Great Wolf Lodge

Back in February, we took a mini-vacation to Great Wolf Lodge.  It's was Craig's idea (and as a Christmas present, his parents helped fund it) that it would be nice for us to get out of Dodge for a few days when winter is at its most cold and depressing.  When my Grandma died, it made the timing a little crazy, though-- she died right before our trip, and then we flew to Seattle two days after returning home.  And because of all that, I forgot to ever blog about it.  But we really did have a great time, so I'm going to remedy that now!

Before I delve into about a billion pictures, let me just explain what Great Wolf Lodge is, for those who haven't heard of it-- basically, it's just a big hotel with its own indoor water park right in the center of the hotel.  As far as water parks go, it's not huge, but there was plenty to keep us busy for a couple days.  And, they give everyone wolf ears when you check in.  It sounds silly, but it sure was fun seeing the kids in their ears!  Which brings us to PICTURES:

Gotta get in a good howl, too!

Our suite had this little section for the kids with bunk beds and a TV.  Brilliant.

We arrived Sunday, and they let you into the water park around 2, even though check-in for the hotel isn't until 4.  So we had packed our swimsuits into a separate suitcase so they were easily accessible and we hit the water park immediately.  We had a great time and once everyone was hungry, we checked into our room and ordered pizza, the one meal that everyone in our family LOVES.  Then we wandered by the dessert counter and let everyone pick out a treat.  We sat out on our patio eating and watching a terrific rain storm.  Craig helped me get the little kids tucked into bed and then he went back to the water park with the big kids (it's always nice when you can worry less about people drowning).  I read and lazed about very quietly in my bed, which made me happy.

Colton was quite thrilled to get the hide-a-bed to himself

And he slept great, too!

I can't figure out how to rotate these.

The next day we just played at the water park all day and then went to a nearby restaurant for dinner.  The kids were so tired they were fairly well behaved (plus we'd gone really early, so the restaurant was empty).  Then Craig took his turns with the little kids in the hotel room while I hit the park with the big kids.  Unfortunately, the park closed earlier that night, so I didn't get as long, but we were pretty tired anyway.

I like how we're backlit so it looks fake.  That's not a green screen, I promise!

Ryder is pulling this face in EVERY PICTURE WITH CRAIG.

We took a coloring break after dinner because our room was still being cleaned.  Everyone was really into it-- I think they were pretty tired!

Our last day, we got in our swimsuits, checked out of the hotel, and then hit the park one last time.  Craig really wanted pictures of the actual park, so he finally braved using his phone around the water...  

Day 3, and we're still excited!

Me and Colton coming off the tunnel slide

Colton absolutely LOVED the lazy river

Pensive Camille.  I liked that they provided floaties so we didn't have to cram ours into the car.

Lazy river with Camille

And TOTALLY getting dumped on-- oops!  Craig was laughing hysterically as he took this picture.

Craig taking the kids into the wave pool (while I took Ryder to the bathroom)

I was a big fan of the hot tub

Ryder was not.  He refused to even get in.

Family selfie!  Not sure where Camille went for this...???

Playing with the water table

The giant bucket in the background would fill with water and then dump it every twenty minutes.  So Craig made the kids stand in the splash zone so he could take pictures.

Here it comes!

I like how nervous Ryder looks.  (I don't think they actually got that wet from it-- we're not really that mean!)

Ryder coming down the slide!

Craig decided we needed one last splurge before going home-- so we settled on a giant bucket of ice cream for the family!

Camille enjoyed it

She enjoyed it a lot, actually...

Bentley did this like it was the easiest thing in the world

And we had a very peaceful drive home.

I'm so glad we went-- Craig has such great ideas!