Our kids have been begging to return to Great Wolf Lodge since we went for Christmas two years ago. When Groupon popped up another deal, we jumped on it and called it most of our kids' Christmas this year. We tried to surprise them again by not telling them where we were going, but they were more savvy this time and guessed in advance (at least Seth did).
Howling wolves in our room
The only picture where Seth wasn't being a dweeb.
Last time we went Elise was a baby and Aaron hated all the noise and chaos. This time it was a much better experience for everyone. Except maybe me. I had forgotten about the restrictions on water slides that come with pregnancy.
Elise LOVED the water. She spied the small slides when we first got there, took off running and never stopped. I just had to be close to make sure she didn't drown as she got off.
Aaron definitely enjoyed it more than last time, but it still wasn't his favorite. He doesn't like getting unexpectedly wet, which tends to happen in a waterpark full of kids. He also doesn't like too much noise, which meant an indoor, echoing park was lots of fun. But the real terror was the giant bucket of water that would slowly fill and eventually tip, dumping tons of water all over. He was so concerned with the bucket that despite refusing to even approach the splash zone, he kept a constant vigil on the status of the bucket. As soon as the alarm would sound (meaning that dumping was imminent), he would come to a dead stop wherever we were in the park and watch until it was done. What made it extra fun was that the bucket filled and tipped about every 5 minutes, which meant he spent most of his time being very paranoid.
I barely even saw Seth & Catherine. They spent most of their time on the big waterslides and other fun places where pregnant ladies can't go. Jon was in charge of chasing them around. Every time I did see them they seemed very happy as they rushed back up the stairs for another round of sliding.
Jon's genius investment for this trip was wetsuits for all four kids. It's not cold in the park, but it's not super warm, either. Especially if you're soaking wet and have no body fat (like Catherine). Seth never bothered with his, but the other three greatly appreciated the extra warmth!
Adorable wetsuit Elise
Adorable wetsuit Aaron
I never saw Catherine long enough to snap a picture of her.
Our kids were also super excited to get to go out to eat at Red Robin for dinner. I never really enjoy eating at a sit-down restaurant with all four kids, but they did pretty well this time. Someone even complimented us on how well-behaved our children were (they left before they could see things getting a little hectic at the end).
Elise did her best to keep any of us from getting any sleep by first refusing to go to bed (she spent a good 45 minutes or so crawling around on top of Catherine and being super loud) and then waking up early. She and I got to take an early-morning tour of the facility while everyone else tried to get a little more sleep. And then she napped all the way home.
She didn't enjoy the second day at the park as much as the first. I took the kids to play while Jon loaded up the stuff from the hotel room. I had kept my phone with me in case he needed to contact me. Since I didn't really have anywhere to put it (Jon had our bag), I was holding it in one hand and trying to take care of Elise with the other. I think the wetsuit threw off her balance: in the first ten minutes of being there she had gone completely under twice before I could drag her up. She never quite regained her former enthusiasm, which made me sad.
A few days after we got home we learned that there are plans to build a Great Wolf Lodge about 20 minutes from our house! We told the kids we're not going again until it opens in 2020. Sure sounds much nicer than a three hour drive to the Poconos!
