Who wouldn't want to go inside where it is nine degrees?
On Thanksgiving we headed over to the National Harbor to see
ICE! at the Gaylord. Chris, Wesley, and I had seen it at the Gaylord Texan three years ago with
Nancy and Ainsley.
They give everyone parkas to wear because it is only nine degrees in the exhibit! We put the parkas on over top of our regular jackets. Lydia had on the smallest sized parka and she could barely walk in it but it kept her warm. At one point she asked me to fix her gloves but I couldn't get to them.
Lydia kept asking me to wipe her nose. A couple of times, she actually said, "There is something in my nose. Get it out!" She was a like the little boy in The Christmas Story; she couldn't move her arms well enough to wipe her nose.
I must say the people who were working there on Thanksgiving were so incredibly nice and friendly. I wish everyone in the DC area was like that.
Here we are on the sleigh made of ice.
The first room had some ice sculptures of DC landmarks.
Dianna was really cold.
Lydia went slowly down one of the ice slide.
Wesley went a lot faster.
Everything was made of ice. Here you can see walls of ice and an ice arch.
Here we are with the Santa made out of ice.
Wesley and the ice bear.
This angel was very beautiful.
When we saw ICE in Texas three years ago we wondered, "If they did this in DC area would they include the Nativity Scene?" Thankfully, they did!
I was also pleased to see this. I saw it quickly before heading to the exit. My feet were very cold by the time we got to the end. It felt so warm in the area where we returned our parkas. They also had plenty of tissues.
Next we headed over to the actual Gaylord and had some hot chocolate. Well, the kids had slightly lukewarm chocolate.
Wayne snapped this photo of Wesley inside the Gaylord.
The glass tree is very pretty.
The kids love the fountains. Thankfully, they didn't get wet.
I thought this little bear was pretty cute.
So, if you are visiting the DC area this holiday season or if you live here and/or you are hosting family and friends, you might want to check out ICE! We all thought it was pretty neat. And yes, I think the kids really enjoyed it also. Of course, there is a lot more to see than posted here.
Meredith and her family and a few other families braved the weather this morning.
The kids had fun playing. Wesley and Lydia had on snow boots, snow bibs, and their heavy coats.
There was a neat Noah's Arc playground, tee pees (that provided great shelter from the snow), and fire pit. The fire wasn't blazing but it did provide some warmth and now we all smell like campfire. When we first got there, Wesley asked Chris "Is someone camping?"
There were also farm animals - goats, sheep, chickens, and a horse. In better weather you can buy food to feed them.
Santa was inside a heated barn. Wesley told Santa that he wants a remote control airplane. We know it is going to get harder to just ignore Santa as the kids get older. Normally they just get their picture taken with him (like they do with Mickey Mouse) but this time Santa asked what they wanted for Christmas. Later, we did tell Wesley that all the presents will be from Mommy and Daddy and other family members. 
The kids quickly wanted to go back outside to play more in the snow.
Wesley and Lydia really liked the big slides. I didn't get a better picture of the slides because my hands were very wet and cold every time I took pictures and I was beginning to worry about how wet my camera was getting.
I was disappointed when we got home and there wasn't as much snow in our neighborhood. Chris asked me, "What did you expect?" Well, I was hoping that somehow we had gotten just as much as they got in the western suburbs. The grass isn’t even fully covered. 
