Tuesday, November 11, 2014

"Everything Is Awesome"

Last week the boys had their fall break from school so we decided to use the extra time to take a little trip and celebrate Peyton's birthday a few days early. We've had several people recommend Great Wolf Lodge and Leggo Land just outside of Dallas, so we asked Peyton if he would like to have a birthday party or take a trip? When he saw pictures of Great Wolf Lodge, it was an easy answer, and this Momma, who loves to plan parties was honestly just a little bit thrilled to get to take a party planning hiatus.

We left town mid morning on Thursday and arrived early afternoon after naps had been taken and anticipation was at its peak! The kids were so excited to finally be there and to get their water adventure started!
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I have to say that this trip was super fun for all of us! Great Wolf Lodge most certainly did not disappoint! Even though our room wasn't ready upon our arrival they found another two bedroom suite and gave us a free meal coupon for six, we were impressed! The atmosphere was obviously kid friendly and they'd seemed to think of any and every possible thing that would make a family's stay memorable and fun. The kids couldn't wait to get out there and start their adventure. The worst part was the 30 minute wait for our room.
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They had a terrific time though once we got started!
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There was plenty to interest the littles and the big boys so that was really nice.
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Peyton and Lawson enjoyed the big tube rides that started out inside then went outside the building and back into the water park. The red slide was their favorite!
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They loved the ropes course and the basketball area.
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The wave pool was a hit too and nice that it only went to five feet deep.
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I can't think of anything that would have made the water park any more fun, they thought of everything! These little peeps were thrilled to play in the water!
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Each night they have a story time that I'll just say was "okay", it wasn't terrific, but we did do it one evening.
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I think the key to traveling (or doing anything with kids really) is to have the right gear, accommodations, etc. The two bedroom suite (meaning in addition to the two bedrooms it had a small living area and mini kitchen) which was PER-FECT and worth every penny! We put all the boys in one bedroom, Ava Jane slept in the living room in her Pack-n-Play which meant Adam and I didn't have to turn out the lights and be super quiet when we put the kids down, so we actually got to enjoy a couple of movies and some down time together. It was really nice.  Ava Jane enjoyed wearing her wolf ears, isn't she a cute wolf pup?  She was practicing her howling!
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On Friday morning we took the boys to Lego Land. As we left the hotel Lawson saw the gy-normous wolves at the front of the hotel and asked me to take their picture, so I gladly obliged him.
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If you've seen The Lego Movie, you know the song, "Everything is awesome"….well, my boys were singing that song all weekend long, it was sort of the theme!  The lyrics say, "everything is awesome, everything is cool when you're part of the team, everything is awesome, when you're living in a dream."  I think the boys sort of felt like they were living in a dream!  They thought from start to finish that "everything WAS awesome"!

At Lego Land the boys were enthralled with the "tour" of how a lego is made…and when a lego piece popped out of the tube at the end of the conveyor belt as a gift for each child, the boys were astonished. As we moved into the discovery center, the boys really enjoyed making cars to race down the huge race tracks.
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There were a couple of rides, a 3D movie which was really fun, and an entire room modeled after the city of Dallas made completely out of Legos--that was pretty impressive.
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Emerson's favorite part of the trip was definitely Leggo Land, he loved it!
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Friday evening we took them to The Rain Forest Cafe for an early birthday dinner. The atmosphere is perfect for kids with the safari-like ambiance/distractions which made the dinner mostly enjoyable minus the moment where two of our kids, at the same time, tipped their chairs over and hit the ground simultaneously.  After that, we had an easy going dinner that the kids seemed to love, with animal sounds and tropical rain storms, animal shaped balloons and good food.  A memory was certainly made! It was truly a happy early birthday for Peyton!
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Our time at Great Wolf Lodge is certainly a repeatable experience! We truly had a fun and relaxing time (which can't always be said about a family trip with kids.) I love these people, I feel so blessed!
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