Girl Scouts and the Great Wolf Lodge

When Lia's Girl Scout troop leaders announced this winter that the girls had sold enough cookies to pay for two hotel rooms at the Great Wolf Lodge for one night, the troop was thrilled!  And so was I until I learned that there was no room for mothers to tag along.  Since I was not comfortable with the idea of sending Lia off to a massive hotel and water park with a huge group of girls with only three leaders to supervise, I immediately began talking to a few other moms from the troop.  Within a few days, I had reserved a hotel room to stay in with my friends, Heather and Mariah, and all of our #2 children.  This would allow me to keep an eye on Lia while having a rare and fun get-away with just Logan.  But as luck would have it, Logan broke his arm three weeks before our big trip was scheduled.  I went back and forth as to whether or not I should take him with me or just leave him at home with Ron since he would be unable to spend hours and hours playing in the massive water park which is really the main reason why anyone goes to Great Wolf Lodge.  Just a few days before the trip, I decided to take him with me--especially after a mom from Logan's preschool class gave us a waterproof cast protector to use at the pool.
I am happy to report that I am so glad that I decided to take Logan.  We had such a great time together and really stayed busy the entire two days that we were there.  Heather decided to pull Sienna and Lia out of school early on Friday which gave them several hours to play in the water park before we arrived at dinner time.  I delivered Lia a McDonalds meal and then Logan and I went out to eat in dinner in a restaurant.  We then kept busy all of Friday evening and all of Saturday with various activities before we left with Lia Saturday afternoon.  Logan was such a good sport about having a broken arm and never complained once that he couldn't spend his entire time playing in the water.  He was so easy to be around and we just had the funnest time bouncing from one activity to the next--especially going on several "quests" around the hotel with the MagiQuest wand I bought Logan as the one splurge of the trip.  Here is a quick rundown of our time together...

After dropping Lia's dinner off to her at the hotel, Logan and I decided to eat in the cutest pizzeria down the street from the hotel.  It was so nice to just spend this time eating together.

After getting back to the hotel, Logan changed into his pajamas and off we went to the huge lobby to listen to story time and watch the clock tower show.

Logan and I waiting in the lobby for the show to begin.

Logan with the clock tower behind him.

The animated animals and people talking during the show.

After the show was over, I told Logan that I would treat him to a MagiQuest wand since he was unable to enjoy the water park like we had planned.  He was so thrilled about this!  And I was thrilled to learn in the gift shop that I only had to buy the wand.  Since Logan is so young, the employee told me that we wouldn't need to buy any of the individual "quests" (or games).  We could still follow the map and walk all over the hotel finding all of the interactive stations that light up when the wand is pointed at them.  So, Logan totally thought that we were playing the game without our progress actually being recorded in the MagiQuest system.  So, we started off Friday night finding several stations.  Logan was so excited to see them light up and sometimes talk whenever he pointed his wand at them.  He really thought he had a magic wand.

Around 9:30, we met Lia back in the lobby with the rest of her troop for a giant, dance party that the hotel hosts on weekends.  The kids had fun dancing together.

Around 10 o'clock, we all went back to our hotel rooms.  I helped Lia get dressed in her hotel room across the hallway from us.  She got to stay in one of the fancy, KidKamp suites with wooden bunk beds.  Here she is with Ruby and Sienna.

After saying goodnight to Lia, she headed up to the other suite her troop was staying in for a late night movie, snacks, and games.  Logan and I headed back to our hotel room to go to bed with the other moms and kids.  Here is Logan with the other siblings, Gabs and Conner, all ready for bed in their pajamas.

After breakfast in our hotel room on Saturday morning, Logan and I spent the first part of the morning in the water park.  Since it was too dangerous to ride any of the water slides, we spent the morning in the toddler pool area.  We did manage to find Lia coming out of one of the giant water slides that she rode over and over again during our stay there.  Look at the smile on her face as she came up the stairs!

From left to right:  Piper, Mollie, Lia, and Shannon.

Lia posing with Logan and his giant, cast protector on his arm.

Sienna, Lia, and Mollie getting ready to climb across the giant, lily pads.

Lia heading across.

Lia and Sienna coming out of another water slide.

Logan carefully walking through the toddler pool area.  He really did a good job being careful and keeping his cast dry.

Logan riding one of the pretend wave runners.

Mommy and son posing in the pool.

Logan riding the giant, banana boat.

Playing with the star fish, spray gun.

Logan playing with another boy.

After Logan decided he was done playing in the water park, we went back to the hotel room to get changed back into our clothes and to eat lunch.  After packing up everything in the car, we headed back out into the hotel to meet Lia's troop at the ropes course.  The leaders had announced a few days earlier that they had enough cookie money left over to pay for all of the girls to go to the ropes course outside the hotel.  Lia was so excited to do this!  Here is Lia lining up with Addyson, Shannon, and Mila at the entrance.

Lia getting the climbing harness on before heading up.

The troop all ready to go!

Lia getting hooked up to the rope.

And, they're off!  Lia and Sienna waiting in line to cross their first obstacle.

Lia stepping off a platform and flying through the air.

Landing on the platform on the other side.

Lia walking across a tight rope.

Lia and some of the girls in her troop waiting their turn.

Shannon and Lia on top of another platform.  As they worked their way through this ropes course, they climbed higher and higher in the structure.  Lia was so brave and did everything with a smile on her face!

Lia crossing another rope.

The grand finale!  After finishing the entire course, the girls ended up on a platform high in the air that they got to repel down.  Here is Lia first jumping off.

Lia soaring down to the ground.  I was so impressed that she did this!

After we watched Lia and her troop on the obstacle course for quite some time, Logan and I went back in the hotel to continue playing MaqiQuest for the next hour or two.  I will admit that I was ready for it to end after climbing up and down the hotel stairs over and over again, but Logan never tired of it!  However, I was just grateful for this game as it kept Logan busy and happy the entire time since he couldn't be in the water park.  We threw in the towel at 2:30 when we met Lia in the lobby after she had gone back to the water park one last time.

A picture of my kiddos on the Great Wolf Lodge, "bear chair" on our way out of the lobby!  It sure was a fun way to spend two days with my Logan (and occasionally Lia)!