Great Wolf Lodge

**Slide Show at the bottom of post if you don't feel like reading**

As most of you know we just got back from Williamsburg VA, where we took the kids on a mini getaway to Great Wolf Lodge. This place is AWESOME..and the timing could not have been better..Thursday was the first COLD day after a bunch of days of summer like weather. It rained on Friday too, so while we were in the bubble of the great wolf we weren't missing out on some fabulous weather.

We didn't tell them we were going until Tuesday night. We gathered them around the good old desk top and pulled up the website first. Showed them pictures, and what the room was going to look like. Then we pulled up a youtube video of the splash area, the crazy slides, wave pool, MagicQuest etc. They were in AWE..and knew they only had 2 sleeps until we left. The next morning the first words out of Emma's mouth to me were "1 more sleep Mom" she was doing the count down. Thank goodness we didn't tell them sooner. That might have got annoying.

On Thursday Allen was off..but we sent AJ to school for the morning. We packed up and cleaned up..and had a nice relaxing morning. Then headed off to pick up AJ. Once all together, we started off our vacation by stopping at Mi Casita for some Mexican lunch, then got on the road to Williamsburg. We pulled up and the kids (and us too) were amazed at the size of this place. It was HUGE. We pulled out our swimming bag and headed in to get our wrist bands so we could enjoy the water park before check in at 4pm..and to our surprise our room was ready. It was so nice to be able to settle into our room, get changed, and then head to the waterpark.

Once inside Emma who has no fear was off...the free spirited little girl went exploring. I lost sight of her a couple of times..which scared the heck out of me..so we then had to lay down some ground rules. AJ who knows how to swim..went wild..as expected for any 7 year old set loose in a room full of fun stuff. He needed a few reminders how that we need to pay attention the people around us. For the most part he was really well behaved. One minor video game mishap later, and he has learned his lesson.

Connor was surprisingly cautious of the whole thing at first. Held on TIGHT to Daddy or Mommy, and seemed almost afraid of the water. For the kid who LOVES his bathtime and would go headfirst into Lori's pool clothed or not..I was somewhat taken aback by it. It didn't take him long though to warm up to the idea of the water fun, and soon it was Daddy one way..and Mommy the other way watching our babies have the times of their lives. It was stressful at some points..trying to keep them coralled..making sure they are in your line of sight, but really I enjoyed myself watching them have fun.

We splurged and allowed them each to spend some money in the hotel. Emma chose a wand "like Harry Potters" and loved being able to make tress light up..animals wag their tails or howl all around the hotel. We opted out of the game part of Magic Quest..maybe next time. AJ unfortunately signed our room up for the Nintendo games..which of course comes with a fee..and that was what he spent his money on. Connor..well..we walked into the gift shop..and he went STRAIGHT for the footballs..he knows what he likes and likes what he got. He was playing with it in bed this morning.

We ate a FABULOUS meal in the hotel restaurant...it was a great buffet..and the caesar salad was to DIE for. Well worth the money. Considering we only stayed one night..I wasn't worried so much about the price of our meal..just the convienience etc. I really didn't want to pack the kids up in the truck and travel away from the hotel. Allen got himself some beer..and I ordered it to come in a funky cup that lights up. The kids LOVED it..Allen liked the fact that it was 22oz of beer, and refills were "cheap" to him. haha

We truly had a great time, and even though my camera took some crap (some nice) pictures..the memories in our heads will last a life time. We plan on doing it again..perhaps this time again next year, who knows. We'd love to do it with another family next time too..this time it was nice just the 5 of us though. We just thought next time..with a family and spending two nights..each couple could take an evening to themselves, while the kids watched movies in the room together.

This little trip was just the refreshment my family needed. It was so nice to step out of the ordinary and have some fun together.