Great Wolf Lodge

We planned a night at the Great Wolf Lodge with our friends Suzy and Jason before Christmas. We gave the children the trip as a Christmas gift. We looked forward to this trip a lot. We had visions of tons of water slides and great fun for parents and children alike. Last Friday was the big day. The weather was on our side. It was cold and sleety and that made it extra fabulous to be planning an indoor water park excursion. Michael was not able to fly home in time, but after a momentary skerfluffle, we managed a plan to get him there that evening.
And we drove down. We dropped our stuff off in our huge, oddly under furnished and under decorated room and went to explore. We bought the kids wolf passes which allowed them to do all the fun things at the resort including a magic quest with wand, a build a bear type activity, ropes course, arcade, rock wall, bowling, put put golf and much, much more. The passes were pricey, but worth it. We found a nice bar with happy hour and toasted our fabulous vacation. Michael showed up and I was very happy to see him. We drank some more and occasionally saw our children, running around having the time of their lives.

But here is the real deal. This place had a hard core Chucky Cheese vibe. There were animatronics. There were employees who led singalongs in the lobby dressed as bears. Every five minutes. There was a lot of the Hokey Pokey. The ideal age for this place was maybe 2-8. There was nothing for adults to do. There were only four water slides, a wave pool and a water adventure area. It was packed. The waterpark room smelled intensely like chlorine, but I suspect it smelled so intensely of chlorine to cover the smell of the huge amount of child pee that was in that water. I was not getting in.
But the KIDS. The kids had the most amazing time of their life. The Wolf Passes were the bees knees and they kids used them completely. They also loved the water park. They enjoyed all the activities to the fullest. Every single activity was FUN. They LOVED being with their friends. They were completely, over the top HAPPY. They did not come to bed until Michael unhooked them from the ropes course at 10PM.

We got up the next morning, vacated our rooms and made some decisions. The children and Jason decided to hit the water park. Michael and Suzy and I drove to Target and bought Catan. We came back to the hotel. We found a coffee table in front of a gorgeous fire place and took over the area. We snacked and drank and played Catan for seven hours. We bought the kids and ourselves lunch and still sat at our coffee table. I had a good time. I love our friends and it was really fun to just chill and play Catan and be with them. We love Catan and really enjoyed getting to play three games in a row.

But we MADE our fun. The Great Wolf Lodge did not give me my fun. It gave my children fun, but not me. So there's that.
We left around 6:30 in the evening and made our way home. Our kids fell over in satisfied, joyful exhaustion. I rejoiced in my quiet house.
And now you know the truth of it. But just look at the joy on those kids' faces.