This trip to Great Wolf Lodge was no exception! I approached them months ago about trading a review for a stay at the lodge, and when I finally got in touch with the right person, she had me fill out some forms and provide readership info for Macaroni Kid. I followed up numerous times after that, and never heard anything. Finally, on the umpteenth attempt, she got back to me and apologized for being so unresponsive, and offered me a free stay. Score!
Great Wolf Lodge is something we'd looked into several times, but it seemed entirely too expensive to justify. The whole idea is that it's a gigantic water park inside of a hotel that also has tons of other cutesy kid stuff along with the woodsy theme. Hope and Grant have wanted to go, but I knew if I could keep our trip a secret, it would be worth it.
It turned out that Hope had a doctor's appointment on the morning of our trip, so she was going to be late for school anyway. Daddy and I had the car all packed, and drove her to school like everything was normal, but when we pulled up we said we weren't really in the mood for a normal day and "How about we go to Great Wolf Lodge instead?" Hope was immediately thrilled, but Grant didn't believe us until after he went and looked in the back of the van and saw our suitcases!
Just like our trip to Chincoteague, Hope and Grant thoroughly enjoyed staying in a hotel. This one is especially fun because it caters to kids, so there were face-painters and wolf-ear headbands upon check-in, and tons of other fun little extras. Of course the big attraction is the water park, which I don't have any pictures of. Happily, Grant and Hope were both tall enough to try all the water slides and we squeezed every ounce of fun out of that place!
I was interested in visiting nearby Colonial Williamsburg, where I'd been before but Daddy and the kids had not. We toured around a little and enjoyed some souvenir shopping, but we ended up getting caught in a huge thunderstorm that cut our visit short. I think Hope and Grant were probably over it anyway by that point. We'll try again another time!
I was so happy to surprise my family with this trip! They loved it, and again, we all felt so grateful for the opportunity. Hope, who is so expressive and thoughtful, must have told me a hundred times how she's so proud that I do this (little! part-time!) job, and that she appreciates what it does for our family. I don't doubt for a minute that being a stay-at-home mom is the right choice for me, but it is fun - now that they're a little older - to have the time and space for this other gig too.
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