We just got back from 2 days at the new Great Wolf Lodge (GWL) in "Grand Mound" Washington (where??). My mom took Jill, Miranda, Megan, Nick and I. Derek came down for the day. Ward, sadly, could not arrange vacation. He would have loved it. And, we met the Rust family down there too. So fun! I have lived in Washington all my life and have never heard of "Grand Mound". I think they created the town when they put in GWL. Meaning, it is truly in the middle of nowhere. But, GWL is a GREAT thing. Apparently there are eleven in the USA. My mom and dad first saw it in Kansas City and have always wanted to take the grandkids. So, this trip fulfilled that wish. We came during the "Soft Opening", which means there was still a fair amount of construction going on, and processes were not fully in place. Can you imagine the sheer enjoyment Jill and I had postulating how we could improve the place if only we were given the task??
Nick loved it. He could go to the arcade, water park, teen center (video games) as he wished. Nick competed in a "Guitar Hero" contest, and made it to the top ten. He did really well and was proud of himself. He definitely didn't want mom hanging around though. Totally un-cool! So, I hung around from time to time just outside the door, peeking in to make sure he is OK. There was a small crowd of moms and dads doing the same thing. One mom got booted out by her teen age son when she STARTED DANCING to the guitar hero song, "Schools Out For The Summer". HAHAHA! Not even I would do that to my kid. We all got plastic bracelets with computer chips in them, which had a pre-programmed spending limit on them. These bracelets also opened the door to your room. I think Nick enjoyed it because he got a real taste of freedom. I also got my first taste of "kid being out late". I told him he had to be back at the room by 10:30, and he actually came in at 10:25! What a good boy!
The water park was truly amazing, but really packed. My guestimate is that there was approx. 1,000 people in water park part at any given time. It was kindof like skiing with the wait part and the volume of people. The wait for the big ride (Tornado) was long, but not awful. But boy, was it fun!! I was able to get about 5 trips down that thing in per day.
I think this is funny - Here I am with all these 'body image' issues: cellulite stricken rear end, pasty white skin, varicose veins, to name a few, (there are more!!). And appearing in a swimming suit in April nonetheless... Yeah, I've been working out all winter - NOT! OK, no problem. Mental talk to self: "There are 1,000 people here, many of them worse off than me. The point is to have fun with the kids. No one is looking at YOU.... blah, blah, blah." OK, I am ready to do this thing..... I take off my clothes to reveal my utilitarian and efficient lap-swimming suit. I get in line for the big ride, and what do I hear?? "Christine, Christine!! HI!!!" Great, a colleague from work is now seeing me in my swim suit. OMG. Next, I saw an ex-coworker from T-Mobile. Greeeeaaat. Then, it was someone from Little League. Excellent. VERY humiliating. Definitely something I had to just 'get over' and move on.
There are tons of pictures to post. Hard to choose the best ones!
3 comments:
Very fun!! Your parents introduced us to GWL in Kansas City. We went there a couple of years ago and have been awaiting the opening of the one her in WA.
It looks like you all had a great time!
Thanks for so much help with the kids, Chris. It took three adults for three kids, but WE DID IT!!!! Yippee!
Dad would have had a great time in the cyclone, yelling, "It's a runaway!!!" all the way down.
Eek! Your story just reminded me how close summer is... guess I'll just hide my fat butt under a t-shirt again this year. Unfortunately, homework just doesn't leave much time for workouts.
Glad to hear you all had fun, though!
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