My Gingerbread House Birthday At Great Wolf Lodge

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My Gingerbread House Birthday 
At Great Wolf Lodge
What A Great Surprise
The Gingerbread House at GWL Poconos.
When my hubby approached me a few weeks ago about my upcoming 50th birthday, he gave me an open book on how I would like to celebrate it. Although I live right on the border of NYC, my heart kept going back to Great Wolf Lodge in the Poconos. There is something truly magical about that resort that I just cannot shake. I love the coziness and the sight of all the families and children just being together and having fun. I could have chosen dinner out or a night away for just the two of us, but I was really looking for something much more low key. I go out all the time to different events, so I really just wanted to be somewhere where I could relax and blend in.
Little did I know there were a few surprises in store for me! I had told hubby the perfect birthday would be to go to the Great Wolf Lodge, grab some Starbucks, some Bubble Gum fudge(my favorite), and relax in the lobby. The kids thought it would be fun to go bowling at the new Ten Paw Alley and I could not disagree. I was not sure until days before that I was actually going to GWL. Hubby is quite a secret keeper-along with the kids, and even GWL director of rooms (Michael De Julia) was in on the secret surprise!
So, let’s get to the fun! My birthday was yesterday and I was thrilled to not have a formal party, or a big hosting event. I knew my close friends would take me out, so I was not worried about not seeing them on my official birthday.In the early afternoon, we headed to Great Wolf Lodge. It was a perfect day! The weather was great and as we entered PA, there were even snow flurries. I was so excited about arriving at Great Wolf Lodge!
My husband never expected me to want to go back to GWL after just spending a weekend in December there. Little does he know, it’s one of my favorite places to go. My birthday arrived and it was off to GWL!
As soon as I entered the lobby, I knew I made the right choice. We headed right to the Starbucks! Yes!
I was amazed to see the Gingerbread House still up in the lobby. I was under the impression it would be taken down after Christmas, only to find out it would be up until the end of January. Each and every Great Wolf Lodge has built their own unique gingerbread house. When we visited earlier in December, I don’t think there was a person I ran into who I did not tell about that gingerbread house! I just loved it!
I had no idea of what the rest of the day would bring! 
It wasn’t long before we met up with Bill Colavito(general manager) and Michael De Julia(director of rooms). Seems they had a surprise of their own in store for me, as they treated our family to bowling, MagiQuest and a giant box of bubble gum fudge! Yum! The people at Great Wolf Lodge Poconos are just wonderful. 
We headed off for some bowling at Ten Paw Alley. Sadly, I came in 4th out of 5th. Well, at least my 5 year old let me ahead of her on my birthday, right? Last time we checked out Ten Paw Alley only the kids played, but this time Larry and I joined the fun and I can honestly say it is a game for everyone!
We checked out the Northern Lights Arcade and then walked around as Emily enjoyed Magi Quest!
I was having such a wonderful that I could not imagine the day could get any better. Then I got an even bigger surprise: My family announced that we were going to have my birthday dinner inside the Gingerbread House! I was shocked and thrilled! I had wanted to dine inside the Gingerbread House during our last stay, but there was no availability. What a surprise! I mean, I was sold at the Starbucks and Bubble Gum fudge, but this was just amazing! I also found out that two of my long time friends would be joining us at dinner. That brought me to tears of happiness. 
Although I did not want a party, I did want to share the day with my family and friends.
At 5 pm we headed to the main lobby where we were greeted by our personal waitress. She opened the gate and let us into the giant handmade Gingerbread House. It felt incredible to be inside of a gingerbread house. I was delighted to be surrounded by gingerbread walls decked out with fruit slices, peppermints, kisses, licorice, rock candy, and gumdrops of many colors. The doorway in was lined with gingerbread men! There was also a fireplace inside, including reddish graham crackers. I just had to sit and take it all in. I loved the huge lollipops in planters and the monster sized red gummy bear! This was something very special and I wanted to make it last forever.
Our waitress was very attentive and served our meal home style. The food was delicious as usual.
My hubby even brought along a flower cake centerpiece! 
As for dessert, a group of table servers entered the gingerbread house singing and clapping and carrying a festive plate overfilled with goodies and adorned with  lit candles of all colors. I was really taken back by the entire experience, since I am usually the planner and not on the other end of things. 
It was a wonderful birthday and I am very thankful that for all of it.
The Gingerbread House at Great Wolf Lodge Poconos will be open for dining until the end of January 2012. It has open reservations for breakfast, lunch and dinner. If you have a chance to dine inside the gingerbread house, you will not regret it. It’s a very charming and one of a kind treat.
Thank you Larry, Louie, Adam, Emily, MaryAnne, Connie and Great Wolf Lodge for
giving me the best birthday ever! I will never forget it! Click here to find out more about Great Wolf Lodge!
The night ended as with the magical snow in the lobby!
Magic! Birthday Magic!
 
Disclosure: Special Thanks to Great Wolf Lodge for the great birthday treats!
All opinions are that of 3decades3kids/DianeSullivan.

Professional Bull Riding Comes to NYC Jan.6th-8th!

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Professional Bull Riding
Comes to NYC
Madison Square Garden
January 6th -8th

 It’s not often that the subject of Professional Bull Riding comes up in our house or in the NYC area. It was thrilled to find out that The Professional Bull Riders would be coming to NYC this coming new year! My family is so pumped to get a chance to join into the action and fun of seeing LIVE Bull Riders try to top each others time scores! The kids have been checking out the riders online and getting ready for the fun!
CONTEST: You can enter on Facebook for a 2 pack of tix to the event! If you don’t have Facebook, just leave your comment below! You can comment up to 5 times! Good Luck!
 The Professional Bull Riders(PBR) will present the 6th Annual Madison Square Garden Invitational on Jaunary 6th-8th, 2012, to kick off the nationally televised, elite 2012 Built Tough Series Season, featuring the world’s toughest cowboys and rankest bulls! The PBR’s Built Ford Tough Series will rock New York with three bone-crushing, adrenaline-soaked performances, as the Top 40 bull riders in the world – including the 2011 Madison Square Garden Invitational champion Valdiron de Oliveira – risk it all against athletic animals weighing as much as 2,000 pounds. Fans will be thrilled as they watch intense 8-second rides and jaw-dropping wrecks when riders try to stay on and survive animals 10 times their size.

 The nationally televised PBR 2012 Built Ford Tough Series will visit 23 different states with 28 events in 2012. The 2012 schedule will feature the best bull riders from across the globe competing against the rankest bulls on the planet in front of millions of fans across the country to win a share of over $10 million for the season.

 Tickets for the Professional Bull Riders 2012 Madison Square Garden Invitational are $205, $105, $50, $35, $25 and $15 (prices do not include taxes and facility fees) and are available at the MSG box office,www.ticketmaster.com, and by telephone at (800) 745-3000.

 MADISONSQUARE GARDENEVENT SCHEDULE:

Friday, January 6 — 8:00 p.m.

Saturday, January 7 — 8:00 p.m.

Sunday, January 8 — 1:00 p.m.
Disclosure: Special thanks to PBR for review/giveaway tickets.
All opinions are that of 3decades3kids/DianeSullivan.

Kidlandia Where Kids Rule Their Own Kingdom

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Kidlandia
Where Kids Rule
Their Own Kingdom
One thing that always attracts me to something is being able to personalize it!
My oldest son’s name is Louie and when he was a young child it was always so discouraging to look at personalized products and not see his name on the list. My husband still says I chose Adam for my second son’s name because it was the first name on the personalization chart!
Everyone loves to see their name in print and on a special item. 
When I first heard about Kidlandia, I was thrilled. Kidlandia can be found at FAO Schwarz and online at Kidlandia.com. It is a company founded by Brian Backus, who has been following his dreams for years!
At Kidlandia, you can create maps, place mats, pillowcase, mugs, puzzles and more that are personalized to your liking. What I love about Kidlandia is that it’s more than just a name on a product. You or your child can choose an item and that’s where the fun begins!
Adam’s mug he created online at Kidlandia.com
Adam chose a mug, then the character and different features he wanted to be shown. He also designed the back of the mug. When it arrived in the mail he was thrilled to see his creation come to life!
Emily, after much narrowing down, decided on the pillowcase. 
She worked for a while choosing which names she wanted and where she wanted them. She titled the pillowcase Emily Island and featured everyone she could think of on her island! There was Daddy Lagoon, Mommy Lake, Pirate Adam’s Bay, Lake Louie, Emily River and more. She even used our three pets, Biscut, Pebbles and Sweetie Pie in different locations on the pillowcase. She let her creativity go and it was very simple to accomplish. I honestly do not think she could believe it when the pillowcase arrived by mail and she actually saw her work come to life! Needless to say, both the pillowcase and mug are getting a lot of use time!
Em checking out the map at FAO Schwarz NYC.
 Later that night, she chose the same map to create at home on a pillowcase.
We also had a chance to check out Kidlandia at FAO Schwarz in NYC. 
It’s located on the lower level and has easy directions 
to follow to get the job done. You can print out a fun map
 right at the store in just 3 easy steps! 
Step1: Select a design.
Step2: Personalize with names and pictures.
Step3: Prints out in 3 minutes!
So much fun!
Kidlandia gives your child a chance to create a personalized creation of their own that they can keep forever! For more info please check out Kidlandia.com
You can also check out Play.Kidlandia.com for online play! 
The game is so much fun! My children love it. It’s easy to play and fun to create.
The Kreechurs are loaded with surprises to keep the kids coming back for more.
Disclosure: Special thanks to Kidlandia.com for review products. All opinions are that of 3decades3kids/DianeSullivan.

Merry Christmas From 3decades3kids

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Merry Christmas 
From 3decades3kids 
Wishing you a very Merry Christmas 
From 3decades3kids and a very 
Happy New Year!
Thank you for being a part of our lives!
You are appreciated.
Hugs,
Diane, Larry
Louie, Adam and Emily 
xoxo
3decades3kids.blogspot.com/Diane Sullivan

Great Wolf Lodge Poconos: Visit the NEW Main Street!

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3decades3kids
Great Wolf Lodge
Poconos
A Visit To The 
New
Main Street!
On the bottom level of Great Wolf Lodge Poconos there is a new addition and it’s a great one- Main Street!
As if Great Wolf Lodge wasn’t already fun enough, with the addition of Main Street, you can find so many activities rolled up into one location!
It’s all on the same level as the waterpark and very easy to find.
Before you turn the corner to hit Main Street you can grab some treats at the Bear Paw Sweets & Eats. Our family enjoyed some delicious homemade fudge and Christmas treats then we continued onto the fun!
The kids turned the corner first and headed right into the MagiQuest Shoppe to grab some new wand toppers and get their wands activated. You can also find the Northern Lights Arcade with plenty of games to choose from! We continued on to the Cub Club designed especially for children up to 12 years old. You can find activities, games, toys, crafts and coloring inside! 
Emily was thrilled to try out the new 
Story Explorers interactive storybook adventure!
What a wonderful time she had creating an animal of choice and then taking that animal (she chose Sammy the squirrel) around the Great Wolf Lodge looking for Story Explorers special areas where she activated the special messages with her new friend! You can also purchase the Story Explorers without the stuffed animal. You can wear the wristband yourself and it’s just as much fun! At the end of the experience you return back to the Cub Club where you are presented with your very own personalized book about Story Explorers! Delightful! I have a feeling we will be making more Story Explorer animal friends in the future! 
After our fun time with Story Explorers, we headed to what I call a hidden treasure at the Great Wolf Lodge: Ten Paw Alley. Almost everyone loves to bowl and at Ten Paw Alley you can bowl like a pro! Everyone can play since the ball is not a big as a regular bowling ball. You can hold it in your hand and roll away! Don’t worry if you are not so great or very young, there are bumpers that can be pulled right up, so everyone is a winner! You can play alone on your own lane, or play against each other. My family and I agreed that we ALL loved Ten Paw Alley! 
We also had to test out the new pizza place Wolf It Down! The prices are very reasonable and family friendly. It’s just a walk up window, but you can take the pizza (and other menu items) back to your room or to some of the tables that are available nearby.
Finally, if you have Girlie Girl in the crowd there is something very special waiting for her. Scooops is a SPA just for children!
You can get a chocolate, strawberry or vanilla themed fizzy for your little girl’s feet or choose from a manicure or pedicure. There is even a birthday package. Of course Emily had to try out Scooops on our last trip and had both a manicure and pedicure! It’s adorable and the kids LOVE it! If you are planning to go, don’t forget to make an appointment in advance, it does sell out pretty quickley.
Well, our opinion on Main Street is a total thumbs up!  There is plenty of fun to be had and you will leave with a smile on your face! We did! 
For more information please click here!
Disclosure: Special thanks to Great Wolf Lodge for our fun experience and activities.
Special thanks to Michael De Julia, Director of Rooms Division.
All opinions are that of 3decades3kids/Diane Sullivan.