Great Wolf Lodge

Just down the road from us, literally about 15 min away, is a large beautiful hotel with giant water slides coming out of it. Since it has been built, it constantly flashes to us from the freeway all the deals and specials and fun it is supposed to have there. We have looked into the price of an overnight stay, wince at that price, and tell ourselves, "Well, maybe some day." That someday finally happened this weekend. Dianne wanted to have one last mini vacation with us and booked a room at the hotel. Right before we left, Dwayne came home with a unexpected bonus check so we were able to help her offset the cost.

We walked into a huge lobby. It was very nice and gorgeous. Huge soaring ceilings, a walkway from another floor crossing in front of us, a giant tree, a huge fireplace with animatronic animals, and two restaurants off to the left. All of this with the first views. Only people who stay overnight at the park get to play in the waterpark and check-in isn't until 4:00. However, you are allowed to come in at 1:00 and let them know you are there and play in the park until your room is available. So Dianne and I loaded the kids into the van with all the stuff we needed for an overnight stay anywhere with toddlers and headed to the hotel with the intention of doing just that. Unfortunately, Dwayne had to work but would join us later. When we got there we lucked out and our room was already available. This was a huge relief for me. I would much rather change into my bathing suit in the privacy of my own room than in a public restroom. After changing we entered the park and looked around. There was a huge fort with bridges and ropes and all kinds of things that sprayed, shot, and dumped water. We also passed a large wave pool. Off in the distance we saw a pool set up for playing some basketball. And soaring high above us were staircases leading to the water slides. Off to the right, we finally found the little kid section and played there for a couple hours. Sam was excited at the idea of going swimming but really really hated get sprayed or wet unexpectedly. He likes to have fun on his own terms. (It sounds an awfully lot like his mom.) Evie was a little daredevil and was climbing on all the things available, sliding down slides, and shooting everything she could. It soon became very apparent that we needed to put a life vest on her because she was so busy it was hard to keep up with her and keep my eye 100% on her. There was also a lot of little kids running around. Without my glasses, I'm pretty blind and it was interesting trying to keep track of which brown haired little girl was mine.

We pulled the kids out in time for a snack and checked out the HUGE arcade on the 2nd floor. I also browsed a little in the beautiful gift shop and ended up getting the kids some more stuffed animals. Like they really needed another one of those. Oh well. Dwayne was able to get off a little early so we grabbed him and went to WalMart for a couple items and then out to dinner. The kids and I had rough night sleeping in the room. There were kids running around in the hall till well after midnight and the room was just too hot for my comfort. Evie woke up several times in the night and Dwayne finally just put her in bed with me and crawled onto the pull-out couch with Sam.

This morning, we went out to a nice breakfast and came back, checked out of the hotel and then went back into the water park for several hours. Even though check-out is 11:00 you are allowed to stay and play in the waterpark the day of departure until it closes at 9:00 at night. You just can't have your things in the room. Evie and I had a hard time being together today. I think it was lack of sleep on both our parts. Once she was with Daddy though things got better. We set the kids up with Grandma and a couple of snacks and Dwayne and I ran to do a couple of the really big slides while we had the chance. Those slides made the whole trip worth it. They were quite fun and they were really what I needed after a frustrating and tiring night. We decided to call it quits around lunch time and headed home. I was so greatful that in this case, home was only 15 minutes away.

The lodge and waterpark is a lot of fun but definately a place I would recommend for kids just a little older than ours. Check out their website at http://www.greatwolf.com/grandmound/waterpark .We had fun but I think we would have had just a tad more fun if I didn't have to keep such a close eye on the little ones and could take advantage of the big rides a little myself.