We’re back from out trip and the kids had a great time. One night was plen-ty for this age range. I could definitely see staying longer as the kids get older. It’s great that we only have to drive like an hour or so away from home, but still get that “out of town” vacation feel.
The water park in this hotel was amazing. Complete with a wave pool, water slides that went out the building and back in, a tree house, and lots of little kid sized toys and slides. Incredible.
Needless to say my kids hated it. They were super excited from the get go. They knew we were going on vacation. They knew there would be waterslides. They were too excited to eat, and as we sat on the balcony overlooking the massive water park the girls could not keep still.
After unpacking we jumped into our swim suits and made a mad dash for the park. All of us jabbering the whole way about how much fun we were going to have. We walked/ran the entire way to the pools, Pat and I basked in the delight of our children. I forced the girls to take one picture with me before I lost them to all the fun.
Thirty seconds later they were both crying and clinging to my leg. Maile had been sprayed by a boy on a stationary bike with a squirt gun built in, and Pat threw Laina down a waterslide by herself scaring the holy crap out of the poor child. As I coaxed them through the park, insisting they hold my hand rather than carry them I tried to show them all the fun they could be having. Maile cried the whole time. Laina would venture, but not far. They were both terrified and we were all getting beamed with streams of water.
We headed to the wave pool where Laina was determined to drown herself and after about 25 minutes Maile actually touched the water. Thankfully Laina’s happy go lucky attitude brought Maile out of her shell a bit and everyone was happy again.
My only complaint about this Lodge is that they don’t have a small wading pool or kiddie area where kids can swim and play without feeling worried about being splashed. They had an over sized hot tub that was crammed with kids who were afraid of the rest of the park. Even the wave pool was a little scary for my liking, but then again maybe the “target” age group for the park is more school age then toddler.
Other than that, the hotel was totally kid friendly. Arts and crafts offered hourly. An arcade, gift shops, sweet shops, movies…everything you could think of. It was awesome. We met up with Pat’s sister and brother-in-law for a sweet sweet buffet dinner. And by “sweet sweet” I mean I’m pretty sure ninth graders cooked the food at about 9 o’clock that morning and had it “marinating” all day until it hit our plates that evening.
Yum.
Both girls had missed naps and were exhausted so we got them into bed at 9pm sharp. Unfortunately Laina was like a cat on crack and could not for the life of her settle down and relax. She just kept spinning in circles chasing her tail and crying about how she’s not tired. Around 11pm we all fell asleep and after some fun in the arcade the next morning we headed HOME.
The girls needed naps in their own beds. Checkout time was 11am. The water park was a no go. And I MISSED my boy. We will definitely go again, but only with a discounted coupon and probably not until the kids are just a teensy bit older.
For now, it’s just good to be home.
You know I’m a homebody if I’m this excited to be home after spending only one night “out of town.”
Pathetic.