Christmas Vacation in Texas
A Lone Star Christmas
I know it’s been quite awhile, right? Sorry for my absence, but I’ve been resting in slippers rather than my heels over the past 10 days (shhh…don’t tell anyone and blow my cover). I must admit, it’s been super nice, and to top it all off, my family went on the most amazing Christmas vacation to Grapevine, Texas. We visited the magnificent Gaylord Texan as well as the cutest little LEGOLAND Discovery Center. Squeal…the kid in me came out again, y’all!
I have to give kudos to the entire hotel staff at the Gaylord Texan. From our arrival with “celebrity check-in,” to our departure complete with bellhop, we were treated with the best service. We’re talking extra ice in the evening with chocolates, amazing turndown service and room service that was impeccable. Yep, our kids’ first room service experience (they’re not spoiled one bit, I promise.). As you can tell, the pepperoni pizza and mac and cheese with fries were 5 stars. It took less than 30 minutes, (they brought it right inside and served us at the table). This was just as fast as anywhere else you could visit (although the hotel does offer several restaurants within it, so you never really even have to leave!).
So what did we do, you ask?
Well, the entire set-up was magical. A bit touristy at times, but hey, we knew what we signed up for. There were lines for the snow tubing, but we waited. And then we went back for more! One ticket is good for 12 runs and it was literally the best thing there. little C. and I had snow tubed in Colorado, but this was little L’s first time and my goodness she loved it!
We made an entire gingerbread house (even if it did collapse immediately afterwards), bought the cutest animals at Build-A-Bear (complete with all the best clothes, duh), and even went swimming in the hotel pool. The most incredible experience was ICE where they keep the entire exhibit literally FREEZING, and you have to wear a parka over all your own clothes just to enter. I knew it would be cold, but there was no way I could prepare myself for that. Wow! All of the ice sculptures inside were amazing, but needless to say, it was too cold to grab photos! After the sculptures, there was a slide made of ice and that was pretty fun (although if you forgot to put your parka under your bottom, you scooted instead.) When we finished, they had Gigi’s Cupcakes and free hot chocolate and everyone was happy. Click over to the site here for photos on the events. Also, my social media channels (instagram @iheartheels) are FULL of fun photos!
Luxe Lounging
I must admit, we spent two nights here and of those two, we were a little obsessed with our king suite situation. Perched on the ninth floor, the top of the enormous hotel, we could see down into the atrium where all the fun rests, right from our very own room. And the suite was so large (with dining room, living room, a master suite, bathroom, and additional connecting room, that the first night we couldn’t pry ourselves away. The kids had plenty of space to run around and get all of their energy out from the car drive! This is the king room right here where my sister stayed with her family:
This is the master suite where we stayed with my mom. The bed was super comfy and the double doors closed so that no light was let in at all. We were so surprised when we woke up and it was 9 a.m.! I so need this at home.
The dining room was amazing because it takes a lot of space to feed a (rowdy) party of seven. I loooooved this long table, and it was also great for when the kids were ready to play on the iPads.
The bathrooms were plenty roomy, especially this one in the suite. It had doors leading both out to the hallway and to the master bedroom. And the tea tree beauty products smelled extra amazing.
After all was said and done, we loved our stay at The Gaylord Texan and would do it all over again! (I couldn’t believe how many other people were there – it was definitely very crowded, so I guess we weren’t the only ones to hear about it!) The kids even said it’s comparable to our annual beach trip – and that’s saying something. Looks like we’ve started something here! Thank you to the entire team for your hospitality during our stay. xoxo
LEGOLAND Discovery Center
little C. is pretty much obsessed with Legos at his tender age of 7 now, so I knew that LEGOLAND in Grapevine would be absolutely perfect. He and his cousin M. (and little L, of course) had a blast together. It was 70 degrees in Grapevine that day and wow! I think that made the inside of the building warm as well, so I’m def glad I dressed us all for warm weather.
Look at how cute these little police cars are that they got to drive all by themselves! The line to ride these was def worth it.
And in MiniLand, there were lots of intricately put together structures of everything from LEGOLAND itself to the Dallas Cowboys football stadium. I thought this part was really cool myself!
What’s funny is the kids loved playing outside just as much since it was such nice weather. The huge wall featured a very large mural of Legos and it was really amazing to look at.
little L. and her cousin M. had a lot of fun sliding and playing on the playground together with their top knots.
A lot of LEGOLAND is geared towards older kids (5 and up), but they do have a ride that most everyone can ride as well as an entire play area for littles under 5 with a slide, regular Legos and a huge Lego pit for building!
The entire day was a total blast and I definitely recommend it for a trip with your little ones if you’re in the Dallas area (or any other location they offer nationwide!). Now, back to reality…sigh.
Disclaimer: I was not compensated for this post. I was, however, provided a discount and tickets in exchange for testing and review. As always, all opinions are my own. This trip was THE. BEST.
