I can't believe it has been a week and I haven't posted....life is a little crazy right now :) Last week the kids had a four day weekend, so we wanted to do something together as a family. We had thought about camping, or going somewhere, but we had to be here on Saturday for basketball games. SO - we decided to surprise the kids and take them to the GREAT WOLF LODGE.
We have been wanting to take the kids for a while now, but could never find the right time to go. It was perfect! What made it even better was that the kids had no idea!!! When school got out on Thursday they came home with plans of hanging out with friends and sleepovers. I told them we were going to go to grandma's house and have some family time! They really wanted to hang out with friends, but agreed to give me one night of family bonding!!! We left the house and began our drive to grandma's house. They noticed immediately once we passed grandma's house. I told them we were going to meet Rick for a bit....(since Rick works over that way, they totally believed me :) We kept driving and the kids were getting a bit ansy. Once I was close to the Great Wolf Lodge I turned down the radio and asked the kids if they would like to stay at Grandma's or asked if they would rather stay "here." Just then we were pulling into the Great Wolf Lodge parking lot. The boys started shouting..."yes, yes, yes." Paige got a big smile on her face and was speechless, and Jordan smiled then started to cry. I wasn't sure if she was excited or not. (I'm pretty sure she was excited!) We did have some other friends of ours that were going to be there that night also. These friends of ours have boys Jordans age....so I think she was a little worried about what I had packed for her. :)
The front of the hotel was awesome...two gigantic wolves in front!!!! Of course it was the perfect picture op!
We parked and walked inside. The kids LOVED it!!!!
The hallways were painted like a forest with fun things on the walls. Little did I know, but Rick had gone over on his lunch hour and checked in for us already. Once we got to our room, he had a cookie cake waiting for us and a sweet note for me. The kids went crazy!
Our room had a small log cabin looking area for the kids with bunk beds and another twin bed in it.
Immediately they "called" who was sleeping where.
They also had a little fun climbing all over everything! Once we unloaded all our stuff, we jumped right into our swimming suits! The Great Wolf Lodge is a hotel with an inside water park.
The waterpark is awesome! Lots of things to do for kids of all ages! They even have a hot tub for adults only! (I loved that :) They also have arcades, spas, restaurants, and a really neat Quest for the kids to go on.
The hotel is totally kid friendly!!!! Right when you walk into the hotel there is a great big window for you to look in and see the water park. They also have a huge clock. This is where they have storytime everynight for the little kids.
Once we got into the waterpark, we weren't sure what to do first! The kids found their way over to a fun area where they had lily pads and logs tethered to the bottom of the pool. It was so fun to watch the boys hop along the lily pads....
Chase squatted down into his frog position and jumped across those lily pads like it was nothing.
Cody would get ready to start across them and if I turned my head, he was already done!
Jordan was determined to make it all the way across without getting wet. BUT - her very first lily pad, she so gracefully hopped on and tipped herself right over!
Paige was a natural and was very careful to make sure she didn't splash in the water.
The kids also had fun trying to all fit on the log....they would all climb up so carefully, then Chase would find a way to tip everyone over :)
Our favorites were the water slides. Even Cody went on the ones he was tall enough for. He wasn't sure at first, but once he gave it a try, he loved them! One waterslide was called the tornado.
This is what it looked like from the outside. (most of the waterslides would start inside, then make their way outside, then end up back inside.) The tornado was CRAZY!!! Five people could ride in the round tube. The ride started just like any waterslide, then you would go down a big drop into the round swirl....the tube would slide up and down the sides of the swirl, then you would shoot out back into the slide and make your way to the end. What made the ride fun, was the fact that Rick and some of the other guys we were with decided to jump out of the tube while we were in the swirl. They would jump out completely with the goal of making their way back into the tube before the end....OR, they would jump out while still holding on to the tube and pretend like they were surfing! Yes, there were a few bumps, bruises, and even some blood drawn, but they had a blast!!! Rick is slowly realizing he may be getting too old for that stuff, but won't admit it!!! :)
I have to give kudos to Jordan for hanging in with all the crazy boys. She was right there in the middle of it all, not afraid to be crazy with them!
That night we went out for dinner (since the hotel restaurant was crazy expensive). When we came back, the kids wanted to just run around and play. Thank goodness the hotel was SUPER KID FRIENDLY! It was nice having our other friends their because they all had kids my kids age. Rick and I hung out in the main lobby playing checkers and tried to keep an eye on everyone. Later that night, I pulled out the ligretto cards and connect 4x4. Then we decided to play spoons.....THAT IS WHEN THINGS GOT CRAZY!!! Rick, myself, the kids and about 8 friends all played spoons. It was somewhat manageable until Jordan had the great idea of playing ultimate spoons. We were in the lobby right by the stairs. There were three flights of stairs, so the kids would put the last spoon on one of the stair landings....or there was a little "clubhouse" type area they would hide it in. Oh my gosh - it was so fun. Jordan was climbing over the couches, sprinting up the stairs! I even had to race her once....(note to self, take off the boots before running up a flight of stairs.) We had such a great time....yes, we were crazy and probably very loud...BUT we had so much fun! Finally at midnight, Rick and I called it a night. I think we were all finally in bed asleep around 1:00 AM. The next morning we packed up our stuff and loaded it all in the car. We had to check out, but we could stay at the waterpark all day. Another neat thing the hotel has is a MagiQuest for the kids to do. We bought a wond, and they send them on a quest. This goes throughout the whole hotel. The kids point a wand to different things....if they point it to a box, it will open. If they point it to a book, it will open. If they point it to the wolf it will stand up. If they point it to a sun, it will sparkle. Chase and Cody loved it!!! I think they spent a good 3 hours with their buddies trying to conquer their quest....they finally conquered the first one!!!
They were running around the hotel while Rick and I were in the water park. I turned to him and asked, "should I be worried the kids are running through the hotel??" I guess if it were any other place I would have been. We ended up staying until 8:00 that night....
We had such a great time! I loved our family bonding weekend. There was something for everyone and we were able to have some much needed time away. Can't wait to go back!
WAY TO GO JORDAN!!!! Last Thursday Jordan broke the news that the JV team would be practicing a couple of hours before school. Friday would be their first early morning practice. For any ordinary kid this would be just fine....but for Jordan this meant that since practice started at 6:45 she would have to attend the 5:45 church seminary class rather than the 7:00 class she was currently attending. Does the word sacrifice come to mind??? What a huge SACRIFICE for Jordan to make. She knows the importance of attending seminary and is also excited to be a part of the softball team, which is why she is willing to sacrifice her time and sleep so she can do that. Now on the other hand, you can imagine my own personal selfish feelings on this subject. Since Jordan has to leave the house at 5:30 - who do you think is taking her??? Yup...ME! Did I wake up Friday morning with a smile on my face and positive attitude. Sad to say...nope I didn't. I crawled out of my warm bed, grabbed my pillow and blanket - and when we got to the church I climbed in the back seat and tried to sleep while Jordan was in class. As I tried to sleep, I noticed a group of ladies joined together getting ready to run. My immediate thoughts were....are they crazy!!! It's way too early to run, and way too cold! Monday rolled around and I adjusted my attitude a bit. 
I did something absolutely out of character and I decided to join the ladies running. Yes it was way too early and very cold. The route we ran was approximately 3 miles. Did I run the whole time....absolutely not. But proudly I would say I ran atleast 2 miles of it. For those that know me - I am NOT a runner! I don't like running and quite frankly on Monday I wanted to throw up multiple times. But when it was all said and done, eventhough I could hardly breath and my lungs were on fire - it felt good! Monday night and Tuesday I was paying for it. I was sore in places I didn't know I could be! Wednesday morning came and I'm happy to report I didn't back down and ran again. I'm hoping it will get easier each time. SO - I have decided if my daughter can sacrifice, I should be able to also! I am sacrificing my sleep for my daughter's growth in the gospel. (which is definately a something better) AND I'm also trying to learn to love running! Will this sacrifice be easy???? I am going to have to say no! 5:15 every morning will be tough, but totally worth it! 
