Great Wolf Lodge

We spent a long President's Day weekend at Great Wolf Lodge in North Carolina.  The timing couldn't have been better after being snowed in for nearly two weeks of the past month.  Of course, I had no idea this would be the case when I planned the trip back before Christmas.  But, I do love when things unexpectedly work out like that {and with 3, that rarely happens}.  It was the perfect cure for our brewing cabin fever.

The kids had the time of their life.  Seriously.  You would have thought we took them to Disney.  And in some ways it was a very scaled down Disney in the mountains...at a lodge.  I heard a lot of, "this is the best day of my life", "thank you for taking me here", and "when we come back....".  Needless to say, it was a raging success with all three of them.

The biggest attraction is most definitely the indoor water park.  It certainly felt a little odd to pack bathing suits in mid February, but the idea of getting wet in a warm pool was, oh so, exciting.  Naturally, that is the first part of the lodge we hit upon arrival.  This was quite possibly Jack's favorite part of the stay.  He got his money's worth riding giant slides and climbing through wet attractions.

The girl's enjoyed it as well.  But, as I suspected, Maggie wasn't too much of a dare devil.  She stayed nearby in the zero entrance kiddie area with Lucy.  And one would think that made for easy management on my end.  Not so...that Lucy is crazy.  She exhibited no fear of the water, which caused me great fear.  I can't wait to get that gal her infant survival swim lessons this spring.  I finally had to strap the littlest up in a life jacket and hope for the best.  Ironically, that gave her a whole new sense of security. And wouldn't you know, once robed in her life vest, that fearless Lucy was floating around and kicking as if she could swim.

Needless to say, I couldn't let Lu out of my sight for a minute.  And if you know Lucy, that is often easier said than done.

When we weren't soaking ourselves, we were enjoying the many other kid friendly features of the lodge.

We purchased the bigs each a Paw Pass which had a list of treats and activities to complete during their stay.  Besides the water park, I think they may have loved doing everything on their passes and most especially getting it marked off.  It definitely gave the vacation a sense of adventure and it saved us some money too.

At night the kids dressed in their PJ's and had story time in the lobby by the clock tower.  And each night a Great Wolf Lodge character would make an appearance.

One of the Paw Pass activities was making a build a bear character.  Jack chose Wiley Wolf and Maggie chose Violet.  The kid's pushed the pedal and watched their animals get stuffed and then they dressed them.  Of course, Maggie chose a pink and purple suit complete with a bow and Jack chose the "adventuring" ensemble for his.

While Jack wanted to spend most of his time in the water park, Maggie wanted to spend most of her time in the Cub Club doing art.  Clay and I decided a little divide and conquer was in order, so I took the girls to do art.  Luckily there were a few toys that were perfect for Lucy while Maggie very thoroughly decorated her jewelry box, among other things.

My least favorite part, but a huge hit with the kids, was the arcade and game room.  The kids got 50 points each with their Paw Passes.  I thought we would never get through those points.  Thankfully we did and each kid walked away with prizes.

I almost sobbed when Daddy won this lime green zebra for Maggie.  Really?, we have to take that home?  And since then Maggie has not separated from "Zeba" {suppose to be like Simba, so I'm told}.  I'm talking every car ride, every meal, and of course, bed time too.

Jack opted for lots of candy.  Not much better, but at least its consumable.

There was no complaint about nap time or bed time either, because our rooms were way too cute.  And super spacious too. The kids had bunks that were designed to look like an adventure camp site complete with nature themed murals.  Jack was in heaven....this is totally his thing right now.

We spent one evening at the mini bowling alley before hitting the pizza parlor.  It was a first for all three kids.  It was perfectly designed with mini bowling balls and alleys.  It was an excellent intro to the game.

Lucy played her part well as the distractor.  I had to redirect her energy several times and keep her from tackling the pins at the end of the alley.  She keeps me on my toes, but thankfully keeps a smile on my face while she is doing it.

There were no shortage of sweet treats at the lodge either.  This ice cream treat was included on the kid's Paw Passes too.

It was by the evening of night two that I realized we hadn't taken one family picture.  I made the kids take a break from all the excitement for one picture in front of the clock tower in the lobby.  Those sweet things didn't mind a bit {even as worn out as we all were}.

On our last day, Maggie had a spa day, while Daddy entertained Jack and Lucy for a few.  The Scoops Salon is extremely adorable.  The whole service was an ice cream theme, complete with ice cream lotion and soaks.  Maggie chose strawberry flavor.  Add a pink robe and a princess crown and Maggie was a pampered gal.

To wrap up our visit, the bigs finished a game of MagiQuest {which was an incredibly cool game that included a magic wand and running through the hotel finding light up paintings, treasure chests, etc}, while littlest Lu entertained herself for a very long time with this balloon.  Between the balloon and chasing her big brother and sister through the halls, she was fully content.

Enough so, that she actually fell asleep on the way home!  Let me just tell you, if you had ever traveled with Lucy, you would know how purely amazing that actually is.

It was truly a great mini vacation.  The kids are already begging to go back.

And now you see why the rented camera was a must, {although it was a bust}.  I clearly had no clue how to adjust some things and with no manual and very busy kids I really didn't have the chance to sort it out.  So we got lots of green pictures and a few blurry ones.  I will be so happy to pick my camera up from the repair shop...the call cannot come soon enough.  So...I guess you'll have to make the trip yourself to see what color the lodge and all it's happenings actually are.

And now, we are off to try to resume our normal life.  I'm looking forward to no snow, getting back to school, and unpacking suitcases.  Yay, for a little normalcy around here.