FLASHBACK: Family Vacation

FAMILY VACATION

April 7-9, 2008

Disclaimer: Sorry about not having pictures of us for this posting. It was a water park, so we didn't take our digital camera in with us and the waterproof camera didn't have a flash so all the pictures we took were too dark to develop. It is very sad that we don't have pictures to go along with our memories, but now we know and will prepare better next time.

Our little family like being able to go on vacation where it is just us as a family. This year we went to "Great Wolf Lodge." The nice thing about this place was it was less than 30 minutes from where we live, so we didn't have to travel far. It is a wonderful place for kids and families. We absolutely enjoyed our trip and will most likely do it again in the future.

We got there around noon on Monday and as we were checking in you could watch the water park. They had a huge glass window that went floor to ceiling (about 20+ feet or so) and desk to fireplace (another 25+ feet). We stayed until Wednesday, which for us was just the right amount of time for us.

We got a basic room for families. They do have more extravagant rooms with a special kids sleeping areas. You can get a room that has a tent or a cabin in the room for the kids to sleep in. We may do one of those in the future when the kids are older and we need something else to keep them occupied.

The first night we played a bit of musical beds trying to get Kyra and Addy to go to sleep. At home we basically put them in their rooms and close the door. Our room at the Lodge was one large room so we couldn't use that strategy. First Kyra had her own bed and Ryan and I were in the other. Then I went to Kyra's bed, then I went back, then Ryan went to Kyra's bed, then Kyra came to my bed. This went on throughout the night. The next night wasn't so bad as Kyra fell asleep fairly quickly once I laid in bed with her and then I moved back to my bed. Addy was rocked to sleep by mom or dad and then was laid in her pack and play.

One of the greatest things about the whole trip and the main attraction was the indoor water park. All the rides were inside, so we didn't have to worry about the weather outside. It was weird to walk away from our vacation at a water park with out so much as a slight tan.

The kids had so much fun playing in the water. They had a really nice kiddy area for the little ones. Kyra enjoyed going on the slides and playing in the water. Addy also enjoyed the water and especially loved walking through the water with help from mom and dad.

The tree house fort (pictured above) was fun to go on, too. Kyra was even able to go on the slides. I was a bit surprised, but she seemed to enjoy them, even though she bonked her head on the really twisty-turny one.

The "Big Kid" rides were really fun for Ryan and I too. They had 5 slides. Three were the "hike your own tube up" slides and the others were group rides that they bring the tube up on a conveyor belt. We would take turns going on the slides while the other one kept the kids. It was a nice arrangement. We figured out that the ultimate fun was going down the "hike your own tube" rides backwards.

We would also go on the lazy river and the wave pool as a family. The kids and I liked sitting in the shallows of the wave pool while the waves broke over our legs. Ryan and I liked the river, but it had a lot of fountains and things that splashed the girls, so they didn't like it as much as we did.

Our little family could only do the water park for about 3-4 hours a day. That leaves a lot of time to kill at the resort. A really nice feature they have is a "MagiQuest." It is a wizard-like game that encompasses the entire hotel. Our hotel was 8 stories and Ryan, the girls, and I traipsed up and down all eight stories (stairs and elevator) several times over.

The first day Kyra was super excited about waving her wand and making all the "magical" items come to life. The second day she was less excited, thus mom and dad got to play. By the third day the kids were so exhausted that they actually fell asleep while Ryan and I finished up the game.

The lodge also had a few restaurants inside, too. We went to Camp Critter Bar and Grill the first night for dinner. It was really good and it was nice not to have to go searching for food. The next morning we went to the Loose Moose Cottage. This was a breakfast buffet with everything you could think of to eat for breakfast. It had everything from cereal to eggs Benedict to waffles/pancakes to biscuits and gravy.

We had so much fun!