Hooowwwwllll!!!

Although our trip to Great Wolf Lodge started out a little shakey, overall I think it was well worth the time and money. Afterall, Ade learned the Great Wolf Howl, and she loooves to howl. Ever since she was big enough to do it, I have been having her howl and tilt her head back when I wash her hair :-)

The drive there was a dream, with Ade happily watching movies on her iPod Touch. When we arrived, we anticipated our room wouldn't be ready, so we were going to get started at the water park. We were kind of tired from the drive, and Ade was overexcited to get in and start the fun. We got a locker and went into the water park where Ade immediately wanted to go through the tree house thing and down a water slide. We were dubious whether this was a good idea, but she insisted and there were other little kids her size going down. We agreed Ryan would go first, then Ade, and then me. She was 100% bravado at this point. She sat down and pushed off, and I could tell there was some uncertainty starting to creep in; however, when I saw her go around the first turn before I lost sight of her and realized the turn had flipped her from sitting to her belly, I knew this was not going to end well. Luckily Ryan was ready to grab her up immediately at the bottom, and I flew down as fast as I could where I saw her crying terrified face :-( Not a great start to the water park fun... We promptly put a little life jacket on her, which made her feel better, and floated around the creek, Ade and I smooshed in one intertube. We reminded her that we were very proud that she tried the slide, and it was okay if she didn't like it. She recovered well, and we played in the wave pool and other things.

We really just wanted to get to our room and freshen up and plan the rest of the day. My cell phone had died in the locker, so we weren't sure if they had called about the room or not. We checked on the room and it still wasn't ready - it was now maybe 3:20pm. We dried off and changed, and went to play Magic Quest. At this point we were all cranky and exhausted. Ade had a meltdown because she couldn't fight the dragon, and she didn't understand that we hadn't completed enough quests yet. At 4:20pm Ryan had them give us a $50 credit on the room since it wasn't ready yet. We decided we would just eat dinner before the crowds, but no - the restaurant didn't open until 5pm. More mosery. Ryan and Ade sat for a snack of candy and water, and I went to the desk again, now it was almost 5pm. She tried to tell me 30 more minutes until our room would be ready, and I said, "No, now." I explained that being there on IBM rate, my first task would be to get on that free Wifi and post to all of the IBM forums about my experience so far if I did not get a room that second. Amazingly, a room was ready.

We headed to our Kid Kamp room (we were told this was an upgrade, but who knows), and immediately started to feel better. We went to dinner, and had a yummy all you can eat buffet - including adult beverages!!!. After a margarita, the world appeared friendlier. We took nice warm showers back in the suite, which was a very cool room, and relaxed for a while. I grabbed some Starbucks and looked around while Ade and Ryan watched their own TVs in the room.

Then it was time for Story time. The time change helped a lot, because 8pm felt more like 7pm, so Ade was able to enjoy it. We went to the clock tower and waited some more. They announced the clock tower was broke. Oh yea, believe it.

We moved to the fireplace and listened to some books, which Ade enjoyed. The lady explained after 3 books, we would get to meet Wiley the wolf character and learn the Great Wolf Howl. Well, during the third book, they announced the clock tower was fixed and would start in 5 min. Most of the children abandoned the story time and ran over to the clock. Not Ade. She insisted, "She said we would meet Wiley and then learn the Great Wolf Howl," and that was exactly what she intended to do. Do not tell this child an agenda unless you plan to follow it.

We went over and asked the lady to teach us the howl, and she was thrilled to have a 1:1 lesson with this star pupil. Then we enjoyed the clock tower show (to me, slightly creepy) and all headed off to bed.

We woke up happy and refreshed and went straight to the water park. It was lots of fun, and Ade had gotten some of her bravery back. She happily floated in the wave pool in her own intertube, and protested anytime we tried to assist her. When we told her she only had 5 min left before we had to go shower and pack up, she told me she wanted to go to the kid slides and "give them a try." She went down both the kid slides. I told her how proud I was that she gave it a try!

After showering and packing the car, we went to Cubs Club where Ade had been eyeing the craft projects through the window. She did a fun sand art project. Then onto the arcade where Ade happily spent her coins. (Okay, I might have enjoyed a little skee ball myself...) After cashing in her tickets for some truly valuable prizes - a frog ring and candy - we went to the gift shop where she filled a bag with gemstone rocks for her final fun activity.

The drive home was just as pleasant as the drive there - I even managed a tiny nap! - and we were back home by 3:30pm. Ade told us, "I love this place!" and even last night when I put her to bed she said, "Mommy, I miss Great Wolf Lodge." So, grownup frustrations aside, I have to say it was a huge success from Ade's perspective, which, as we all know, is the only one that matters. ;-)