Better Late Than Never (aka "Our Great Wolf LodgeTrip")
Back in October we took a family trip up to Great Wolf Lodge in Washington state and had a great time. Obviously I didn't post about it 3 months ago (although I really did try), but I wanted to make up for that now. I highly value the fun things we're able to do together as a family and I really want our boys to have some sort of record to go along with their memories of our trip.
Great Wolf is a big indoor water park we had been hearing lots of amazing things about. Our kids had 3 days off from school for parent/teacher conferences in the middle of October and we decided that would be the perfect time for a 2 day getaway to find out about Great Wolf for ourselves. We of course did the responsible thing and used that 3rd day to attend our kids' conferences :).
It was a gorgeous, green drive up to Washington and it ended up taking us just under 2 hours which was much quicker than anticipated. We got there in the early afternoon, dropped our stuff off in our room and then walked through the lodge to the water park. It really was pretty impressive. We played in there for quite a while before it was time to dry off for dinner. The dining options are quite limited there, but the one restaurant they do have offers fairly respectable fare. And the kids loved the "wolf ears" (a furry, pointy-eared headband) that came with their kid's meals.
After dinner it was time for trick-or-treating around the lodge, so we got our skeleton crew all dressed up and headed out for that (see pics below!). The boys loved it since they got to follow a map around the lodge to find out where their candy was coming from next. After their last stop we went back to our room and bought them an hour of Nintendo in their "wolf den" before bed.
The next morning we had a huge breakfast at the buffet (this meal was quite good) and then checked out of our room. We were still allowed access to the water park all that day so we put most of our stuff in the car, rented a locker for the things we'd need at the park, and played until early that afternoon.
When we'd pretty much had our fill and Lucas started to get cranky, we headed for home hoping that he would get his nap during the drive (which he did!). We stopped by our local Round Table for dinner which is always a fun thing for our family. We all love the pizza and the kids love to go to the kid's area with arcade games, board games and coloring while Jake and I get to eat in relative peace!
Anyway, it was a lot of fun and each of our boys had a blast. I don't think it quite lived up to all the hype for Jake and I, but it was still pretty neat and we feel great for pulling off such a successful trip for our kids.
I think my favorite thing about Great Wolf is that there is literally something for everyone. Any age from babies to teenagers to adults can have plenty of fun, which is great because that is not always the case when attending traditional amusement parks, zoos, etc. A lot of times the toddler is miserable, but Lucas and I got to hang out in a cool pool and play in a special toddler/young kids area. He even enjoyed the wave pool quite a bit. Jake got to do some water slides that looked like so much fun and I would love to do them with him next time when I'm not pregnant. We'll for sure have to try and go with friends so we can switch off watching the kids.
Lastly, one of the main reasons this post never got off the ground ('til now!) is that I didn't really get any good pictures of the trip. We were all so busy having fun and my arms were usually full with Lucas. Plus, Lucas had been messing with the camera and got it onto some setting that would only take blurry pictures. Sigh. But here we go with what I did get:
Blurry shot of Lucas from behind in his toddler towel and flip flops (so cute!). You can see Daniel's blurry bright green trunks up ahead:
As you can see in the bottom of the photo, life jackets abound at Great Wolf! Fewer worries for your non-swimmers!
Our skeleton crew takes the lodge by storm!
Lucas orders room service:
This place is big!
Great Wolf is a big indoor water park we had been hearing lots of amazing things about. Our kids had 3 days off from school for parent/teacher conferences in the middle of October and we decided that would be the perfect time for a 2 day getaway to find out about Great Wolf for ourselves. We of course did the responsible thing and used that 3rd day to attend our kids' conferences :).
It was a gorgeous, green drive up to Washington and it ended up taking us just under 2 hours which was much quicker than anticipated. We got there in the early afternoon, dropped our stuff off in our room and then walked through the lodge to the water park. It really was pretty impressive. We played in there for quite a while before it was time to dry off for dinner. The dining options are quite limited there, but the one restaurant they do have offers fairly respectable fare. And the kids loved the "wolf ears" (a furry, pointy-eared headband) that came with their kid's meals.
After dinner it was time for trick-or-treating around the lodge, so we got our skeleton crew all dressed up and headed out for that (see pics below!). The boys loved it since they got to follow a map around the lodge to find out where their candy was coming from next. After their last stop we went back to our room and bought them an hour of Nintendo in their "wolf den" before bed.
The next morning we had a huge breakfast at the buffet (this meal was quite good) and then checked out of our room. We were still allowed access to the water park all that day so we put most of our stuff in the car, rented a locker for the things we'd need at the park, and played until early that afternoon.
When we'd pretty much had our fill and Lucas started to get cranky, we headed for home hoping that he would get his nap during the drive (which he did!). We stopped by our local Round Table for dinner which is always a fun thing for our family. We all love the pizza and the kids love to go to the kid's area with arcade games, board games and coloring while Jake and I get to eat in relative peace!
Anyway, it was a lot of fun and each of our boys had a blast. I don't think it quite lived up to all the hype for Jake and I, but it was still pretty neat and we feel great for pulling off such a successful trip for our kids.
I think my favorite thing about Great Wolf is that there is literally something for everyone. Any age from babies to teenagers to adults can have plenty of fun, which is great because that is not always the case when attending traditional amusement parks, zoos, etc. A lot of times the toddler is miserable, but Lucas and I got to hang out in a cool pool and play in a special toddler/young kids area. He even enjoyed the wave pool quite a bit. Jake got to do some water slides that looked like so much fun and I would love to do them with him next time when I'm not pregnant. We'll for sure have to try and go with friends so we can switch off watching the kids.
Lastly, one of the main reasons this post never got off the ground ('til now!) is that I didn't really get any good pictures of the trip. We were all so busy having fun and my arms were usually full with Lucas. Plus, Lucas had been messing with the camera and got it onto some setting that would only take blurry pictures. Sigh. But here we go with what I did get:
Blurry shot of Lucas from behind in his toddler towel and flip flops (so cute!). You can see Daniel's blurry bright green trunks up ahead:
As you can see in the bottom of the photo, life jackets abound at Great Wolf! Fewer worries for your non-swimmers!
Our skeleton crew takes the lodge by storm!
Lucas orders room service:
This place is big!
posted by Leslie | 4:18 PM
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