Swims with Wolves

One other thing we did to help us through our long month of August was to take a stay-cation to the Great Wolf Lodge.  This is a favorite thing of ours to do, it's an easy drive and a self contained destination.  To be able to play and have all the amenities you need right there is really nice for a little break.

We drove about an hour north to Mason, Ohio and checked in to our Kids Kamp Suite. These suites are great because they have a bed, living area and a separate bunk room for the kids.  Seriously, more hotels should adopt this model.  My kids sleep so much better when they have a little bit of their own space.

After we dropped off our bags we made a quick change into our swim suits and headed to the water park.  If you've never been, Great Wolf Lodge has a nice sized indoor water park and you can access it from 2pm the day you check in until 8pm the day you check out.  So a one night stay gets you two days of fun!  We are lucky to be able to go while school is in session.  We've never seen more than 50 people in the water park!

Here's the wave pool, almost empty!

One thing you should know, they allow goggles, but not the kind that cover your nose.  Of course this meant buying new goggles.

After about 3 hours of water park fun, we were ready for dinner.  Within the resort they have three options for dinner, a quick service place inside the water park, a pizza place right outside the water park, or a bbq restaurant in the lobby.  We really like the bbq place, the food is good and they will sell you an adult beverage to go.  

Do not make the mistake of having the waiter bring the dessert tray over.  They bring a whole tray of little shot glass desserts over, and once the kids see them you are going to need one,  Or three.  

The Great Wolf Lodge has a staff of people to keep the kids happy.  Think, face painting, balloon animals, organized games, and story times.  As we finished up our dinner, a game of Bingo was beginning in the lobby.  The kids loved it.

Our suite was on the ground floor.  Normally, we go to the GWL during the winter, but this time we were able to go outside and enjoy the warm evening.  The kids loved watching the rides over at Kings Island.  

After a good night's sleep we enjoyed the breakfast buffet in the lobby to fuel up for more swimming fun.

Terrible picture, but you can still see her smile!

One thing that made this trip to the GWL the best so far, our kids were able to walk up to the slides alone.  We had a few reminders to walk, but other than that they did such a great job.  This allowed Rob and I to relax and wait for them at the bottom of the slides.

Ryan's face in this photo sums it up perfectly.  We had a wonderful visit to the GWL but were ready to head home and take a nap!