Great Wolf Lodge

So I’m sure you’ve heard commercials for this place. I believe there are multiple locations. We went to Great Wolf Lodge in Williamsburg, VA. For those of you that DON’t know what this place is, it’s basically a resort with an indoor water park. They’ve got a wave pool, a kiddie play area, a children’s “hot tub”, and adult hot tub, boogie boarding, a few huge slides, a swimming pool, a lazy river…

and this big climbing thing. Aside from water activities, they also have an arcade, which has this human size wack-a-light type game that I want to come back to play when I’m not pregnant. They also have minature bowling, a kiddie spa, and adult spa (with maternity massage!), Shadow/Magic quest which sends you on adventures all over the lodge and of course story times, face painting and a balloon animals guy. THERE IS A LOT TO DO.

The husband and I have always wanted to check it out, but since we didn’t have kids of our own yet, it would have been awkward to just plan a weekend there. Luckily, our friend has children, of age, and it was spring break and they asked us if we’d like to join. Uh..yes. There really was something for everyone, and I’d love to come back with our mini bun. During the summer they open up the outdoor part of the park so there is even more to do! One thing I recommend is getting the souvenir sipper cup. For $13 you get the cup and free refills your entire stay, and anytime you come back. Well worth it for us because this included Icees, and I am all about the Coke Icees. A small icee which is half that size is about $4 so it started paying for itself!

I was actually quite surprised to see some teens there. Looked like they brought their significant others as well. This particular location was very close to wal-mart, sonic, chick fil-a and other restaurants,so if you find the food too expensive in there you can always go off the resort for eats. They also provide a fridge and microwave in your room so bring snacks and your own water!

I definitely would go back with our little one, and friends and theirs!

Posted on April 3, 2015 by miemo 0

After Vacation

Rose Island, what has become our private island

This vacation did its job. I was gone for a perfect amount of time. Away from the computer or my ipad (seriously, I didn’t turn it on ONCE, not even on the plane). Yeah I was on instagram, and answering personal emails on my phone, but no work, no blog, nothing that I “had” to do. It was great.

We had no real plans, no strain or pressure to be anywhere. It was relaxing. I brought three books. I finished two, and started another one on the plane. I really wanted to just read, which is why I intentionally didn’t bring headphones either. This vacation has made me realize, that the perfect amount of vacation for me is 5 days, 4 nights. Anymore than that will be overkill for me. I would start to worry about all the work piling up, and how to deal with it all.

The two hour trip to the Bahamas makes it well worth the 5 days off of working. But if travel time is longer, then of course I’d adjust the days off. Now that I am back I realize, I have got a lot of little things to do, to get my life back to regular function mode. Mostly…cooking, cleaning and the dreaded. LAUNDRY.

But I am happy to be back. Still a little crispy, because I forgot to bring a hat, but I am hoping it will mellow out a bit. This tan will need to last me until next summer. I didn’t really want to do a recap, because I literally did nothing, or the same thing as the last time I went, but I just wanted to stick my happy pictures in there.

My husband seemed to have a great time for his birthday and that is what matters to me!

And now…back to reality.

Posted on September 8, 2014 by miemo 0

End of Summer Vacation

Its our last big trip of the year. Fall and winter is time to focus, and stay home and be cozy. I can’t believe I was here 6 months ago, and now we are going back. I love it. Bahamas has become our special place.

This time we opted for NO rental car (its too confusing to drive there, we almost died last time) and we are staying on Paradise Island. This is because we ended up driving there everyday last time so this time we might as well just stay there. I’m excited to go back to the island and gets some R&R.

Then when I get back, I will buckle down and start a cooking schedule. Let’s do work son!

Are you guys having any end of summer last trips?

Posted on August 27, 2014 by miemo 0

Refreshed

We are back from vacation, and just as I predicted, it was all I needed. After a grueling 12 hours in the car, we made it home. I am happy and ready to tackle my to do list with a new joie de vivre.

The cottage was beautiful. So much bright light reflecting off the lake. The temperature was perfect. The only thing to complain about, if you want me to be realistic, is the mosquitoes. Muskoka Mosquitoes. They are huge, relentless and the boss of this town. Everyone was spraying every 30 minutes just to prevent being eaten alive.

There were lots of water activities to participate in… which I didn’t, because I am terrified by bodies of natural water. However, the honey did get me in a canoe. That didn’t last very long. Luckily he got in with our cousin and they power rowed so far away from us, and caught a fish!

It was so great to be back around family. I feel like all my female relatives are in Canada, while I’m stuck in America with all the boys!

We made a pact to see each other at least once a year. 2 years in a row so far!

There are too many cute babies in this family.

The lake life, is the good life. More posts later! For now, time to catch up with my life! Thank you so much for having us Amy!

Posted on June 23, 2014 by miemo 0

Birthday Week

My how the year has flown by! I am typing this to you on my surprise weekend trip to the Bahamas, which my honey gifted me! My actual birthday is Thursday, Feburary 27th. Since last year we went to Hawaii, and this year I was planning on joining my annual Mardi Gras party with my birthday party, he wanted to sneak me out of the country for a quick paradise getaway! More on my trip later.

In celebration of my birthday, I wanted to do a giveaway! Stay tuned! One of my favorite aprons will be up for grabs.

Posted on February 24, 2014 by miemo 0

Miemo in Paris (and Nice)

Time for a snapshot of my trip!

This was the first time that I’ve traveled out of the country alone, as an adult. Sorry to those who had to hear of my endless anxiety about making sure everything goes smoothly. I love you guys for putting up with me. Packed and ready to go I left after work. Once on the plane, I watched The Five Year Engagement then took some melatonin and knocked out until about an hour left in the flight. They served me two meals and everyone spoke french. LOVED IT. Did I mention I flew AirFrance?

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When I got there it took me about two hours to get through customs and get my luggage. Then Cece and Caroline met me at the door with an American themed “Miemo” doodle. We got in their tiny french car, and headed to the suburbs outside of Paris to see my Aunt, Uncle and Mami Boo (grandma). There we caught up on family stuff and feasted on dumplings, eggrolls, saucisson sec, and pho.

After that we headed to Cece’s apartment in the city.

The rest of the trip consisted of sightseeing all the things that I have to see in Paris, you know the usual..

Eiffel Tower
L’arc de Triomphe
Champs-Elysees
The Louvre
Notre Dame
Montmarte
Centre Georges Pompidou
Seine river
etc

We spent a lot of time in cafes, drinking tea, eating charcuteries, and writing in my journal. I’ve never had such amazing baguettes in my life. And the butter?! And cheese?? Croissants and pain au chocolat, oh my. If we didn’t walk so much I probably would have came home 10 lbs heavier. I had macarons from three different places. I love the food here.

After spending quality time in Paris, we decided no vacation would be complete without lazying in our bikinis, so we headed to the south of France, to splash in the Mediterranean Sea. We took the train to Nice, then took a regional train to Beaulieu sur Mer, a much nicer area of the south than Nice. From there we had other adventures, including a random trip to Monaco!

Then it was time to come back for one last day in the City of Lights before I came home to America. We had tea in a garden where you can escape from the city, we shopped for souvenirs, drank in cafes, and had our goodbye dinner at Hotel Amour.

Stayed tuned for more detailed France Adventures

Posted on August 17, 2012 by miemo 0

Drag Show: Golden Lantern

To continue with our streak of live performances for the weekend. The ladies were invited to a drag show Saturday by Miss Monique’s alter ego, Michael.

We got to Tubby’s Golden Lantern a little early after dinner, so we had some time to kill, especially since they moved the regularly scheduled 10pm show to 11pm due to some country line dance convention (yes they really have those). This is were we met Britnee Aluxander.

She became leader of the pack for the night, leading us to her favorite hot spot Bourbon Pub where she performs weekly. As we were walking the streets and exploring the area, we stopped in on a few ghost tour groups and listened a little (well, I ran away because I’m not having a ghost follow me home). Then we headed back to the show!

The show’s platform was pretty much as follows, 5 drag queens, performing country songs, they each get about 3 songs each, with a costume change for a 2 hour show. As they sing they walk around and interface with the crowd, and this is where you can pull out your ones and tip them. It was hard to believe that these women were actually men! Beautiful with sparkle and shine, we were all mesmerized.

The Golden Lantern was very welcoming to everyone, male, female, gay or straight. They had a community vibe and gave us the best southern hospitality I’ve ever had at a bar. Afterwards there was plenty of line dancing for everyone all around!

Posted on June 4, 2012 by miemo 0

Swamp Adventures

There are two kinds of Gator people in the bayous of Louisiana. The kind where they love the alligators, and treat them as members of their family and are conscious of their preservation. And the others are the kind you see on swamp people who make their yearly income in the short hunting season chooootin’ em.

We were the kind of gator people who sat with our cameras safely inside an air boat. I’ve been on gator tours before in different bayous, but this is my first time on an air boat. I was terrified of being that open to gators, but after reassurance from Deanna, who has dealt with boats for a good chunk of her career, I was pumped.

It was awesome. When the air boat was on the go, we were going so fast, the breeze helped relieve the heat. Our captain was hilarious and knowledgeable. You got to get up close and personal with the gators. Did you know they love their marshmallows? And if they are old enough, they’ll enjoy a nice cold brewski. I’ll let the pictures speak.