We have been super busy making memories over here and I am loving every minute of it. I shared that Geoff and I have been focusing more on experiences vs things this holiday season and we surprised the kids with another Christmas Gift on Thursday after school. . . a staycation at the Gaylord Texan!! (Be sure to check the bottom because there is a 50% off coupon). . .warning. . .lots of pictures ahead!
Gaylord Texan Staycation
We picked the kids up after school with the car all packed and gave them a wrapped gift to open. When they opened it I had this coupon inside. They literally screamed! If you watch my Instagram stories then you saw their reaction. They were so excited! We went to ICE last year and they loved it. We were dying to go back and actually stay at the hotel. . .spoiler alert. . .it did not disappoint!
We headed straight to the hotel and got settled. Gaylord is an amazing hotel all year long, but during Christmas it is just magical! We had an incredible room that overlooked the huge atrium. The kids loved it so much they asked to sleep on the balcony. . .that was a hard no :).
After we got settled, we headed to downtown Grapevine to meet up with our friends the Tuckers. They are our closest friends. . .really more like family. We travel with them during the year and if you’ve been following my blog for awhile you have definitely seen them.
Downtown Grapevine is so cute this time of year. You literally feel like you are living in a Hallmark Movie. It has one main street that is all decorated with the cutest photo ops throughout. They even has an area that “snows” (it is Texas snow, which means soap, but the kids think it is the greatest and I do too!)
We had dinner at Ezparza’s and then walked around taking in all the cute scenery and taking lots of pictures!
After downtown Grapevine we headed back to the Gaylord, changed into Christmas PJs and explored!
We were going to check out their indoor pool, but the kids had fun with other activities so we passed on that. We went back to the room, hung out, watched movies, played games and got ready for a full day the next day.
FRIDAY
This day was actioned packed! Gaylord has TONS of amazing activities to do and we tried to fit in as many as possible.
We grabbed breakfast at the Marketplace and then headed over to snow tubing. This was a huge hit. Our kids never see snow so this was very exciting! It was unlimited tubing so we did this for a while!
After snow tubing, we headed over to the snowball throw! Braden said this was his favorite activity. You buy a bucket of snowballs and try to hit the targets!
Next up, ice skating! They had a cute ice skating rink set up outside. This was my kids 2nd time to ice skate and they did so well. We didn’t have any wipeouts.
This little chair thing was a big helper. We were able to push the kids around in it or they could use it to stabilize themselves. You could rent these by the rink!
The Tuckers had to head back so we stayed and continued to enjoy the day! First order of business. . .a cookie the size of our heads! YUM! I am sure burned off this many calories ice skating right?! At least that is what I told myself! 🙂
After a delicious treat we were ready for ICE! This event was so cool. There’s over 2 million pounds of ice inside and the theme this year was Charlie Brown.
We bundled up in these warm jackets and headed in! It is 9 degrees inside. . . bring all the warm things!
We love the movie Charlie Brown Christmas so it was really cool to see it all done in ice. The ice slides are my kids favorite!!
After ICE we got some hot chocolate and headed over to Gingerbread House making! We also made some Ugly Sweater cookies!
If you are looking for a fun family activity I highly suggest going to the Gaylord Texan! We had the best time. You do not have to stay at the hotel to do all the activities, but it sure was fun! Be sure to check out the coupon below to save 50% off ICE! My kids are already begging to go back. We all had the best time!
save 50% off ice below
