Day 6: Wiped Out

Popcorn and a movie in the bunk beds

I am tired, but not stressed.  I feel like I have been on a different planet for the past three days. Overall, the trip was fantastic.  I am not a huge fan of amusement parks.   However, this was an exception. Great Wolf Lodge is awesome. The water park is rightsized for the hotel, so there are never long lines or huge crowds.  There are attractions that are fun for the littlest tykes to grown ups. Plenty of family rides, so that you can do things together.  The life guards are abundant and super vigilant.  I could go on and on about all the positives, but just contact me if you want my full review.

Our vacation went like this...We claimed some chairs by the wave pool as home base, and girls could go anywhere in park as long as they had a buddy and checked in with us before heading off to a new section. The big girls and the mommies rode the Tornado a dozen times.  The little girls preferred the River Canyon ride.  Jon was usually playing "shark" with Casey in the wave pool, or chillin' in a tube with Gabriel on his chest. 

My best friend Crystal, her husband Jon and their girls were super easy to vacation with.  We had neighboring 1st floor rooms, so we just bolted the front doors and kids spent their non-pool time hopping from the wolf den to the kids kamp (special bunk bed nooks in the rooms) or running around on the lawn between our two rooms.  Each room had a fridge and microwave, so we could do meals cheaply.  We both brought a bunch of food, and did breakfast and lunch picnic style out on the lawn.  We picked up some pizzas for dinner one night and braved a restaurant the second evening.  Granted the restaurant did serve kids meals on Frisbees and have a treasure box.  After the kids were tucked into bed, the grown ups enjoyed some wine and snacks on the patio.

I feel so thankful to have such wonderful friends to support me while Ryan is gone.  This was a special adventure for my kids that wouldn't have been possible without the help of Crystal and Jon.  They brought the child to parent ratio down from 4:1 to 2:1, and truthfully the 4 girls entertained themselves.  I can honestly say that I also got a vacation.  I even took a nap!

The only down side was that Ryan wasn't there. He isn't a fan of pools or amusment parks, but I think he would have made an exception in this case.  I think a repeat visit may be necessary this fall, otherwise Ava wants to start construction on a water park in our backyard.