Our First Trip to Great Wolf Lodge

Dear Em,
Remember how in my last post I talked about hitting a wall in the month of March? After all the snow & the sicknesses, we needed something fun to break up the generally cold & gray days. We had heard a lot about the newish Great Wolf Lodge, a hotel with an indoor water park. We decided Miserable March 2015 gave us the perfect excuse to try it out.

We didn't tell you that we were going. We just told you we were going on an adventure when we packed you in the car. You were happy to play along. You didn't have too long to wait. Great Wolf Lodge is probably only an hour and a half from our house. When we pulled into the parking lot, pictures of water park fun hung from the lamp posts. Your eyes grew big with excitement.

It was pretty clear that we weren't the only family that needed something to break up the winter. The lodge was  packed. I don't think it's ever taken me so long to check into a hotel. Luckily, the hotel is so kid-friendly, there is almost always something going on in the lobby. There were activities like coloring & face painting & balloon animal making & story time & dance parties. You sat right down & colored a picture while we waited to check in.

After check-in, we dropped our things off in our room, changed, & went straight to the water slides. We spent most of the the next two days there. There were two large rooms with water slides, pools (including one wave pool), playgrounds, a lazy river, & a hot tub. You couldn't have been more thrilled. You wanted to try it all, & we mostly did (there were some height restrictions, but you were able to do most of the activities).

They had an amazing playground, with water dumping & shooting out everywhere.

We took a trip around the lazy river. 

You are my adorable, little daredevil. You LOVED the water slides. You screamed & squealed & smiled from ear to ear as we plunged down every slide you were tall enough to go on. You shouted "Again!" each & every time we reached the bottom.

Not wanting to interrupt your fun, we grabbed dinner from a snack bar in one of the water park rooms. It was typical, simple snack bar food. Daddy & I also had a couple adult beverages. Then we went back to the water slides until Daddy & I were exhausted & I was shivering cold. We ended our first day of water fun in the hot tub. The indoor/outdoor hot tub was one of your very favorite spots.

Next we changed into comfy clothes & checked out the ropes course. There was a small course for the littles & a course much higher up that kids & adults tried. You loved the kids course. Excited to tackle an even bigger challenge, we all suited up to try the higher course. Unfortunately, we didn't make it very far. The higher course was much wobblier than the kids course. You were terrified, & wanted to get back down on solid ground.

Daddy & I didn't mind, we were tired. We headed back to our room & put our PJs on. We were just in time to head down to the lobby for story time. It was so cute sitting on the floor with a ton of other families & watching you enjoy that night's story. We headed back up to our room, exhausted & happy to call it a night.

By breakfast the next morning, we were ready for some real food. We headed to the main dining restaurant. There was a wait, but we passed the time checking out the gift shops & hanging out by the warm fire.

Your favorite meal of the day is breakfast, & the Great Wolf Lodge breakfast buffet sure hit the spot. You had french toast & waffles & bacon & fruit & orange juice.

We went back to the ropes course, hoping you would feel a little braver about the large course. You were more adamant than ever about staying much closer to the ground. I was bummed that Daddy & I wouldn't be able to do the large ropes course with you, but got over it when we started a game of giant checkers. You & I were on one team & Daddy was on the other. We kicked his butt during what was probably my favorite family moment on our little trip.

We got back into our bathing suits & packed up our room before heading back to the water slides for a couple more hours. We tried to fit in each & every water experience at least one more time, spending most of our time on the water slides & in the wave pool.

When it came time to say goodbye, you were not ready, but I could tell we were all a little tired. I wasn't at all surprised when I looked back & saw you sleeping during our car ride home.

Our getaway was brief, & it didn't stop the winter March weather, but it hit the spot for our little family. I truly enjoyed the time we got to share together together & seeing your little face light up throughout the trip. I have a suspicious feeling this won't be our last Great Wolf Lodge winter trip.

I love you so,

Mommy