Great Wolf Lodge Trip- Day 2

One of our favorite evenings was going out to dinner at a recommended BBQ restaurant.  We are big BBQ fans and Hard Eight BBQ was a real score!  Adam was in heaven at this meat fest, I highly recommend this tasty restaurant any day of the week!

You walk through the outdoor smokehouse and literally tell the man with the very large, sharp knife, what types of meat you want.  They pile it on a tray and weigh it.  We got a smattering of it all---BBQ chicken, smoked sausage, brisket, ribs, bacon wrapped shrimp and fresh corn on the cobb---it was all delightfully good!

You walk through the outdoor smokehouse and into an eclectically decorated restaurant with a fun family vibe.  Once we got everyone settled onto the barstool seats around our table we enjoyed our delicious meal.  The boys thought the glass bottle cokes were a real treat. 

After returning to the Lodge we tried our hand at the MagiQuest interactive adventure throughout the hotel.  We were fully set, with the appropriate "magical" wands, the wand toppers and of course four belts to hold said wands in place around their waists because clearly just holding the wands In.Their.Hands would not nearly be as much fun as having the black and gold or pink and black belt!  MagiQuest is supposed to be an interactive scavenger hunt style "adventure" throughout the resort but was a little bit of a disappointment for us all.  We did follow a few of the clues to a couple of floors and found a several of the treasure chests but our enthusiasm began to wain and we ended up heading back to the room to watch the Olympics.  (In my opinion, I'd save save the money and disregard this little activity.)

You can see Lawson's enthusiasm for this little"adventure" written all over his face.

Last time we had a suite with two separate bedrooms (1 king and the other 2 double beds) along with 2 baths (which is very much ideal) but this time all that was available were the rooms with a kiddie cabin area with bunks.  We brought breakfast items and ate in our room each day.  Ava Jane enjoyed breakfast on the patio with her Daddy.

Good morning sunshine!

Each evening there was a story time and let me just say, it left a lot to be desired. The girl who read the huge story book about Wylie the wolf, was clearly NOT in her element reading to young children.  Keeping the kids attention was a problem since it was difficult to hear her and understand what was happening in the story so as soon as it was over we were out of there.

The activity that the kids most enjoyed beside being in the waterpark was the Northern Lights Arcade.   The machines are set to feed out TONS of tickets so the first time those tickets started rolling out of the games, the kids were hooked!  We spent a good bit of time AND money in that area, but it wasn't just the kids, even Adam and Dad got in on the excitement.

When they turned in their tickets (that numbered about 500 each) Lawson walked away proudly with this lovely sign.  It's perfect for him and he has since taped it to his bedroom door.

Valentine's Day - Great Wolf Lodge Trip Day 1

We decided to take the kids on a mini vacation to Great Wolf Lodge on Valentine's Day as it coincided near a four day holiday with their school.  The kids were super excited to go back and having my parents, Whitney and Lachlan joining us this time, made it even better!  Emerson was a little sad about missing his classes Valentine's Party but he quickly got over it once we were on the road and headed for fun.  Since we were going on a trip there weren't individual gifts as usual waiting for my kids that morning, but we did manage to get our hands on some WillFlowerBakeShops sugary goodness.   The boys thought their BB Mine cookies were awesome! Ava Jane enjoys coloring so those cookies were perfect for her.

Upon our arrival we quickly checked in, changed clothes and hit the water park.  Because we were there mid-week, the park wasn't crowded which made the lines short and the rides even more enjoyable.

Ava Jane didn't waste anytime getting wet in the kiddie area.  She and Lachlan had a big time.

Ava Jane's favorite place was the wave pool, she was our little water bug the entire stay.  Before the waves would begin wolves would howl ringing in the excitement of the turbulent water.  She could've stayed in that pool the ENTIRE time and been completely satisfied.

The boys and Adam enjoyed the crazy tube rides over and over again.

This was me after riding the "toilet bowl" tube ride with my eyes squeezed shut, I literally felt sick going backwards down the tube!

Great Wolf Lodge is a get away where we could all have fun being together cause there's a little bit of something for everyone.  I loved spending time with these sweet people of mine.

Wrapping Up The Basketball Season

Both Peyton and Lawson played basketball for their schools 5th and 3rd grade teams.  They practiced hard and did their very best.  We were thrilled to cheer for each of their teams all season long!

Lawson was #7, he played tough and was quick on his feet when he was out on the court.  He learned to take the ball down and keep his head up trying to help get the ball open to others who could help make plays.  We were so proud of him.

Both LRCA teams had to play each other during the tournament, unfortunately Lawson's team did not win, but they all played really hard!

Peyton was #6 and always played with a lot of heart.   He played defense and rebounded well for his team.  He really enjoys basketball and we loved being able to cheer him on all season long!

We couldn't leave for the games, without a DS or Ava Jane's "iPad", otherwise, it'd be a tough few hour of ball games.  These kids are such cuties and troopers as we tried to all go together for each game.  We only had to divide and conquer one weekend out of the entire season....I'd say thats impressive!

It was another good season, cheering on these boys!  Loved watching them each weekend.