A Great Wolf Lodge Adventure

We drive past Great Wolf Lodge pretty much every time we go to Oregon* and the bright colored tubes caught Cory's attention a couple years back.  So I showed him what it was online and ever since he has wanted to go.  It's not cheap so we saved up all our birthday money and miscellaneous change to finally go as a belated birthday celebration this year for both boys.

*there is an alternate route to Oregon from our house so we don't always go by it

Birthday boys

On Mother's Day weekend we met both sets of grandparents and a set of cousins for a wet and wild adventure!

Hanging on Daddy in the wave pool - Slap Tail Pond

You can start playing at 1pm even if your room isn't ready, but thankfully ours was since the girls needed a nap!  The boys were ready to dive in when we got there as they'd driven over with my parents and already been to visit NW Trek AND Cabela's.  It was quite the birthday weekend for them!

Noah in the wave pool - yay for complimentary life jackets!

The girls were really not quite sure what to think about the water after they got up.  Hope was actually climbing me to stay out of the water, but Joy was okay after a few minutes and got out of Grandma's lap to walk around in the water.

I'm not really awake yet Grandpa

My little fish Cory

Grandpa has a waterproof camera and it was so humid in the water park that he took most of these photos.  He even got a video of Cory doing somersaults underwater!

And while this is the Alberta Falls tube ride he actually took a video when we went on the Tornado... It's exactly 39 seconds long.  You can hear me scream.  Cory went with us and then asked to go again, twice!

Storytime in the lobby - all those critters are talking and singing!

After all that adventure we went back to the room for some microwave pizzas and quick change into jammies so we could head back down to the lobby for storytime.  We probably shouldn't have bothered.  Unless you were sitting in the center "cone" where the speakers were pointed you couldn't understand anything the critters were saying.  And they weren't really moving enough to keep the little guys attention.

Grandpa time!

The rooms are all equipped with a microwave and mini-fridge so you can bring food with you.  Their restaurants are all right, but too expensive to eat all your meals in.  We had breakfast in the buffet the next morning (book it with your room and it's cheaper and includes drinks) and it was a very good start to the day.

Joy loves to climb up in her chair

We booked the Wolf Den Suite and the boys were in awe when they saw it!  We even let Noah sleep on the top bunk.  Although it was kind of a mistake since the AC was blowing on him and he doesn't keep his covers on so he was whimpering a lot in the night.

The Wolf Den!

Right before bed we had everyone in our room... 8 adults and 6 kids!  We did all fit - sort of - so they're decent size rooms.  You can even request one with a balcony and from ours you could see the Tornado, complete with a neon flashing light show that the kids enjoyed!  But yes, just the 6 of us actually stayed in our room.

It's an I-spy! How many people in this photo?

After our great breakfast the girls took a nap while I packed up and all the boys enjoyed the water.  Then the girls were really into it and enjoying the baby pool. 

Hope climbed up by herself and then brother joined her

My water babies

I only had a few complaints about the whole trip: 1) that for a place dedicated to water there were no extra places in the room to hang wet swimsuits 2) there were no maps of the hotel/water park so it took awhile to get oriented and we lost some time (yes, I even asked) and 3) the entrance to the water park is on the 2nd floor and then the only way down with a stroller is to basically walk half the perimeter.  Not sure why they don't just have the entrance on the first floor, but it's kind of a pain.

Joy was pretty fearless in the water

Noah loved trying to shoot

Hope climbing again!

The inside of the waterpark actually isn't that big once you get used to it although unless you tell someone where you are/will be it might be awhile before you see them again.  There are one or two things for every age group so it makes a good place for families with something for everyone.

Noah in the waves

I actually did a few rides with my mom while the others had baby duty and the lines weren't too bad.  Because you have to stay in the hotel to play the number of people inside is limited.

Wave pool

the rest of the place

 

On the way out we bought souvenir cups for the boys with their favorite characters on them.

Waterlogged and ready for the long ride home.  Notes for the future: stay in a cheap hotel the second night so you can play late and not have to still drive home!

Kudos to you if you made it all the way through this post... I didn't quite know how to break it up into two and wasn't feeling particularly creative tonight!