Great Wolf Lodge

Yesterday we came back from a quickie vacation at Great Wolf Lodge in Grand Mound, WA. It is a hotel/resort with an indoor water park complete with several activity pools and slides. My brother Zhivago, his wife Toni, their son Connor invited me and the boys to come with them as a last hurrah before school starts for the kids. On the way there, we picked up my little sister Diane to come along with us. I had some anxiety about taking the twins on such a large group vacation, mostly because I know they are high maintenance at 2 1/2 years old, so I didn't want to spoil everyone's time going on the rides if we had to constantly chase the twins down in a big crowd. But you know what? We had a great time despite all the difficulties and logistics of getting there!

The seven of us and our stuff crammed into my mini-van (I knew my un-sexy ride would come in handy for situations just like this). During the 2+ hour drive there, the kids watched a DVD in the van and generally touched, tickled, and kicked the back of everyone's seats. Toni and I had packed enough snacks to feed a small third world country we when found out there would be a fridge and microwave in our hotel room. This resort completely caters to children and a family vacation environment. We checked into a huge family suite complete with a separate king bed suite with its own bathroom, two queen beds, a full-sized pull-out bed, fireplace and 20 ft. ceilings! We had so much room to relax and play, and the kids had a devastatingly fun pillow fight jumping back and forth between the two beds. There was an arcade, a "tween" dance club, story time with animated forest creatures in the grand lobby, six restaurants, and a Cub Club activity center.

For most of the day, we played in the huge indoor water park. It had a wave pool, a water "fort" that dumped a giant bucket of water on revelers every 20 minutes, two medium-sized water slides and two even larger, monster water slides that twisted out-of-doors and back inside again. It also had a very large kiddie pool that went from 0' to 1' deep for the little ones, complete with their own water cabin, fake jet skis for them to sit on and squirt each other with water guns, a mini water slide, a banana boat, and all manner of fountains, spouts, buckets, water jets, everything you can imagine for kids to work themselves up into an ecstatic frenzy of pure water enjoyment. There were lots of lifeguards and flotation vests to keep the little ones safe and secure.

Rowan and Spencer played and frolicked in the water until their fingertips turned pruny and their little lips went purple. Connor and Diane rode the floats in the giant wave pool, and somehow Diane (who is 7 years old) was convinced to ride the biggest water slide of them all. Zhivago said she had a look of sheer terror on her face as they slid really fast around in the slide and then dropped precipitously into a large bowl and jetted out the end of the slide. She kept wanting to wipe the water out of her eyes as they zipped down on their inflatable, but he yelled at her to HOLD ON at all costs! Connor braved all the big water slides again and again- not bad for an 11 year old.

I had fun watching the kids have fun. Not feeling as well as I could to fully enjoy all the rides, I was content to just make sure they were having a good time. So I put on my appropriately matronly swimsuit that hid most of my stretch marks and surgery scars, and just waded after them and kept them out of trouble. We had such a good time, and I know I could hardly imagine trying to take Rowan and Spencer to places like that by myself. I want my boys to experience a lot of good things in life and not be hindered by logistics or cost just because they are twins. Zhivago and Toni are amazing with them, and so are Connor and Diane, I couldn't ask for better company on a vacation. As August comes to a close, we can already feel the slow creep of autumn upon us as kids head back to school. Which also means my surgery date is looming. I want to enjoy every last minute of what's left of summer while I can.