Gaylord First Night

   My parents decided to treat all of us with a trip to the Gaylord.  It was to celebrate my mom's birthday, my birthday, and Emmy's birthday.  We actually ended up going the night before Emmy's actual birthday.  She got to spend her birthday at the Gaylord which was very special for her.    

    We stayed at the Gaylord this summer and loved it.  At Christmas, they put up all sorts of lights and make it really special.  They also have an entire Christmas village and all sorts of holiday activities to do.  We didn't tell the kids we were going because we wanted to surprise them.  After school on Thursday, we all (minus Joey) loaded up in the van and we told them we were going to a surprise.  I snuck the luggage in the back, so they had no idea.  As we got closer, Dawson and Ashlyn figured it out since they had bene there before. Emmy and Gracie didn't come with us this summer, so they had no idea.  Everyone was very excited when we finally arrived and they saw where we were staying.  

All lit up for Christmas

    We got checked in and went up to check out our rooms. Covid restrictions had gotten much tighter since our visit this summer.  Masks were still required everywhere, but all the restaurants were also closed.  You could get food to go, but you had to eat in in your room or outside (which proved to be a real problem the next day when we had checked out and didn't have a room to eat in).  Despite all the restrictions, we were just happy that we were able to go at all and that the trip didn't end up getting cancelled.  

   We waited for the rest of my family to arrive.  Once they did, we went to check out the Christmas village. It is really neat and really put us all in the spirit.  We had appointments to make Gingerbread houses.  The kids had a great time decorating some more gingerbread houses.  

Christmas village

So pretty at night

   After the kids finished decorating, we headed outside to check out the lights. They have a Christmas light walk that you can take that was really pretty.  We enjoyed seeing all the different lights.  

   After being out in the cold, we decided we were ready for an indoor activity.  There was a silent disco going on in one of the event rooms.  None of us had ever been to one, so we were excited to go check it out.  We were the only ones there and it was SOOO much fun!  The kids had a great time running around and dancing like crazy.  They had three different music channels to pick from.  They had one with some great dance music, so Katy and I also had a great time dancing.  I can't remember the last time I danced so much.  It was such a fun time!  

    After all that dancing, we decided it was time to head up to our rooms or the night.  We had adjoining rooms, so we all could hang out with each other.  I knew Emmy would not be easy to get to sleep in the hotel room.  She does not sleep well in other places at all.  Finally, Katy came in and worked her Auntie magic and got her to sleep. 

All ready for bed