Great Wolf Lodge- Grapevine Tx

If you haven't visited The Great Wolf Lodge, its a wonderful family vacation spot.
Aside from sharing my vacation photos, I am going to recap the ways to save money, and things you must do while there.

Lets start with discounts on the rooms, the best place to find a good deal so far have come from their website. Join the email list, they send out discount times, booking specials, etc (Black Friday)
I’m not a groupon user but I have heard you can sometimes find a deal on there as well.
Military, Veterans and First Reaponders get a discount as well.
Check out their website for available dates Great Wolf Lodge

Whats included in your stay?
Your room  and water park passes, its important to include how many people are in your room, otherwise you will be buying water park passes for each extra person.

There are activities for the kids to do inside:
Story time where the characters read them a book
A Dance Party for the tweens
Yoga sessions in the mornings
Magic Quest, a scavenger hunt done with magic wands.

You can bring in all your own foods, ice chests with foods and drinks so you don't have to purchase anything extra there.
If you are a soda drinker I recommend springing for their refillable cup, you can fill it from their fountain as many times as you want.
We purchased these cups in 2014 and we are still using them when we go back each year.

When you book a room, get the paw pass for your kid(s), they will get goodies with it, that your kid(s) will want:

• One MagiQuest or Shadow Quest game
• Choice of Compass Quest game, classic or color wand, standard topper or belt
• One Creation Station animal (outfit not included)
• One Glitz Glitter Tattoo (get this the day you leave otherwise it will wash off)
• One Paw Points game card ($5)
• One 12 oz. candy cup
• One Leather Treaty bracelet or keychain from The Name Shop
• One pair of Great Wolf Lodge goggles from Buckhorn Exchange Gift Shop

Since we go during the month of our child's birthday we get the Birthday Bash Package.
Our room will have a Birthday poster hanging on the wall, balloons inside, plates and Birthday Cake, gift card to use in the arcade, and food credit to use in the restaurants.

Should you choose to leave the resort and do other attractions, there are restaurants, and the Main St Strip that has lots of shops to visit and the park.

We venture into Dallas to have dinner at Medieval Times, to enjoy dinner and a show, They frequently have on their website deals, where you get a kid ticket free with an adult ticket purchase.  Check out their website to see show times, Medieval Times

Changing Hair Colors

I enjoy changing the color of my hair frequently.
 The way it happens I will be browsing Pinterest and see a color I love, then another. Before I know it I have booked an appointment with my hair dresser to try my idea of mixing colors.
Naturally my hair is dark brown, and I spent a couple years highlighting to get it to the blonde seen in my photos. The blonde makes it easier to get the fun colors added to my hair.

There comes a time where I get bored with the color or I am ready to go back to blonde so I use one of those hair color hacks you see online.
Mixing equal parts of Vitamin C, Shimmer Lights Conditioner and dish soap. ( I hear Dawn works best but I am allergic to it)
 I mix it all into my hair, put a shower cap on and wait. If I can apply heat it shortens the time, and the color lifts quite a bit. Sometimes I will have to repeat this process a few days or a week later.

Beachy Waves

I don't curl the ends for two reasons: 1- it damages the ends and gives that cotton candy look, 2-I like the way it looks, a little messy.

This is about my favorite curling iron, and hairspray, a post generated because of inquiries I received on my Instagram account @radiantfitashley curls are one of  my favorite looks and styles for hair. For years I have been using an old curling iron that I unscrewed the clamp on to make a wand.

I have long hair, and a lot of it, eventually my arms get tired, I burn myself or reaching the back of my hair gets tricky.
When it comes to fixing my hair, I am lazy. I want it done quick, with as little work as possible. 
A curling wand that holds and wraps my hair automatically, a dream come true, its right up there with the self stirring coffee cup! 
This curling iron heats to 450 degrees, professional level heat, to get perfect waves every time.
You can select the rotation speed, and the direction the iron rotates with the push of a button.

 Sometimes I sleep on my curls and end up with softer, looser waves the next day.

Dutch Oven Stew

Preheat oven to 325 F

3 pounds boneless beef chuck (well-marbled), cut into 1-1/2-inch pieces

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 3 tablespoons olive oil

1 Large Sweet Onion finely diced

7 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed

4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

3 tablespoons tomato paste

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

4 cups dry red wine

4 cups beef broth

4 cups water

2 bay leaves

1  teaspoon dried thyme

2 teaspoons sugar

4 large carrots, peeled and cut into chunks

1 pound small potatoes cut in chunks

In small batches brown roast pieces, then transfer to a bowl. 

Sauté onions and garlic and balsamic vinegar

Add tomato paste and sauté a few minutes more. 

Return meat and juices to pan, add flour and stir until flour is absorbed. 

Add beef broth, wine, water, thyme, bay leaves, sugar, salt and pepper. 

Bring to a boil then cover and place in oven for two hours. 

Cut up carrots and potatoes, season with olive oil, salt and pepper, bake for two hours next to roast. 

After two hours add potatoes and carrots to roast, stir and serve. 

Chalky Paint

I really enjoy crafting, as long as I can finish it in a reasonable amount of time.
I have discovered chalky paint, which lets me paint furniture and wood without having to sand and prep. 
I picked up a couple cans, one light blue for my bathrooms, and a dark blue for my desk..

 While the bathrooms were a fairly quick job, my desk has been a nightmare.
It had several coats of paint, the finish was sticky, and required stripping, and now sanding.
it turned out to be a lot more work than I wanted or anticipated.

When Other Things Need To Be Done

How do you feel about spiders?

I found Spider Utopia while vacuuming my closet.

Distractions, procrastination's!

Foot Fracture

It has been fifteen days since I broke my foot.

I am in love with a youtube channel and blog called Clutterbug.me.
She has great content for Home Management Binders, organizing and cleaning tips- if you need help in the home management area, her blog is one you must check out.
So in my effort to tidy up my kitchen I decide to put all my gadgets I normally keep on the counter into the cupboards and cabinets so my counters would be spotless.
Even the blender I use almost every day.
I decided to make myself a peanut butter, banana and chocolate protein shake- its seriously delicious. I climbed up on my counter to reach the blender, something I have done hundreds of times. I was sitting on the counter and when I turned to get off the counter I slipped, fell to the floor and heard the horrible sound of a bone cracking.
My feet were maybe three feet from the floor, but that was all it took.

The sad part, all of my family members were working or occupied and it was a good two hours before I was picked up and driven to an Urgent Care, where they did some x-rays on my foot, wrote me a script for Tylenol 3, told me to see an Orthopedic Doctor and had me hop out of their hospital.My husband  had to go back and get crutches for me because I couldn't put any weight on my foot.
Until he got the crutches I had a brilliant(horrible) idea to use the kids Cozy Coupe to help me scoot around the house, until it rolled out from under me and I lost my balance and hit the floor again. Take my advice, use a step stool, take your calcium supplements and don't use this little car as a walker.