For Jayden's 5th birthday, I tried to convince him to have a party. "Come on! You're gonna be 5! That's a whole hand! Let's invite some friends over and have a party!" To which he replied, "Ummm, I don't need friends. I just want to go to the Great Wolf Lodge". Well ok, then.... So, since his birthday back in April, he's been asking and asking and asking when we were going. We wanted to wait until he was done with school and Royal was done with school, so we could go in the middle of the week, so the rates would be cheaper and hopefully it would be less crowded. And then I was waiting until I found a coupon or something I could use, and just last week I got a magazine that had a coupon in it, so the next day I booked our room using the coupon code. The very next day in the mail, I got a 20% off coupon from the Great Wolf Lodge. I couldn't believe it, what are the chances? So, I brought that coupon with me, which was worth more than the coupon I used, when we checked in. Wouldn't you know it, but they wouldn't switch out the coupon I used for the one I brought. Big. Fat. Bummer. From all my experiences with the Great Wolf Lodge, they have never been really good with customer service, and I guess they don't have to be...I keep coming back anyway.
If we are going to the Great Wolf Lodge, there is no way we aren't stopping by the T-Rex Cafe, which is practically right next door. Horrible, I'm talking horrible food. I've been there like 3 or 4 times and each time I order something different and each time I am shocked that they can make it taste so terrible. The kids had dino chicken nuggets, and they always think it tastes so delicious, but maybe it's because they aren't noticing how terrible their food tastes because they are distracted by all the life-sized moving dinos surrounding us. Maybe next time I'll just get the dino nuggets. I just had to keep reminding myself that this trip wasn't about me at all, and if the kids loved it, then our mission was accomplished!
The kiddos were just a tad excited and bouncing all over the place. Here is my attempt to get them to take a picture with me while we waiting for our food.
Finally, it was time to check into our room at the GREAT WOLF LODGE!!!! :) (a lot of pictures to follow, I pretty much didn't do much but walk around with the kids and I had our nifty water proof camera with me, so I just kept taking pictures....)
Jayden trying to get Willow to go down the "baby" slides. She wouldn't have any of it, at least while I was around, although Royal told me later that she was going to town on those things when Jayden and I were going down the bigger slides...and he had the camera and everything, where are the pictures??? not sure, I needed more, but can you ever have enough???
Willow did find a slide outside that she liked quite a bit.
Here are Jayden and I going down a bigger tube slide.
Jayden went down the big slides with Royal and I quite a bit, but for the most part, the kids just wanted to play in the pools - the kiddy pool, the deeper snake pool, and the lazy river. The lazy river is my favorite, it's warm, and has a current, so the kids can float and move all along and they aren't jumping at me and splashing water in my eyes. :)
Here's Willow floating down the lazy river.
And Jayden in the rapids and waterfall section of the lazy river.
Willow can't manage to go anywhere and not work out. At breakfast, she was stretching her quads while singing 'I'm a Little Tea Pot' and then did sets of jumping jacks and squats, and once we were in the pool, she just couldn't help herself and dropped and did a set of pushups.....seriously...while counting loudly for all to hear...
Here are the kids playing on the snake in the big snake pool.
There really wasn't much sleep that happened the past couple of days. Willow missed her nap on the way up and our "plan" was to just wear them out in the pool, eat a late dinner, put them in their jammies and let them watch a movie and hopefully wind down and fall asleep. Well, we did wear them out in the pool, and then we did eat a late dinner, and then we did do jammies and a movie, but somehow sleep wasn't in the cards for them. I'm not sure the whole musical beds things wasn't something the kids choreographed before we got there. First there were arguments over who was sleeping with who. For Willow it was too dark, then too light, then she wanted to sleep with dad, then with mom, and finally around 9:40, both kids were asleep in bed...with me. Which meant Royal was enjoying a slightly uncomfortable bed all too himself. So around 11, I woke up, figured the kids were zonked and I snuck out of their bed and made Royal move over and I slept with him. Until 3ish, when Jayden woke up, realized I'd jumped ship and started having a real problem with it, which I tried to settle him down, tried to keep him quiet, but alas, he woke Willow up, who declared she was not giving up sleeping with mom. Jayden finally opts to go sleep with Royal. So, I switch beds again. Willow wakes up around 6 and starts telling us to get up, it's time to go swimming...the swim park doesn't open until 9. Jayden wakes up and is mad that Willow woke him up and that she is now jumping on Royal, which is her normal morning routine, so I turn on cartoons for her, which she never gets to watch on account we don't have cable at our house, but it does the trick and she's mesmerized. Jayden switches beds yet again and gets in bed with me and goes back to sleep. We get up shortly after, pack up, get dressed, and go eat breakfast, and then head to the waterpark. Once again, our "plan" was to play as long as we could, then go get lunch, and head home. Royal and I figured noon would be the latest time we'd stay in the pool. Around 11ish, Jayden declares he's had enough and that he's tired and hungry and ready to go home. Hallelujia!!!!
This was the scene on the way home....Mission Accomplished!
NICE!
