Our Great Wolf Adventure!

I have found a new nirvana...traveling with friends.  This past weekend my four teamed up with another family and made our way to Great Wolf Lodge in Williamsburg.  For anyone not familiar with what Great Wolf Lodge is, in a nutshell, it is a big indoor water park.  In order to gain entry to the water park, you have stay overnight at the hotel.  We planned two nights (Saturday to Monday) and booked a pretty cool room that has the kids sleeping in an area reminiscent of a cave, complete with bunk beds, and their own tv and gaming system.



We've never traveled with another family before.  It was a fantastic experience and makes me want to take the Wilson's wherever we go.  :)  Hopefully I didn't scare Jen with that last sentence.  They have Ethan who is Ian's age, Nathan who is Sam's age and Jen, who I love.  Plus, Ryan and Jeff do a good job of getting along too.  We were able to get our rooms near each other and it was quite helpful in the logistics.  It should be noted that Jen and Ryan also have a 3rd boy, Evan, but he was a little too young to fully participate and stayed back home at his grandparents.

When we arrived,  I was overwhelmed by the size of the crowd waiting to check in.  Yowzer!  This place is POPULAR!  We hit the water park as soon as we got here and the kids had a smile on their face that went from ear to ear.  It was a hit!  It was the perfect amount of time to get wet and enjoy a few of the water slides before leaving the water park, taking showers and getting ready for dinner.

A HILARIOUS AND TERRIFYING MOMENT ALL IN ONE:

We divided and conquered.  Jeff and Ryan had the big kids and Jen and me had the little ones.  We decided we would take the small ones on this one water slide, pictured on the left.  We climb our way to the top, wait in line and find out that Sam and Nathan can't ride down in our laps.  The staff member at the top explains to us that these little guys can ride down the slide on their own.  Jen offers to go down first and be at the bottom to catch them as they come down.  She makes it down fine and I send Nathan.  Then I send Sam. Well actually, Sam sends herself down before I get the chance to hold on to her and tell her to wait the appropriate amount of time for Nathan to clear it.  Then I go down.  OH! MY! G-D!  DUDE!!  What was that!?!?!?!  That was the craziest ride down and I just sent my youngest child (who can't swim!!!) down it on her own.  My heart is racing the whole time as I gain speed and take these hair pin turns at a lightning fast pace.  This slide just kept going and going.  The ride didn't seem to end...EVER!  I couldn't believe I just sent these two small, innocent children down this thing.  Yowzer!!!  Believe it or not, they survived just fine and Sam even said, "I do it again."  Um, no.  Not today at least.  :)  

Jen said that if she could've told me not to send the kids down, she would've.  There was no way to communicate.  Once I saw she got out, I instantly sent Nathan down.  Sam didn't even wait for Nathan to clear the water slide before she got in position and pushed herself off.   Sam has no fear!

**Unfortunately the majority of the pictures I took were on an waterproof/underwater camera that uses real film.  Once I find a place to process these photos, I'll be able to see if they even turned out.  Oh, how I've gotten so spoiled with digital.  Instant gratification...the ability to know right away if you got the shot, and the ability to process the photos without going to the trouble to find someone to do it for you.**

Stay tuned for a recap of day 2 and the freakiest thing to ever occur. Really. The most incredible coincidence and one heckuva story you will find hard to believe.  The kind of thing you just had to be there.  Ok, maybe I am blowing this up more than it should be.  Or am I?