Great Wolf Lodge

The kids were super excited to go to the Great Wolf Lodge Sunday and thankfully the trip did not disappoint. We arrived there around 1pm with many other people who were also checking in early. It was a long wait in line but the kids had fun running around and checking out the hotel since we hadn't been to this one before (this year we went to the one in Sandusky instead of Traverse). For some reason they decided to give us a complimentary room upgrade which was great. It wasn't to a fun themed room but it was to a room that was a bit bigger and had a fireplace. The extra space was much appreciated!

After throwing down our belongings (and taking a picture) we headed to the MagiQuest Store to buy 3 wands. Penny was the lucky winner of the hand me down wand from the first time we came, everyone else got to pick out a new one. They had worked hard helping clean up the backyard to earn those wands. After getting their wands they began the scavenger like hunt. They chose a quest and then had to find the different items they need for that quest, waving their wands to collect the items.

When they were done "wanding" (their name for it) we got on our swimsuits and made our way to the indoor water park. This water park had all the bells and whistles: a toddler slide splash pad area, a swimming pool equipped with an area with basketball hoops, a lazy river, a large water jungle gym, a giant bucket to pour on them, lily pads to cross, a lazy river and slides for all ages. All those fun things and I swear we spent most of our time in the pool. The kids loved splashing around in the pool, then running out to be hit by the giant bucket of water and then every once in awhile taking some turns on the slides.

After swimming we had some dinner at Steak N Shake. The kids all got milkshakes and were very happy...Until I told Penny no more shake until she ate some hot dog. She was not superbly happy with that and we had a little tantrum as we headed out the door. But that was probably our biggest melt down of the trip so not too bad!

When we got back to the hotel the boys did some more wanding. Us girls did some Jammie Jamming in the lobby instead and then we watched the Clock Tower Show and did story time. There was this boy to the Left of Lucy that gave me a dirty look every time I took a picture of Lucy and said that I was getting him the picture. As you can see, I was not. He was such a booger.

The next morning we were up early and ready for fun. We did some more wanding while we waited for the water park to open and then hit the water park. The water park was more of the same fun but we got whistled on quite a bit for silly things. There are lots of places you can't climb or sit on and there is no going downs slides with kids in your lap. But we quickly learned the rules and had lots of fun!

After the water park we had some lunch and then the eldest three went wanding while Penny (and me) took a nap. When she woke up we all went to get some face (and arms and hands) painted. Penny at first pointed to all the pictures and wanted all of it but when it came her turn came she got nervous about being painted on. To help calm her nerves the lady painted my hand first and then hers. That meant we had matching paw prints- super cool! 

After face painting, we hit the arcade. We were disappointed that there was no bowling ally at this Lodge so we decided we would do the arcade instead. Unfortunately we found that it was quite overpriced. We thought every game would be like a couple "paw points" but they were actually more like 4-8 paw points. The kids blew through their paw points pretty fast but at least they had fun blowing through them! Penny especially loved the driving games. When we first got to the arcade she disappeared quickly and we found her grinning happily inside of a car game. Lucy also loved the driving games. I think Tyler quite loved that her and Lucy kept needing his help with the driving games :)

After the arcade we went out to dinner. At the restaurant they had a machine that you could win dolls out of. It had been pretty cleared out and there was a small doll that actually looked winnable. Steven gave it a shot and failed but then Tyler did it and won it! Penny got to keep it since Lucy had gotten a small doll at the arcade with her tickets and Penny was feeling a bit jealous. You can see how happy Penny was to have it ;)

After dinner we hit the water park for one last time. I had an epic mom fail where I was video taping the eldest 3 and Tyler getting dumped on by the bucket and didn't realize that Penny had wondered off and tried to go into the pool. Thank heavens to the lady who saw Penny attempting to get in and stood with her until I realized my huge mistake. Penny did not have a life vest on so I am extremely grateful to this angel. The only thing that irritates me is that with all those life guards around that are always blowing whistles at people for breaking rules, why didn't one of them notice my Penny? Besides that scary moment, and besides getting hit on the head twice with runaway basketballs it was a fun last hurrah at the water park.

We ended the day with the boys doing so more wanding and me and the girls attending another story time. This time we waited in the long line to see Wily Wolf.

The next day included more wanding, a "nature" walk around the lobby, and crafts in the Cub House. Crafts included coloring pictures, making buttons and the girls also made kites and flowers. The lady at the Cub House was very chatty which was funny since she was losing her voice.

Then it was time to drive home. On our way home we hit a Chick-Fil-A for a late lunch and then our fun filled vacation was at an end. The kids are already asking if they can go back to the Great Wolf Lodge. While it is not a super exciting place for adults it is definitely worth it because the kids love it so much!