A couple weeks ago, we took the kids to Great Wolf Lodge, as promised on Christmas! It was funny going again so many years later, because the first time we went, Bentley and Kendra had a BLAST, while Colton and Camille were really kind of young to enjoy it (and, quite honestly, were a big pain because we had to make sure they didn't drown the whole time). This time around, Bentley wasn't even here for it {sniff, sniff} and as we walked into the water park, Kendra commented, "I'm kinda old for this place, huh?" and we agreed that she definitely was. But she still had a great time (as did C&C so many years ago!), so I guess it all balances out, doesn't it? The real winner here is Ryder who just loved every minute of it BOTH times!
Anyway, we had to do a lot of recreating old pictures, so bear with me as I share oodles of pictures from both trips!
When we arrived, we could go right to our room, so that was nice! Also, the rooms now have wood (pergo) floors, which is a HUGE upgrade from that nasty carpet! That made me happy!
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| Howling, because we're wolves now! |
An old shot:
and a recreation:
We threw all our stuff into the room, got into our swimsuits and headed straight to the water park! Kendra was very nice about the fact that our swimsuits match...
Another recreation:
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| Last time Ryder HATED the hot tub |
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| 😂 |
He was actually a big fan this time-- partially because he wasn't feeling great. But honestly, hot tubs are just the best!
And, like Bentley last time, the kids are now very good at the obstacle course:
And, again like last time, Craig got pictures of the huge bucket dumping water on everyone:
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| (We might not be good parents...) (But really, they're having a blast!) |
Okay, I think those were all the shots that lined up with our previous trip-- time for a little more narrating...
I have to admit-- when we first arrived, I wasn't terribly excited to do any of the water park stuff. It just seemed like a pain. But fortunately I realized (pretty quickly) that I was just being a lame-o stick in the mud, and I wasn't going to have any fun at all unless I decided to actually TRY to have fun. So I dutifully followed everyone around as we did the lazy river and the slides and it turns out I was just forgetting how much I love all that stuff! Before I knew it, I was having a blast right alongside my family. Which was the whole point. Whew.
Anyway, that first day, we arrived, hit the water park, had a great time, and then retired to our room with Papa Johns Pizza and watched the Super Bowl. Since it was also Camille's birthday, Craig ordered some desserts along with our pizza (brownies and a pazookie), which we stuck candles in and urged her to blow out before we could set off the smoke alarm.
I mostly read my book and then glanced up at the TV if there were interesting commercials. I didn't particularly care who won, but it did seem like it would have been more interesting if the Chiefs had actually tried to play the game. Just my two cents!
The next morning we let the kids head off to the water park as soon as it opened, and I followed behind them a few minutes later. We did all the same stuff, and when it looked like there was a chance of getting bored, Craig suggested we head into Colonial Williamsburg for a change of scenery. We also promised them ice cream, which was all we needed to get everyone excited! We grabbed lunch at Taco Bell and Craig hurried the kids to the musket demonstration while I found us some free parking.
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| Camille, Craig, Kendra, and Colton all sat up being judges at the courthouse |
The weather was chilly, but not terrible. But it always felt nice once you could duck into a building and away from the breeze. Ryder had said he wasn't feeling well, so we gave him a ton of ibuprofen and told him he was fine. Between that and the promise of ice cream, he was managed all right.
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| Here they are looking sorry for their sins |
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| Camille looks WAY too happy to be here! |
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| The apothecary was a big hit! |
Finally it was late enough that all the colonial stuff was closing. Time to find that ice cream! Of course, that's when we discovered that most of the shops and restaurants were closed because it was Monday! Before Ryder could despair, I assured him that SOMEWHERE there was ice cream and we would FOR SURE find it. And we did-- there was a Kilwin's open just a block or two away, and it was perfect: when we walked in, we were offered free samples of fudge. And then as we finished our ice cream, the same guy who gave us fudge was making caramel corn, so he let us watch while he explained everything he was doing and gave us samples of that, too! He was so friendly, the kids just loved him.
So everyone was happy! We got dinner at the Cheese Steak shop (mostly Craig and I got dinner and the kids ate fries) and then headed back to our hotel to spend a few more hours at the water park! It was pretty empty by then, so everyone enjoyed getting to do everything without having to wait in line! So Ryder finally got to do the Flo-Rider, which he is pretty good at!
We went to bed that night and I... tossed and turned and felt terrible. It was really weird, because I didn't have any of the usual symptoms-- no coughing, no runny nose, no sore throat. I just felt awful. Everything hurt.
Once everyone else finally got up, I sent them to the water park for their final morning and I stayed in bed hurting. Eventually I took some medicine and that got me feeling good enough to at least pack up my stuff and help load the car once they came back. They'd had a great time again, even if I wasn't there!
This video is in slow motion, so it's way longer than it needs to be. But if you skip ahead to the 45 second mark, you can see Ryder twist around in a circle and then recover and give the camera THE biggest smile-- what a pro!
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| Pretending to be Iron Man |
Our original plan had been to stay most of the day, but Mother Nature had other ideas and there was a huge snow storm heading towards Charlottesville. We didn't want to get stuck in that, so we headed out when we had to check out of our room, right as the snow was beginning to fall at Great Wolf Lodge. As we got closer to home, there was more and more snow sticking to the trees all around. It was very pretty, if a wee bit stressful. We got home just as it started sticking to the roads and right as my meds wore off. I started one load of laundry and stayed in bed the rest of the day. I honestly felt so bad knowing that I'd made Ryder wander all around Williamsburg feeling as awful as I felt!!! But everyone else had a great time playing in the snow!
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| I think Kendra made these cute snow hearts? |
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| This is Ichi-snow! |
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| And playing with Sydney and Beth (and Lexi) |
I woke up the next morning drenched in sweat, but feeling WAY better. I rolled over and saw that Craig had gotten himself two extra blankets and correctly deduced that he was now sick. Except he also managed to get a cold at the same time (which he then passed on to me), so he was even more miserable. It was a good thing we were all staying home anyway!
Anyway, that was our little mini-February-break! It sure was nice to get away for a couple days!
