Happy Birthday Papaw!

This weekend the whole Buening family gathered at Great Wolf Lodge in Ohio to celebrate Papaw's birthday. Ethan and Erica (and Paul and I) looked forward to it all week. In fact, Erica just about drove Paul up the walls Saturday morning asking if it was time to go to the water park. She followed us all through the house to make sure that we didn't leave without her. I had to run a last minute errand to the grocery store. Erica was willing to leave me behind. Paul convinced her that they couldn't do that. By the time I returned home from the grocery store, Ethan and Erica were buckled into their car seats ready to go.

When we arrived at Great Wolf, everyone quickly changed into their swimsuits to enjoy the water park. Ethan was one of the first ones into the water. He didn't waste any time exploring the water park. He loved the water slides, the basketball goals, the lazy river, and the wave pool. He put on his goggles and swam, and swam, and swam. He was a fish!

Erica was much more reserved. She wanted to be held the entire time, particularly by Gammaw. We did get her to go down a water slide. She was very frightened, you could see it in her eyes. We were able to convince her to go down a few more times.

Ellie enjoyed sitting on the edge of the pool. She loved to splash her toes in the water. She enjoyed watching all the people just as much as the water (B'maw would be proud!).

After naps and dinner, we headed back to the water park. Erica was feeling a tad bit braver, but not much.

Later that night, we were finally able to celebrate Papaw's birthday. We had cake and candles but no flames. I brought the candles but forgot the lighter.

Sunday morning, the kids woke early ready to go again. After some breakfast, we headed back to the water park. Erica was tired, Ellie was tired, and Ethan was to busy swimming to eat or realize that he was tired. We had a blast! Paul was able to rock the girls to sleep pool-side while the rest of enjoyed the water park.

We had a great weekend with the whole family. Ethan, Erica, and Gabrielle really enjoyed being able to play with their cousins, Ally and Jake.