The DeLorme Family: Great Wolf Lodge

Joey and I planned a very special surprise for kids recently. We were so incredibly lucky this year with sickness in our house. Besides some very minor colds, we managed to make it through the year with no major illnesses or flu. Since the kids didn't miss any school, we decided to plan a trip to Great Wolf Lodge here in town. We had heard it's very, very crowded during the weekends. We were also able to get a decent deal for going midweek. We decided to make it even more special and not tell the kids that we were going.
I had volunteered at Ashlyn's school on Wednesday afternoon. Usually, when I am done I leave and she rides the bus home when school gets out. I signed her out early and told her we needed to do an errand. She asked where we were going and I told her nowhere special. I started driving and we were just chatting away. Before we knew it, I was pulling up to Great Wolf. She immediately asked what we were doing there. I told her we were staying the night. She instantly got huge grin on her face and was jumping up and down with excitement. She asked about school the next day, and I told her she did't have to go. She told me it was the best surprise ever!
Ashlyn and I checked in and got our room keys. We immediately drove to a local restaurant and met up with Joey and the rest of the kids. Ashlyn told the rest of the kids that we were staying at Great Wolf. We have stayed at Great Wolf in Kansas and Texas, but Gracie has no memory of it. She had no idea of what to expect, but she was excited to hear we were staying in a hotel.
After dinner, we headed back to check out the room. I had to tutor that night and I went home with Emmy. We live only about 10 minutes away. She was also going through her awful sleep regression, so I knew we would all sleep better if she wasn't there. Joey ended up taking the kids down to the water park and they had a blast. Gracie was so blown away by the entire place. She just loves to swim and had no idea a place like Great Wolf even existed. Joey said they swam until it closed that night. We also decided to do the Magic Quest game this time. The kids started playing that night. Dawson fell in LOVE with Magic Quest. It was definitely right up his alley.
The next morning, Joey grabbed donuts from the Dunkin Donuts in the lobby. Emmy and I headed over bright and early. We all got changed and headed down. The kids played some Magic Quest since the water park didn't open until 10:00 a.m. As soon as it opened, we headed in. We spent the rest of the day at the park. We all had such a great time. I was able to ride the bigger rides with Dawson and Ashlyn. Emmy napped for a lot of the time. At one point, I did change her in her swimsuit and I took her in the pool for about an hour. She loved swimming and the kids all loved seeing her in the water. She napped like a champ after her swim. Around 5:00, we all started to get very tired and hungry. We all changed to head home. Gracie was so tired, she fells asleep in a chair waiting for Joey and Dawson.
It was such a fun little getaway. We are so lucky to have a Great Wolf Lodge 10 minutes from our house. The kids are already wanting to go back. I have a feeling its a place we will be making many more trips to. I told Joey and the kids we should always make it a surprise and never tell them in advance we are going since it really did make it even more special for everyone.