Where the Heck is that Howling Coming From?

For Kris' and Nicky's combo birthday gift (their bdays are 10 days apart) I decided to book us a night at the Great Wolf Lodge.  If you've never been, or heard of such a place, it's a giant theme hotel / indoor water park with overpriced games and toys and food, oh my!  Honestly though, it was a lot of fun...and they sell adult beverages to make it a little more tolerable for the big people! 

Somehow I managed to keep the "trip" as a secret for 7 weeks - my personal record!  I'm usually the "I got you something really cool and can't wait to give it to you / tell you all about it" kind of gal, but I really wanted to see the looks on my boys' faces when we pulled up to the joint.  I packed all our stuff a few nights before then hid the bag in Kris' trunk and he dropped me off at girlfriend Gina's house, then she drove me into work.  Kris had the day off, so after finishing up some honey-do's, he got Nicky from school after nap, then picked me up from work and we were on our way.  As we exited the highway, there was a sign pointing in the direction of two hotels.  The Gaylord Texan and the Great Wolf Lodge.  Kris asked if we were going to the Gaylord with a bit of curiosity in his voice, and when I said no, he got a big grin on his face and asked if we were "Going to the Lodge"?  (There's a commercial for the place and they sing "going to the lodge..." over and over...it really gets stuck in your head.)  I said yes and was rewarded with a big high five!  Yay me! 

We walked in and were immediately in awe of the place.  I'll have to admit, it's really cool, and does in fact, look like a lodge.  There's a huge window that overlooks the waterpark where you check-in and Nicky could not stop jumping up and down saying "i go der?!  i do dat?!"  We got into our room to find cupcakes I had delivered from a local bakery, so we all dug in for a little snack before we hit the slides.

We had a monster buffet dinner and chilled out for a bit before we went to the lobby for the evening clock tower show (creepy singing puppet animal / people things) and a bedtime story, followed by a hug from the Lodge's mascot "Wiley" the wolf.  I sweetened the deal the next day with a little mini-Wiley that has become Nicky's new sidekick...that kid loves him some animals! 

Breakfast included yummy Starbucks coffee and more cupcakes...see, I'm not so strict and anal ALL the time!  Then we headed back to the water park. 

Our overnight stay included an all-day pass for the day of arrival as well as departure, so we figured we'd make the most of it.  Even though the weather was still a little chilly (72 deg) and super windy, they opened up the outdoor pool area and Nicky tested out the waters. 

That kid must be part polar bear, because his teeth were chattering and he was shaking, but didn't want to leave the cold water...  guess that's the Russky in him!

After the healthiest of lunches EVER...

Our fun came to an end, as we dragged a whining Nicky from the water park.  We made many promises to go back again some day, which of course in a 4 year old's mind, means today!