ICE! at Gaylord Hotel, National Harbor

I took last Tuesday off so that we could see ICE!, the ice wonderland and exhibit at the Gaylord Hotel at National Harbor, MD. It was a little challenging to get tickets, but we got tickets for Tuesday, 10:30am.

I knew it was going to be cold, so I made sure everyone bundled up. CJ was wearing his thermal pajamas underneath his clothes + two pairs of socks, a long-sleeved shirt, a fleece sweater, thick khakis, his winter jacket, gloves and hat. I was dressed similarly. I paid special attention to the feet and hands because I know that when the extremities are cold, you're miserable. We got mom to come with us to ICE!, for which I'm really glad, even though I knew she was going to be cold, cold, cold.

ICE! was great. It's not a big exhibit, but it's impressive and fun. We were told that the Gaylord brought in 2 million blocks of ice from Ohio and ice sculptors from China and Mongolia created the Lincoln Memorial, the Capitol building, dancing penguins, an igloo, 4 ice slides, a tunnel of branches and ice, candy, animals, wreaths, Santa Claus, lamp posts, a nativity scene, and on and on.

Mom and Maki bailed when we got to the end because they were so cold, but CJ, Jessie and I stayed longer to wander around, start over at the beginning and go down the slides a bunch of times. The slides intimidated me at first because as I've gotten older, I've developed a slight fear of slides and roller coasters. But CJ was really insistent and, as expected, I had so much fun, I ended up going down the slides with the kids a half dozen times.

It's 9 degrees inside ICE! 9 degrees is really cold. In addition to the clothes we were wearing, we were given parkas to keep us warm AND to facilitate going down the ice slides. At 9 degrees, nothing is melting. There's no water, the sculptures aren't even shiny, and there are no puddles at the bottom of the slides. I kept asking the kids if they could wiggles their toes. When CJ and Jessie complained about their mouths being frozen and not wanting to go down the slides anymore, I knew it was time to go.

After ICE!, we went to the Gaylord Hotel (ICE! is in an outdoor structure) to check out the decked out lobby and have lunch. We had lunch at the Pienza Italian Market, which is a surprisingly good buffet. The kids loved the pizza and pasta and of course, the desserts!

When we got home, the kids were pooped so they watched a little TV, while I addressed my holiday cards. I'm ridiculous. I ordered the cards in October and they didn't go out until New Year's Eve! Oh well, it's still the holiday season.

Inside an igloo with the dancing penguins.

CJ and Jessie in front of an ice bear!