Great Wolf Lodge!

Right on the heals of auditions came our family trip up into Washington state to celebrate Sovann's birthday. We got an incredible deal on a deluxe suite that included a living room-style area and separate kid's area with their own flat-screen TV. We also had a fridge and microwave so we could fix our own food for a few meals.

So Sunday, after helping run sound and packing everything away, we headed North to Great Wolf Lodge! We stopped for a light lunch at Booster Juice and then enjoyed the fall scenery and time to spend talking while driving another hour and a half. We all howled (literally) with delight as we drove into the parking lot of this mega-resort that is part water park, part hotel.

We all were thrilled with everything from the cabin-themed room (complete with bunk beds for the kids and a gas fireplace for the grown-ups) that had a balcony overlooking the "Howling Tornado" water slide (so big, it's outside the waterpark and nearly matches the 8-story hotel's height)! This place is AWESOME - they've thought of everything, with details like log-cabin style details that make everything feel rustic and homey at the same time, to over a hundred lifeguards, warm towels by the poolside and (one of my favorites) a retractable clothesline across the bathtub to dry our suits off at the end of the day.

What made it even better was that we were there with friends. Katherine hung out with her friend Kaylee and had a blast being a teenage girl. Grace and J.J. jumped into the readily available life jackets on deck and got to practice all their swimming strokes in the MANY different pools. What fun! My only complaint was that the water was so heavily chlorinated that my eyes were stinging just sitting on the deck.

Being there with friends, we were also able to trade kids a couple times - in the evening (after taking J.J. and Grace to the Disney-style animated clock tower "bedtime story" show) we dropped the little ones off with Dawn while Sovann and I joined Katherine and Kaylee for a thrilling (and pitch-black) Howling Tornado ride. Yes, I screamed. I think it was something like a 40 foot drop that we went down (that big funnel thing you see in the picture) in the dark!

After exploring a bit (the lodge itself is quite an adventure, with an arcade, multiple restaurants, day spa (and kid's spa) along with Magi-quest "treasures" all throughout the place), we returned to give Sovann his birthday present - a Flip video camera. Have to say, this was our best Dad-birthday we ever put together! He was thrilled.

I whipped together a light supper of Ramen salad and croissants with fruit and then we headed back to the water park. Plenty of fun snacks also kept us going (water slides and jumping across gigantic floating lilly pads takes a lot out of you, you know?). The kids always know it's a special occasion when Mommy gets Cheetos AND Pringles!

That evening, we all gathered around Katherine's laptop to await the results of the Pocahontas casting list to be posted on the CYT website. J.J. was cast as young Keokum (a friend of Pocahontas) - his first speaking role! Katherine was understandably disappointed with the fact that she was "just" in the Algonquin tribe chorus, but showed great character by congratulating her little brother and stating that "I'm going to learn a lot, Mom - and I can't wait to learn all the neat dances." I know she was hoping for a leading role (or even a chance to be on one of the advanced dance teams), but I am really glad she's having a good attitude and still putting forth her best effort.

Katherine and Sovann found the Great Wolf Starbucks the next morning and used their gift cards (earned from Katherine's Orthodontist for getting regular cleanings) . Then J.J. and Sovann hung out in the wave pool and I spent most of the time lounging on deck and chatting with some of my mom-friends that were there. For lunch, we had our final birthday splurge and visited "Camp Critter" bar and grill for an amazing meal. More fun- and great food at fairly reasonable prices! Katherine and I shared an appetizer platter, J.J. and Sovann shared a buffalo burger, and Grace got a bucket full of chicken strips and fries. We were too full for dessert, so decided to go back and swim off all those calories. But before leaving late that afternoon, we went back to experience the Campfire Sundae.

This has got to be one of the best family vacations ever (well, not sure anything could beat the free trip to Disneyland last year, but this was a close second)! We left very happy, refreshed and bonded closer as a family with our tummies full of ice cream and our heads full of happy memories.