Josh didn't have school on Veterans Day, so we joined ~40 other Blackwell families and drove 2 hours to Great Wolf Lodge, a new hotel with a giant indoor water park, crazy water slides, and wave pool. http://www.greatwolf.com/grandmound/lodge
We checked in Monday night with enough time to squeeze in a half-hour swim before bed. Unfortunately we were woken up all night long by Luke having #2 issues. Ugh. Today we swam for as long as we could handle, about 4 hours. Josh at 48.5" was tall enough for all the big water slides, so we tried them all! His eyes were as big as saucers as we plunged into the 6-story funnel on the Howlin' Tornado, but he still loved it. He rode on the Tornado twice, with each mom. My favorite was the slightly smaller Alberta Falls water slide, and Liz loved the wave pool best. Luke at 38" was too small to ride the big water slides, but he tried the medium-sized ones, "the roller coaster", located under the giant bucket that periodically dumps major amounts of water on your head. I figured we'd get to ride together, but no. The rule was he had to go on his own. It ends up in 6" of water, but I can't even imagine how huge it must've seemed to a 3-year-old. He wasn't intimidated though and went by himself. The lifeguard at the exit plucked him out of the surf, and a few seconds later I slid behind him. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to feel proud or like an irresponsible mother. I can't tell you how excited it makes me that both boys love the thrill seeking rides.
There isn't photographic evidence of this adventure, and rest assured, this is a very good thing. Even Josh's kindergarten teacher Mrs. Galarpe was there with her family, so having conversations while wearing your bathing suit was quite something.
On the way home we checked out Cabela's, the huge outdoor outfitter store, and ogled many taxidermy and camouflage. We spent a lot of time trying out the cots as well. I think all of us were pretty exhausted, and happy to be back home. It was not Hawaii, but still good water sliding fun.
