Goin' to the Lodge (Great Wolf Lodge) :D

Earlier this week, my family and I spent three days at Great Wolf Lodge(an indoor water park, for those who don't know) to celebrate my mom's birthday! My parents, my sister, and I were there all three days, and my brother and his wife came on the 14th for dinner and spent a little time touring the park. The trip was a lot of fun, and while I didn't get many pics (and those I got are crappy), I'll share what I have :). First things first, the entrance:




The room:







The view from the balcony:




The park:










The first ride we rode is called the Howlin' Tornado, and we all thought we were going to die. It was probably a bad idea for all four of us to ride together, because my parents aren't exactly as slender as I am, and the weight upped the momentum and the tube was literally on its side ready to flip several times throughout the ride. My dad was ABOVE my mom, because they were sitting opposite eachother, and she thought he was going to fall on her and kill her! Lol, it was pretty crazy. Anyway, I couldn’t' get pics ON the ride, but here is a pic of the inside I found online:




And here is a pic of the outside:




For those who haven't ridden it before, it is essentially a huge funnel you're dropped into, as you can kinda tell from the pics :). Anyway, after riding that, my mom didn't want to go on any more rides, so we hit the outside pool:







My sister and I went ahead and hit other rides, including Alberta Falls and River Canyon Run. We pretty much just enjoyed everything the park had to offer that day :).

The next day, my mom's birthday, my dad suggested trying the Howlin' Tornado again, so he and I went and wound up paired with two little kids, and the ride was still wild but we didn't think we were gonna die-it was actually a heck of a lot of fun! Seriously, I LOVE that ride. So next we convinced my sister to join us, and she my father and I all rode together, which was a mite crazier but still non-lethal. We enjoyed all of the rides, including the cool racing one, all morning and afternoon.




We also raced across these lily pads and log rounds things… here is a pic of the setup:




Sure it is for little kids, and my sister and I couldn't even stand up-right, but we raced with our heads held high like the little kids we really are inside :D. Oh, and I almost forgot: I won ;).

After spending the day in the park and at the outside pool, my mom and I got decent then headed out to play Magi Quest, an interactive magical experience :D. She really wanted to do it, so she bought a wand and we had at it. It was a lot of fun, but WAY too much exercise-seriously, four stories of running all over the place and hunting down paintings and gems and wolves and treasure chests and battling dragons can really take the energy out of ya!

After playing for a couple hours, we got ready to go to dinner, where my brother and sister in law were waiting to surprise momma. She couldn't believe they were there, because my brother was supposed to be in DC meeting congresswoman Slaughter to discuss a bill she is proposing (which has to do with the mass use of antibiotics in the agricultural industry-really long story, but fascinating-read a summary HERE, about the bill, if you want. Also, if… four people or more ask, I'll explain what it is that my brother wanted to discuss with her. It is kind of complicated, and I'm too lazy to write an essay on it here, but will expand on the issue if you want). Anyway, congresswoman Slaughter was feeling sick, so her secretary rescheduled all her appointments for the week. So yeah, we drove on over to the Mayflower to grab some seafood, which my mom loves:







And when she saw my brother she totally freaked :). Here is my sister in law, brother, and sister (from left to right). Do I have beautiful siblings or what?




After dinner we went back to Great Wolf, and gave the family a tour of the waterpark. Here is a shot of momma and all her chilluns ;).




After THAT, we managed to talk my brother into riding the Howlin' Tornado with my sister and I. We were riding along the tube, chill and everything, then hit the drop off point where you enter the funnel and start FLYING, and my brother shouted the F-bomb way loud xD. My sister and I couldn't stop laughing at him. Then, after the ride was over, I got caught in the water in the exit area and was being dragged back toward the tunnel by the current, still laughing hysterically, and the employee holding our tube pushed it over to me and helped drag me out. Here is us getting off:




Then, them off and me drowning(see my head behind the tube?):




And finally, I emerged victorious, looking like a demon possessed drowned rat:




After that, my bro and his lovely wife left, because she had to work that night, and the rest of us just chilled. The next morning, we packed everything up to go, except swimsuits (check out was at 11, but you're allowed to use the park until it closes). Then momma and I went on more Quests, and finally beat the stupid dragon:




After that, momma and I got into a bit of an argument, and things got really tense and uncomfortable, and we got something to eat, then hit the waterpark, and things were all better :). It was more complicated than that and took hours, not just a sentence, but it did get better. When we hit the park, we chilled outside, then managed to talk momma into riding Alberta falls… she'd been so traumatized by the Howlin' Tornado she didn't want to ride ANYTHING. But she and I hit it together, and she loved it so much she went again! Here we are:




Then I had my sister take a better shot of the two of us.




My sister wouldn't ride anything because she'd gotten a temporary tattoo, that said SEXY in Chinese or Japanese or something, and didn't want it to wash off xD. Eventually, we had all the fun we could handle, and got dressed and ready to go. At the front door, an employee was willing to take our picture, so you can see us in our weird haired glory.




And then we were off! It was a lot of fun, and momma really enjoyed herself, which was the point :). My entire body hurts, from hauling myself over those lily pads by the ropes (I almost entirely used my arms), and from climbing all those stairs for the rides and the Quests, but I'm glad I did everything I did :). Oh and Max, I did have tons of fun, but not as much as I'd have had if I'd gotten to meet you there ;). Sorry for not posting for a while people-it took a bit to get all the pics together from the different cameras then assemble the post. Huge thanks to Grey for following! I hope you enjoy what you find here :). Until next time,