Back in January, I was checking email and I saw a Groupon deal for The Great Wolf Lodge. I'd heard of the place and thought it looked so fun but I wasn't willing to pay the full-price rate. Then I saw it for more than half off and showed it to Justin who said, "let's do it!" That was all the encouragement I needed so I went ahead a booked it for the first week of March. We decided to not tell the kids and surprise them and that ended up being really fun. We did tell Molly a week before because she stresses out so much about missing school and having to make up work but the others were clueless. I was able to get everything ready while they were at school and they were none the wiser. Even when we went to my parent's house, left Cash there, and drove home in my mom's car...they bought the excuse about the car (grandpa was taking the Pilot to his mechanic to have looked at-that was actually true but it was even more true that we were worried about our Pilot making it to Colorado and back). They didn't notice that Cash was gone for two days. They didn't notice clothes that were missing and they didn't notice the duffel bags that were packed in my closet. They paid no attention on Sunday afternoon when I would get something from their room and take it upstairs to be packed. They didn't mention the whole shelf in our fridge devoted to food I had made and organized there to be packed in the cooler. They didn't notice the bin of snack-foods in the laundry room. They were very easy to trick and were so delighted when Justin finally told them...on the morning that we were leaving!
The drive was about 8.5-9 hours but I felt prepared for a day in the car. I had individual snack baggies for all the kids (with snacks that I don't normally buy so they were happy about that). I had LeapPad's, Stockton's Nintendo, iPod with music, books on CD, and a whole bunch of Netflix movies downloaded on Justin's work iPad all ready to entertain them while driving. I had a couple of pairs of headphones for them to share. I had packed the portable DVD player but it doesn't hold a charge anymore even when it's plugged in-it didn't even last through one movie. But the kids were really great to take turns watching a movie on the iPad and switching off other devices. No one took a nap the entire drive there but it was a smooth drive regardless of that. Justin is a pro driver and got through lots of podcasts. I switch off between books, audiobooks, crossword puzzles...good thing I don't get carsick because I get antsy on long drives!
Somehow Molly had guessed where we were going...she had heard about it from someone and had guessed it a few days before we left. I didn't tell her she was right and I don't know if she really knew what the place was like so I strung her on the entire drive like everyone else. They were so excited to finally arrive, around 5:30 on Monday night. I got us all checked in, we walked around the hotel, then went back to our room for dinner and to call it a night. The room had two queens in one room and a master with a king-we have never paid for a hotel so nice and it was funny to see their reactions. There weren't a lot of TV channels but there was YouTube so a lot of Studio C was watched over the next few days. They took turns sleeping with each other and, since we were staying for 3 nights, they each got a chance to sleep with everyone.
The main attraction at Great Wolf is obviously the swimming pool and slides. I planned nothing else for Tuesday so as soon as it opened, we headed down. It really was so fun. It was hard to get pictures because I was busy swimming and sliding with the kids. Molly and Stockton hit the slides right away. Brynn was a little nervous for the slides so she played in the wave pool and kiddie area for a while before decided that she did want to try the slides. She loved them, like we knew she would. Ivy was too short for any of the big slides but she was content with the other areas...and they had smaller slides there that she could do as well.
I packed food for all of our meals because I didn't want to pay to eat out for every meal. Our one and only time we didn't eat the food I packed was that afternoon when Justin ordered a big pizza for us to share so we didn't have to leave the pool area.
After pizza, it was back to the pool and slides. The kids discovered that they love the wave pool and if they weren't doing slides, they were in the wave pool. They figured out the best place to be for the best (biggest) waves. We stayed there so long that it made you feel like you were in the waves even when you got out.
Justin needed a break at around 3:30 so he took Ivy and Stockton up to the room with him while I stayed with the girls. They lasted about another hour and then they also needed a break. We relaxed in our room, had dinner, and then went back to the pool. It was fun to go in the evening because it was so empty! We almost had the whole wave pool to ourselves! The pool closed at 8 and I was glad it wasn't open later...we were all exhausted and ready for bed so it was nice not to be out too late.
The kids were excellent at sleeping in the next morning. We were lazy and took it slow. We decided not to go back to the pool right away and instead we went bowling. Justin has never been great at bowling-he and Molly tied at something like 86. Stockton was pretty good, his ball only hit the bumpers a few times and he was able to get over 100! He and I were the over-100 club. Brynn's and Ivy's balls barely made it down the lane half the time. We played one round and then let the kids choose between arcade games or laser tag. Justin and Stockton did laser tag and the girls did arcade games.
After some lunch, we did go back to the pool for the afternoon. Most of the same things as the day before (slides + wave pools) but Brynn and Ivy also found a fun obstacle course that they hadn't discovered the day before.
We went back to our room and packed up our stuff. We were wanting to get an early start the next morning. The kids had no trouble sleeping after a couple of days of swimming and other fun. There was a Dunkin' Donuts in the hotel so I went down and got half a dozen doughnuts that morning for breakfast. It was Brynn's birthday that day, after all! The big 8!!
While Justin was loading up the car, I took the kids to the gift shop. I told them I would buy them a key chain for $5. Ivy was the only one who ended up with an actual key chain. Molly got a bracelet, Stockton got a wolf hat, and Brynn got a stuffed flamingo (with sequins). I made them pay me the excess over the $5.
We headed home after that. It was a long drive and we got caught in one snowstorm but it only took us about 10 minutes longer to get home than it did to get there. The kids did great on the drive home but the saying is "home, sweet, home" for a reason. We jumped right back in to normal life the next day when they all went back to school for the final day of the week. It took me about a week after that to feel back to normal. I was feeling a little anxiety in the days leading up to the vacation-just feeling pressure that the drive would go okay, that the kids would get a long, that the place would be fun and actually worth the time and effort it was going to take. But once we got there and I saw how happy the kids were, it was all worth it. I loved being able to carve out those days with just us-the kids had each other as their friends and they enjoyed being together. It was nice to not have a schedule and to be able to do what we wanted and when. My main goal was to have some family time and to create some memories that we could look back on and that was achieved so I was very happy with the whole week.
How have I never heard of this place? We've talked about going to Colorado Springs to see Pikes Peak but maybe we need to do this too.
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