Great Wolf Lodge

It seems like a while since my last post so I am attempting to do this during nap time. Last Sunday, Mom asked me if I wanted to take the kids to the beach for several days. Since our New Orleans trip with the kids was canceled due to Matt's potential layoff with his company, we opted to go. After much discussion, mom and I decided to go to Dallas and visit the Great Wolf Lodge. It was a little closer and Jake was still not 100% feeling well and I thought he would shake the virus by the day we left(Tuesday). Landry Grace's bug lasted almost 5 days so I figured Jake would be better by day 5.... this decision was not my finest moment as a parent. But he was a trooper and did great for the most part.

We only spent 1 night because it is pricey yet you can go into the water park at 1, check in is at 4, and then you can play all the next day. We left around 9:30 Tuesday morning and stopped in Shreveport to run a few errands, getting us in Grapevine around 3pm. My kiddos are pretty good travelers so that always helps. Our room was ready when we got there so after checking in and putting our suits on we headed to the indoor water park. There was plenty of stuff for toddlers to do! They could ride a couple of "big" water slides but since there was no lap riding, I knew neither one of mine would do it alone. They enjoyed the toddler area and the lifeguards are plenty. They are strict and I like that. It was very warm inside which was good for LG as she always gets cold when swimming. She still managed to get a little cold on day 2 but we went outside to swim and warm up a little.

After a couple of hours Jake was done...he still didn't feel great and I hated that we rushed going over to Great Wolf but there wasn't much we could do at this point. After hanging in the room for a bit we decided to eat at the Rainforest Cafe. It was a 3 minute drive from the lodge and there was a train they rode on. Jake was in a great mood for that but otherwise didn't feel well. We made it back just in time for the 8:15 story time and that was pretty uneventful but at least the kids enjoyed it.

The next day Jake slept until 10....another bad sign. One good thing about the room is that it had a semi-wall that acted as a barrier and he slept on the pull out couch. LG slept with me and mom had a bed to herself. We were able to not make too much noise and I took LG down to the lobby while he slept. There is a lot to do other than the water park but mine were not old enough to really understand(arcade, spa for kids, ice cream shop, pizza, etc.) so we didn't spend much $$ other than our lodging.

When Jake finally got up we packed everything up and loaded the car as check out was at 11. He seemed in a much better mood than the night before but it was short lived. He played in the water for an hour and was ready to go. LG had an absolute blast and cried when we finally left around 2. I know if Jake had felt better he would have had a better time but it wasn't his fault. I felt bad for having him there and underestimated this silly bug. We got home around 6 on Wednesday and again the kids did great on the trip home.

Sooo, now that i have received the award for "What not to do with your sick child", it is Friday(8 days after he first got sick) and he is finally back to his old self. I am already talking to Matt or possibly mom again about going back in August for a night. The great part about the trip was Texas schools weren't out yet. The crowds weren't bad at all and I even had time to go down several water slides. They were fun! I've heard that the lines can get extremely long and that would not have been fun!

When we first got to the lodge. Jake normally is the one who won't take pictures...but I got this!

Here we are playing in the toddler area. There is also an area with larger slides and areas to play in but we mainly stayed here. There is also an outdoor pool that they enjoyed.

At the beginning of Day 2

Rainforest Cafe in the Grapevine Mall

They loved this little train. Love their faces in this picture! They were SO excited!

These jet skis that sprayed water were their favorite. Hands down!

Love capturing moment!! Priceless!

Playing in the fountains with Big Mommy! I love that she is retired and gets to spend so much time with us.

Did baby girl love the wave pool or what?? For a while anyway;)....a big wave did us in!!

We have a lot going on during the next several days with weddings and birthday parties. Matt has 2 interviews next week. One on Monday and another on Tuesday, so we are praying that one of those jobs is in the Lord's plans. Hope you have a great weekend and we'll be back soon!