Baby Girl had such a great time that she had to write a letter to the “Gaylord People” as soon as she returned from the party!

What a weekend! On February 24th and 25th, Socamom Twitter followers and my Facebook friends were treated to some of the pictures of the highlights of our “stay-cation” with Shrek, Fiona, Puss in Boots, and a few hundred party ready parents and kids at the Gaylord National Hotel and Convention Center, right outside of Washington, DC.  I am not sure who was more excited when we arrived – the kids, or hubby and I, but we were all ready to have a great time.

The ladybug had on her green Converse sneakers, and I had my nails in the coolest Shrek-like green I could find – especially for the occasion. After an enthusiastic greeting from the staff in their green polo shirts, we picked up our itinerary and headed to our room. My oldest went over the scavenger hunt information as soon as we got into the room.

View from our room:

I stayed at the Gaylord once before with my friends and fellow bloggers for the Blogalicious conference, but this was a different experience.  That was work and play, but this was all play (well – mostly play!)  While the my youngest checked out the fantastic room with the Atrium view, marble entry, dining room, gorgeous separate bedroom, living room area, and gorgeous bathrrom, the hubby and I marveled at the view from the balcony of the indoor mini-city that is the Gaylord.

Living area and Dining room:

Beautiful Bath:

The Bedroom:

By the time we were finished looking around, it was time to meet and greet the DreamWorks characters.  When we got to the ballroom, the kids lined up between the green velvet ropes to get their picture taken with Shrek, Puss, and Fiona.  More happy people in green polo shirts were busy getting ready for the big party, and the deejay already had the music going. Kids and parents were already dancing – and the party had yet to start!

All of us got together with the characters and got our free picture, then the hubby jumped out and snagged this one with my ever present tablet.

From 6:00 to 7:00, families were free to have dinner on their own. We had dinner with bloggers and journalists courtesy of Gaylord National, and what a treat! I saw the kids eyes grow wide when they saw the chocolate fountain… the GREEN chocolate fountain!

They had fresh fruit to dip into the swamp chocolate, and swamp juice in mason jars to wash it down. The buffet was amazing.  The staff really put a lot of effort into the details.  The kids had their own buffet tables with kid friendly foods (at a kid friendly height), and the adults had a wonderful selection as well.  As luck would have it, we ended up sharing a table with a children’s book writer and publishe, who was originally from Trinidad, and her family.  Her kids and mine were near the same ages, so they became fast friends.

My Shrek green nails and swamp juice!

After dinner, it was time to party!  We danced with the kids and the kids danced with the characters.

We ate some swamp treats – worms, mud, and dirt (gummy worms, mousse, and brownie), as well as some more traditional treats like popcorn, cookies, brownies, chips, cotton candy, and Rice Krispy Treats… so the kids were about as happy as I have seen them without it being one of their birthdays.

Cotton candy for them, coffee for us!

The dance party ended with Shrek leading a group of children around the ballroom to “Soca Conga Line” – I couldn’t have made that one up… my husband looked at me and said, “Socamom really does find a place to fit in everywhere!” What can I say, it just works out that way! Each one of the kids had decorated a pillow case in the craft area, so they  put it on the pillows that the staff gave out in preparation for the full length movie.

All of the kids found a spot on the floor, spread out their blankets in front of the huge screen, and settled in with their snacks to watch Shrek Forever After.

I thought the kids would be worn out, but Mr. Social woke me up at 5:30 in the morning to take them all to the pool.  After they went swimming, we had a great buffet breakfast at Pienza.

You can join the fun on March 10th and have your own Dreamworks Experience at Family Fun Night with Shrek and Friends at the Gaylord National Hotel and Convention Center.  There are specials running just for the occasion.  Click here for more information.

This trip was provided by Gaylord National Hotel and Conference Center, Dreamworks, and Klout.com.