Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Great Wolf Lodge

On Monday and Tuesday of this week Maia and Mason played hooky from school and Michael took off from work so we could go with Michael's brother and his family to the Great Wolf Lodge in Williamsburg, VA. Man, did we have a blast! It is an indoor water park and resort--very family friendly. Our kids had the best time playing with their four cousins and Michael and I had a great time enjoying our little ones.

This is Maia and Mason peeking out from their bunk bed in our Kid Suite. They loved having the bunk beds and, of course, fought over who would get the top. Maia's mind is like a steel trap, I tell you, because she remembered that Mason had gotten the top bunk in our similar hotel room in Orlando when we went to Disney World four years ago.

Marlee loved her little bed in the kids' alcove. She "made her bed" by spreading her beloved Strawberry Shortcake blanket on it and stared at the above mural endlessly (it was above her bed).

Mason and Ethan enjoyed a quick game of checkers before breakfast.

Mackenna loved the little fountains and kept trying to step on them to let the water tickle her feet. She did some of the little slides, but preferred splashing and crawling around in the water best of all.

There was a giant bucket that filled with water and then tipped its 1000 gallons every five minutes. The above photo shows Mason and Ethan as they await the downpour.

Mason loved the wave pool. Since there were hardly any people at the resort, we had it to ourselves many times. He and I rode the waves repeatedly. It was so easy simply to enjoy my children when I didn't have to worry about cooking, cleaning, laundering, etc. In the above photo, Mason and Maia are riding the waves in a raft with their cousin, Nina.

Michael got pretty good at balancing on the boogie board while riding the waves. Then, he forced me to have a go. I was worried I'd lose my suit (it had happened to others--men and women), but I gave in to his pleadings and had a go:


These are the eight cousins after two days of water play. They were tired but deliriously happy at all the wet fun they'd had. I was so proud of all my kids for being brave and trying new things. Maia actually tried everything--all the slides, including the tornado one (although she vowed never to go on that one again) and the surfing thing. Mason, too, did it all. Marlee tried the big slide with her dad and is still bragging to anyone who will listen about how she went down the big slide. Of course, she refused a repeat trip, but at least she did it. She preferred the little slides. Mackenna was happy just to splash and frolic in the water or to sit on my lap as we floated down the lazy river. Michael and I always like hanging out with our brother and sister-in-law. It was just a great time and I am so glad my brother-in-law gave us the chance to go!

13 comments:

Brenda said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Kellie said...

What a fabulous break for you and the family. It looks like you had such a great time. I'm glad!

Brenda said...

I am sooo jealous! Bri and I have considered doing this for soooo long, but we just couldn't do afford the moola involved (:
Maybe we will have to do the hooky thing and go right before Christmas! Looks like you guys had a great time!

Tracy said...

Wow. That looks so fun! We are going during the off season too (someday) so we can have it to ourselves. So glad you had a couple of stress free days. Fun, fun.

Cami said...

Oh man we have wanted to go there! It looks so fun! Mostly Jake wants to go there because he is a water park fanatic. I think my kids wouldn't have quite as much fun as him. It looks like EVERYONE had a blast!

Cynthia said...

Mason was right...(post about the movies), you guys NEVER do anything fun!
I'm glad you all had such a blast, and I'm glad you posted about it! Quiet day or something??? :)

Deb said...

sounds like such a great time!

and welcome back, again. :)

Amber said...

Oh my goodness that looks so so fun!! We have to go! You guys all look so cute. Glad you had a fun family time.

Unknown said...

what a fun trip!!!! You guys have so much fun. I will have to remember that place when we visit Williamsburg.

The Spiveys said...

We have been wanting to go there for a long time so I'm glad we finally know someone who has actually experienced it. We drove past it a couple weeks ago and it reminded us of how much we want to go one of these days. Glad to see you had so much fun!

Jann said...

Fabulous, fun pictures. This looks like the perfect family vacation.

Corinne said...

Yay! You had such a great time!! WHat a neat experience. Water play makes everyone happy :

Christie said...

Isn't this place fabulous? I love it. I am so glad that you guys got to go. We were discussing our next trip back just the other day. :-)

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