Breakfast with the Grinich and ICE

Today was quite a day and a great start to our New Year vacation. We planned a day at the Gaylord and the National Harbor filled with a breakfast with the Grinch, an ICE show, yummy lunch, and a train ride. Here we all are at the end of the ICE show But maybe we should start at the very beginning. This year Wyatt saw the Grinch Who Stole Christmas and was in love. He watched the movie on a loop all Christmas season and would laugh and sing-along with those crazy Whos from Whoville. So what luck when the Gaylord hotel had a Grinch themed Christmas celebration.

Wyatt started his big day by getting to have breakfast with the Grinch in the National Pastimes restaurant. It was awesome they had the movie playing on a loop on every TV in the place and Wyatt was in Heaven he just sat so calmly in his seat and watched in awe. They had a great breakfast too complete with Green Eggs and Ham (which was very good, Sam-I-Am). Then we got to go see the Grinch himself. Wyatt walked up to him and started holding his hand. He knew this was the same Grinch whose heart had grown three sizes so it was okay.

What a fan!

Even Nonna was excited to see the Grinch.

Cousin William and Uncle John met us at the restaurant and William was ready to have some fun. He was so cute the first thing he said when he came in was "Where's Grandma". He was excited to get to spend the day with his Grandma- what a sweetie.

Then we all went over to the ICE Show which featured the the Grinch Who Stole Christmas and had a pre-show that was the art of Dr. Seuss.

The pre-show was great, it was full of Dr. Seuss' art from the different years and many were very political. Mommy and Daddy fell in love with his art and William thought all the animals on the wall were hilarious. He pointed out each one and would just laugh.

The show was sold out so Uncle John wasn't able to come in with us but William was and he was such a good boy the whole time. He stayed with us and helped us so much with our little wandering Wyatt. Inside the ICE exhibit it is 7 degrees so we all had to be fitted for parkas. We all made sure to dress in our layers. It was so cold Mommy had on a vest, her big feather jacket, and the full length parka...needless to say she was nice and toasty. Here is Nonna, Mommy, Cousin William, and Wyatt at the beginning of the ICE show:
All made from ice here are those Whos getting ready to celebrate Christmas

But that nasty Grinch has other plans. Poor Wyatt was too little for his parka so we had to pull it up a little so he could waddle along. He looked like such a little butterball but a cute little butterball. Here are Wyatt and William all bundled up together posing with the Grinch getting the doggy-reindeer ready for their big ride.

They were so cute in their big parkas and they looked like penguins when they walked around it was cracking us all up so much to watch them waddle quickly back and forth. Then those silly boys knew we thought it was funny so they both pretended to be penguins.
The ice figures were all so amazing they looked like wax at times and were just brillant. It was great to get to see all of that in person after having worked on an ice magazine which featured the art of ice in many an issue.

We were excited when we got to a huge room with two large slides. Stan stayed at the bottom the first round so the kids, Nonna, and Mommy could go first then Stan took the kids up for a second slide- BONUS!

Here is our slide collage:

Stan and I think William (all the kids looked the same in those parkas) once he got down the slide

On William's first time down his pants stopped his ride halfway down so he had to scoot the rest of the way but on his second ride down he went zipping.
Nonna's coat was right under her and made her go down the slide so super fast. I love the look on her face.

Mommy should have worn better pants because not only did they stop her halfway down but they also started to fall off- whoops.
Wyatt went crazy fast down the slide both times. When he got to the bottom he didn't know what to do.

The evil Grinch taking all the Whos stocking

Through the tunnel we go:

But those Whos still sang without all the commerical bamboozles and whatnots and the Grinch's heart grew three times that day (I told you have watched this movie non-stop all Christmas, but you know what I still love it)

This is my favorite scene too as they all get together and hook hands to sing in joy for the season.
A great picture of Nonna and William in front of the sweet Santa Grinch.

And Daddy and Wyatt join in too:

The Grinch getting ready to serve the roast beast-yummy!

And little Cindy-Loo Who by the Christmas tree.

At the end of the show they had a beautiful exhibit that lit up as you come in and the Angel of the Lord with candles was on one side and on the other side the manger scene.

which was not only incredibly impressive but very touching as well.
After the show we met up with Uncle John and we all went to Ketchup for lunch. We had kind of a long wait at Ketchup so Nonna, Mommy, and William went for a walk around the National Harbor. William saw a rock that overlooked the water and stood on it and said, "Take my picture" he is such a star always photo ready.

Before we knew it we got a call saying to come back cause our table was ready.

William is also good behind the camera too, here is a picture he took of me in the restaurant

The restaurant was ok but the entertainment was the best. Wyatt and William were having a ball playing together. They would hide behind the chairs and jump out in surprise. They are such a fun pair.

A super smiley William, they were actually both posing for this picture but Wyatt chose to stand directly behind William so you can't see him.

After lunch we all took a walk back up to the hotel where they had a huge suspended glass tree and underneath a choo-choo train for the kids to ride on. William had said from the start that he wanted to sit in the engine. He went straight for it but there wasn't room for Wyatt and I in there and the cars close by were all filled up so we had to sit a few cars back. William was great and listened very well. When the ride was over he sat and waited for us to come and get him.

Here is the Christmas tree. It was beautiful and huge and going around in the train made you feel like you were a little toy under the tree. It was very neat!

Afterward we all met up at the fountain where the show was about to begin. Those fountains were crazy. They shot up so much water that we all had to slowly move back so we wouldn't get wet. William was the smart one when it started getting really high he would stand behind me so I could block all the water and he could watch from behind my back.

The Christmas Holiday may be over but the season is still alive and well. It was so great to go after Christmas to keep that spirit going and a great reminder to carry that into the New Year. We all had such a great time together and it was such a fun day. I completely recommend going to the Gaylord to see the ICE show and all their holiday decorations it made us all feel like were having another Merry Christmas.