The children have a bunch of early release Wednesdays this year so I planned our visit to coincide with one of those so they only end up missing one day of school. Dode was able to get time off from work so he's joined us for the first time. A few days before we were leaving he said, "Do you know what the best part of going to the Great Wolf Lodge is?" "No, what?" "Getting to see you running around in a swimsuit for two days." I guess I'm lucky that after almost 17 years of marriage, he still thinks that seeing me in a swimsuit is a treat!
I'd told Dode that we needed to stop at the scout office on the way down and pick up a merit badge pamphlet for Isaac. He was looking at the bag I'd packed and said, "Apparently we're also going to See's Candies." (A gift certificate was on top of our clothes). I said, "That's just in case." "Just in case of what?", he asked. "Well, in case we end up going by a See's." "How would that happen?" "I don't know, it just might." "Oh," he said, the light bulb finally going off in his head, "It's in case we break down across the street from a See's Candies on the way to the Great Wolf Lodge!" Of course, it makes perfect sense to me!
We arrived at the Great Wolf Lodge around 3:00 pm. We checked into our room and immediately changed into our swimsuits and headed to the water park. William begged and begged to go down the Tornado so I finally gave in and let him. The look on his face when we dropped into the bowl was priceless, pure terror!
outside view of the tornado
inside the tornado, not our family
After spending a few hours in the water park, we headed to the room for some homemade pizza we'd brought along.
Miriam enjoyed eating her pizza in front of the gas fireplace.
Tucked into her bed in the kid cabin.
Another view of the kid cabin.
We made William a nest to sleep on under the sink.
We were visiting during their Howl-o-ween celebration where they were offering trick or treating each night. The lines were long, the candy was cheap (pixie sticks and dum dums) but the kids had fun. They had a scavenger hunt for parents using their smart phones. I completed the hunt and earned a caramel apple. Getting something free from the Great Wolf Lodge is about as rare as getting something free at Disneyland, a real treat!
Anastaya looking thrilled to get a Great Wolf Lodge trading card.
Elizabeth getting her trading card.
Taking a break during trick or treating.
The children got to decorate ghost cookies at the end of trick or treating.
Chocolate covered marshmallows were available as well as cookies.
Wow! Something free from the Great Wolf Lodge. See the crowd in the background?
LOTS of people were taking advantage of trick or treating.
Then it was time for Magiquest. We have three wands from previous trips so all we had to buy were new games. I didn't even have to buy a game for William, I just had them activate it for free. When he pointed at things, they would interact with him, he just couldn't complete any quests (scavenger hunts). Keeping up with Miriam and Elizabeth on Magiquest is really hard because they run to each place.
on her quest
Fighting the dragon. We needed Isaac's help to win.
Getting instructions at the tree.
After trick or treating and Magiquest, we headed back to the water park. We stayed until they closed at 9 pm. Around 8:00 the water park really cleared out and we could walk right up to any slide, including the tornado and river ride which normally have long lines.
Once the sliding was over, we collapsed into bed and everyone slept in past 8:00 the next morning. We're cheap so we'd brought cold cereal for breakfast. I'd been awoken by Dode's phone vibrating in the middle of the night but it wasn't until hours later that I realized that it had been ringing. I lay in bed worried that Jacob had been hurt in an accident or our house had burned down but decided that bad news could wait until the morning. When we checked Dode's phone we saw that Jacob had called at 11:00 pm. I called him to see what he needed and found out he'd been looking for the kitten food. Phew, no crisis! We knew we couldn't back to the room once we left for the water park so we had to pack up and bring things to the van. Then it was time to let the playing begin for a 2nd day.
Dode and I had experienced some motion sickness the previous day so when I sent him out to get milk in the morning, he picked up Dramamine for both of us. It really helped! I did a lot of water sliding but never got sick. We spent our day alternating between the water park and Magiquest. The coupon I'd purchased came with a voucher for 7 lunches in the water park. They had your standard snack bar foods: hamburgers, hot dogs, pizza, everything served with fries and a soda. The coupon provided us a free lunch that would have cost us $60!
Water sliding was the last thing we did before loading up and getting in the car. The day we left the water slide lines started getting really long. That's not always a bad thing when you're a tired out parent and don't mind standing around and waiting a while! Then, they had a power outage. The water park was only dark for a few seconds before the generator kicked in but they weren't able to run the slides. People started a mass exodus of the park but we sat around to see what would happen. About 15 minutes later the power came back on and we were able to enjoy our last half hour in the park without any lines.
Anastaya and Isaac weren't very excited to go to the Great Wolf Lodge but I'd explained that it was their chance to be a hero big sibling for the little ones. I'm not sure that I fully convinced them but they were pretty good sports. After water sliding in the morning, they spent most of day 2 sitting on the couch in the lobby, Isaac reading a book and Anastaya doing her homework.
hanging out in the lobby
Miriam absolutely loved Magiquest. Everyone else was done water sliding and playing but she dragged Elizabeth around for an extra hour. They finally showed up when Miriam's feet were hurting so badly she could barely walk. She made sure to clarify that the wand would save her place in her quest for when she returns someday before finally admitting that she was just too tired to continue playing.
a family photo before we head home
It was really nice to have Dode along this time, our fourth visit. The trick or treating was pure chaos and another pair of eyes helped. Then with some children wanting to water slide and others Magiquest, we could split up and accommodate both wants. With children pulling us in different directions, we didn't get to spend much time together. This trip was all about the children. Miriam, William and their mom can't wait to head back. The teenagers (and Dode) are content to wait a nice long time!
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