There is one problem with having a husband who is constantly out of town on business trips: The last thing he wants to do during his down time is travel. Why is this a problem? I do! Don't get me wrong, I like hanging out at home with the family, but once in a while it is nice to getaway for a few days. Kelly took pity on me and agreed to a spontaneous trip to Great Wolf Lodge for Valentine's Day. We let the girls open their gifts on Saturday night (matching swimsuits and cover-ups) and at the bottom of Zoë's box was a sign that said, "We Are Going To Great Wolf Lodge" with their logo. She sounded each word out slowly, then repeated it more quickly, then jumped up and down squealing, "We are going to Great Wolf Lodge!!!!!" That is just the kind of response I was hoping for.
Kelly and I exchanged gifts as well and I was completely floored when I opened up a waterproof camera. I had no idea. For me, photos are the perfect souvenir. I don't like knick-knacks or cheesy logo t-shirts and I don't need any more coffee mugs. I am very content with a few good shots of my family. Last time we were at Great Wolf Lodge I bought a disposable waterproof camera and not a single photo from the water park turned out. I was so disappointed. My sweet husband remembered that and made sure it wouldn't happen again. I love that man.
Would you like to see some of the photos from my cool new camera? Yes? OK!
Zoë and Eden playing on the jet ski in the kiddie area
Eden's favorite thing about the entire water park? The balls. Give the girl a ball and she is a happy camper. She bobbed around until her lips were blue, happy as a clam.
Kelly and Zoë were pretty much inseparable the entire time. They played in the "big kid" area while I stayed with Eden in the "toddler friendly" area.
You remember the matching swimming suits? How cute are they?! We all had bright pink pedicures to match our suits, which you can't see in the picture. Disclaimer: By we, I mean the girls and I. Kelly did not get a pedicure. I thought I should probably mention that. LOL!
This may be my favorite photo of the trip. Check out that underwater picture! I barely touched it up in Photoshop. I told Zoë that she could bring the camera with her to swimming lessons one of these days.
We stayed in the Wolf Den suite, which was darling. The girls had their own little "room" that had baby wolves painted all over the place.
I have to say, I was much more impressed with Great Wolf Lodge during this trip. Granted the first time we went they had just opened and hadn't had time to work out the bugs, but still. There is a Starbucks inside the hotel now! Sweet! The food is actually good now and they have added healthy food choices to their offerings. The coolest addition? MagiQuest. I fully realize that makes me sound like a big nerd, but I really don't care. We bought wands for both the girls (and princess dresses, of course) and Zoë and I set off on a quest around the hotel.
The MagiQuest store actually programs your wand with your information and stores information in the wand as your continue on your quest. You get a quest book with clues that take you to almost every floor of the hotel, which is filled with enchanted items that do something magical when you wave your wand at them. Did I mention it was cool?
I would stay at the hotel for another day just so that I could complete all the quests. Like I said, big nerd.
Eden's favorite part of the water park was the ball. Zoë's was the lily pads. I took a video of her crossing them (from in the pool!) She was so proud of herself. (Click on the photo to start the video.)
Our combined least favorite part of the trip? She and I going down Alberta Falls (in a two-person tube). Zoë had already gone down twice with Kelly and had a great time. We settled in for our run down the slide. I got in first to stretch across both holes of the tube since she was so tiny that she would slip through. We began zooming down the slide fast enough to give me butterflies then all of a sudden Zoë went flying off the tube and smacked her head on the tunnel! I moved faster than I think I have in my entire life, and grabbed the back of her life jacket before the tube slid over the top of her, and jerked her back on to the tube and into my lap. We finished the run and she was crying and I was shaking uncontrollably. I calmed her down enough to find out what had happened. She let go of the tube so that she could put her goggles on. She let go of the dang tube. Ugh. And I thought Eden was going to give me grey hair.
All in all, it was a fantastic little vacation. One we will probably be repeating at least every few winters.
