has called him The Doctor.

Emma was one of our fantastic flowergirls! For a girl who refuses to wear dresses she sure had a good time in this red one.

I think Emma is fantastic! And the fact that, even after a year of marriage, she still refers to us as Sarah D and The Doctor makes me laugh.

Thus, my blog will henceforth be known as Sarah D and The Doctor.