One-Rad-Fam: Great Wolf Lodge

Looks like I've got time for another post today....

As mentioned in a previous post we had promised Nate & Abbie that they could each earn a family trip to Great Wolf Lodge when they finished their reading lessons with me (mom). Nate finished his early in February & we took advantage of a "no school" Friday & kept our word. School gets out early here on Thursdays so Dan worked half a day & I took the day off to get ready on Thursday & we both took Friday off & we left soon after the kids got home from school on Thursday. Thinking that we'd have Saturday/Sunday to recuperate - glad we did - we needed it!

Great Wolf Lodge is a resort type hotel with an indoor water park as their main attraction. There are other things to do (an electronic scavenger hunt type game that takes you all over the hotel on your "quest", a spa, a kids club where they can do art projects, a teen club, an arcade, various restaurants & snack shops, gift shop, you get the idea). We went a couple of years ago (2008 Spring Break) when it was their grand opening - we were there for 3 days & 2 nights & had a great time but decided it was too long and that a 1 night stay would be enough when we came back. It wasn't that we ran out of things to do - we still had to drag the kids away from the park (bleeding feet & all - another thing we learned - pool shoes are a MUST if you are going to be in that much water for that long), but a 1 night stay is plenty.

Last time we went Nate was big enough to go on 4 of the slides - Abbie could only go on 2 (funny/scary story later). This time Nate was tall enough to go on everything, but he had to go on their biggest ride with Dan - the Howling Tornado, he wasn't big enough to go on his own - which was fine with all of us. Abbie was big enough to go on everything but the Howling Tornado & the 2 biggest slides she could go on - she had to go with Dan, again ok with everyone. I just like last time wasn't allowed to go on anything (last time I was pregnant with Kassie - this time pregnant with #4 - man I hope this isn't a pattern), but since I'm a Nervous Nelly these days this too was ok with me.

Other than the slides (there are currently 6) there are 5 other play areas - a wave pool, a water basketball court type area, a floating balancing toy area (there are all these floating toys to climb on & keep your balance), this & the basketball court are in (guessing here) 3.5-4 feet of water, a fort type of thing that you can climb on/in & spray water at people with a large "tipping bucket" that dumps huge amounts of water on regular intervals - this is also where the 2 smallest slides are, and then there is the kiddie play area with 2 mini slides, a mini fort & other sorts of water toys to play on/with.

Last time we went we tried out most things but spent the majority of the time in the kiddie area with Abbie - she had a great time there & in the fort. This time I spent 100% of my time in the kiddie area with Kassie while Dan, Nate & Abbie rotated between all the fun things to do. The really nice thing was Nate & Abbie (and Dan) were really great about coming to kiddie area to play with Kassie. We weren't sure how Kassie would do being so small - she was unstoppable! She even got kicked out once, yes my 18 month old got kicked out of the pool. They have life vests there for anyone to wear. We had one lifeguard who insisted that Kassie wear one - she HATED it. It was about lunch time so we took the opportunity to take a break, have some lunch & wait for a lifeguard change so she could go back to playing. People were amazed at how sure footed she was & since she is so small we were asked at least 100 times how old she was. She went down slides on her own & towards the end was rather irritated when Nate or Abbie tried to help her. On more than one occasion another adult would try to stop her from going down the kiddie slides on her own - we assured them she could do it (we were ALWAYS at the bottom to catch her) & she did again & again & again &.... We kinda hoped she'd take a break/nap - no dice - she ran like the energizer bunny & then all but passed out when we headed for home.

Nate & Abbie had a blast pure & simple. They played hard, non-stop & they too passed out on the way home.

When we went the first time we bumped into a family we know from church, as we were finding a spot to "set up" - when we went to turn around to give Nate & Abbie the "rules" lecture Abbie was gone. Totally gone! This girl needs a healthy does of caution - but she's absolutely fearless (she does NOT get this from me). As we tried to figure out what to do & where to start looking for her (yes panic was setting in - there were so many people there) here she comes around the corner grinning ear to ear & soaking wet. The "where have you been" was answered with on the slide. Yep she had gone down one of the 2 slides she was big enough for all on her own. CRAZY GIRL. She was so excited & decided she just couldn't wait for us. This time we knew what to expect & the kids knew the rules better. When we were there this time we bumped into a couple of friends, one family from church & 2 families from school. It was fun to play with friends for part of the time we were there. Nate had a little more freedom this time, and was great about checking in & didn't take advantage of the situation. Abbie had a little freedom but was with Dan most of the time. Kassie was with one of us at all times, but did her best to try to ditch us as often as possible.

Everyone really did have a great time & we will be going back again. Abbie wants to go back when she is big enough to go on the Howling Tornado, I'd like to not be pregnant. Time will tell I suppose - at this point it's all up to Abbie when we go back (she's got to finish her reading lessons). Dan & I decided it would be a blast to go with family (hint hint Jon/Anj - Don/Crystal) that the cousins would have soooo much fun together - now that would be crazy fun!

Now for the proof of the fun (there isn't a lot of pictures - we were too busy playing):