Christmas in Osh Kosh

Yes we went to Osh Kosh. Yes the Osh Kosh where Osh Kosh B'Gosh is located. Yes we actually paid for gas and took the time to go there. Yes it is very industrial and yes we will gladly live in Butler rather than Osh Kosh. But...yes we had a blast being there as a family touring the Paine Mansion Nutcracker.

Way back when there was a successful man (Nathan Paine) that owned several lumber mills in the area. He eventually wanted his house to become an art gallery or museum....which is exactly what happened. During Christmas they decorate it to look like scenes from The Nutcracker. It was SSSOOO pretty and really helped us to get even more excited about Christmas. I'm really sad because we were only allowed to take pictures in the front room. The rooms were decorated really neat-upside down trees, tables and tables of cakes/cookies/sweets, various nutcrackers. I've been trying to find pictures online but no such luck! http://www.thepaine.org/

And of course Grant had to bring his tongue!!!

These books were set up to guide you from room to room as it told the story of The Nutcracker

We are getting so excited for Christmas! Grant has been begging and begging me to take him to see Santa. Since he has been a good little boy I think maybe we'll scoot on over to the mall tomorrow and see the jolly ol' man! Hopefully Grant gets everything on his wish list....diapers, food, computer cord and a large piece of furniture (make that two) to bonk his head on!

A new twist on Thanksgiving

I suppose I should post about our holiday events! We went to the Wisconsin Dells (largest indoor water park) with our friends for Thanksgiving. Yes I know...who goes to a water park on Thanksgiving??? WE DO!!! And my oh my it was fun! As soon as we got to the resort we quickly changed and hit the pool, I was excited to see what Grant thought of it. The kid loves bath time so I thought he'd be in heaven. Well the whole thing was quite a psychedelic trip for him. I mean look at this.....slides, fountains, buckets of water.

The kid didn't know what to think. We took him on the lazy river which he seemed to enjoy but we realized that he was still too little to really care. Thankfully our friends offered to watch him in the hotel room while David and I went from slide to slide to slide to slide. It was so fun to just hang out and know that Grant was being taken care of. We are already planning to go back when he can walk around and really enjoy the water.

On Thursday Grant was having a hard time napping in the hotel so we decided to just drive around town and see all the shops. I was bummed because all the cute little diners, ice-cream and fudge shops were closed for Thanksgiving. I swear when I was working retail we were open like 24/7 but as soon as I want to go anywhere they close up shop! Oh well...more reason for us to come back:) On our drive we saw this crazy hotel (?) and we were definitely intrigued.

We had to leave early Friday morning so David could go shopping for work. I know tough job huh? It was really sad to walk in a store just to see what everyone else was buying! Later that night we did our fair share of purchasing though! Grant didn't seem to get in the whole "black Friday" thing considering he slept most of the day!

I love Thanksgiving and having the chance to really reflect on my blessings. I often feel unworthy for all that I have been given. I try to appreciate the small and simple things in life and everyday Grant makes me realize in some way how to live a full and happy life. I am grateful for eternal families, for friends, for the gospel and the knowledge and happiness it brings to me. Oh and I am grateful for water parks and Wal-Marts that stay open on Thanksgiving!