Porta winter getaway Year #3

The boys and I took our winter vacation, which took place 10 miles down the road from our home. This is our 3rd annual trip there, and we always have a blast. The first thing we always do when we get into our hotel room is...JUMP ON THE BED (against Daddy's wishes)!!

What? Leaving Mama so soon?!

We did have some disappointment upon checking in. The waterpark was to be closed for most of the time that we would be there. :( Elijah had been talking about his "water factory" for weeks and weeks, so Dan and I felt terrible. 

Thankfully we found this out while the waterpark was still open, so we threw our suits on and ran down to the water to spend a few hours there.

Sammy still does not like it! :( This was what he looked like for most of the time. "Mama, it's ferry (scary)!" Isn't his scared face so stinkin' cute?

Dan and I were proud, though, because he eventually came around. He even went down the little water slide a few times all by himself! Progress!

He was happy to take a picture with Mama on the sidelines!

As usual, Elijah ran around the place like he was born and lived there. He absolutely and totally loves this place. Dan and I took turns running around with him, tubing on the Lazy River, playing on the slides and in his "factory" and splashing in the pools.

Thankfully, we improvised well with the news that this was our only time at the waterpark. The Mall of America is two blocks from the hotel we were staying at and we happened to have a handful of Nickelodeon Universe points. Perfect!

But first, we took our annual post-waterpark bath. Sammy got into the bath willingly this year! Last year he watched from the sidelines.

Handsome boys.

In the bath realm, we have made worlds of progress with Sammy. Hopefully by next year he will be running into the waterpark excitedly! 

We ended bath time with a brother smooch!

Nickelodeon Universe was tons of fun! One of our first rides was the carousel. 

We took a family ride on the ferris wheel! (Look at that happy Elijah face.)

Sammy (as of one hour ago) said this was the highlight of his trip. "Sammy, what was your favorite part of our trip?" "Riding on the ferris wheel with MAMA!" :) He would not sit by anyone but me on the ferris wheel.

Elijah loved bouncing in the giant pineapple. He loved it so much that we went back two or three times so he could jump again. Except, every time we went back it was closed. Sammy was very worried about this (he himself wanted nothing to do with the pineapple). "Elijah's pineapple is closed! Oh no!"

Another thing I will always remember from this trip is Sammy's quoting of movie lines from the Willy Wonka movies. Every morning he woke up saying to the rest of us: "Good morning, Starshine! The world says 'hello!'"

He would also occasionally hold up his cute little palm to us and say, "No no no! This is nothing dangerous!" He is filled with wit and he loves to make his family laugh.

In between waiting for "big" rides, we rode little rides..

Including, ahem, Mama.

We had a memorable and fun lunch at Johnny Rockets.

Shakes, fries and all!

I would say the boys had a pretty amazing adventure.

They were both beyond exhausted when we got home today.

As always, we are extremely grateful for the memories.

Have a great week!