An Act of Subterfuge

When Dave and I decided to take the kids to Hawaii this past winter, we talked about taking a smaller trip during the summer.  Summers with no trips can feel like a summer wasted.  After discussing a few ideas, we elected to take the kids to Great Wolf Lodge for the first time.  We also made the decision to not tell them.

Linus came close to discovering it twice, once when he saw an email on my phone from Great Wolf (I said it was merely an advertisement asking me to come) and the night before when he found me surreptitiously packing.   I told him to go to bed.  I think he thought I was folding laundry.  While I packed and loaded the car, Dave prepared lunches for the next day.

He's so cute sometimes.

In the morning we told the kids we were going on a family hike to see the Mima Mounds just south of Olympia.  They did not notice as I smuggled their loveys and the cellphone chargers out of the house.  Despite the annoyance of a long car ride, the kids were in a good mood.

Linus was excited when we told him he could wear Robin.

He is currently sporting a summer cut.  He has been begging me to cut his hair "like Ezra's," a boy at school.  I finally caved on the condition that I do it.  I'm not about to fork over money for that kind of cut.

The Mima Mounds are pretty cool.  Scientists are not sure exactly what formed them.  It's a nice flat loop trail of about 2 miles.  My only complaint would be the constant sound of guns firing due to a sportsman club being located adjacent.  I'm pretty sure the guns are why we saw very little in the way of the local fauna.

Eileen was on the trip with us as well.  She just really does not want her picture taken these days.  I'm trying to honor her request.  I remember hating having my photo taken.  I still don't love it.

After our hike we told the kids that Mama needed coffee so we were headed to the closest Starbucks. The kids had no idea that the Great Wolf Lodge was spitting distance from the Starbucks.  After getting some much needed lattes and treats, we announced we were headed back home but just need to find our way to the freeway. 

 As we drove toward the entrance Linus wondered aloud when we would ever get to go there.  Dave said, "How about now? Of course we don't have our swim suits."  The kids actually we so shocked that we were open to the idea of going they didn't question being without swimsuits.  As we pulled into a spot, Linus just sat wide eyed and speechless in the back.  He did not believe us.  I told him we actually had already planned to come and I had packed.  It was all in the back and that yes we were really going.  I've never seen Linus so excited that he's been rendered speechless.

Despite our room not being ready until an hour after it was supposed to be, we had a great time.  I followed all the tips:  show up early and have your swim stuff separate because you can start using the pool as early as 1 pm on the day of check-in, bring your own food, go to the storytime, just get a base room.  Great Wolf Lodge is not cheap.  We did not even go for the extras like the magic wands and I'm still a little shocked my the cost.  I agree with everyone who told us: just go for one night.  Besides swimming before check-in, you can stay after check out and swim and play all that day as well.

The kids had an amazing time.  They loved getting wolf ears, playing in the arcade, and free balloon animals.  Linus liked the slides best, Eileen the wave pool, and Robin the floating lily pads.  The water was maybe a touch cold for me, but not so bad that I struggled to get into the water.  I loved that they provided the towels in the swim area and the water park enclosure itself was warm.  

The kids played hard this weekend.  Between the hiking and Great Wolf they are all pretty thoroughly exhausted.  Linus is still a little blissed out by the whole ordeal.  We had not even left and he was talking about our next time.  

Our family hike to the Mima Mounds would have been fun by itself, but I'm pretty sure the added excursion to Great Wolf Lodge made it slightly more memorable.