For years now, every time we pass Centralia on our way to Portland, Juliette sees the hotel just east of I-5 with waterslide tubes swooping out the side of it and asks…”What IS that?!” Welp, it’s the Great Wolf Lodge, Baby, and we’re going.
Shane booked us a couple of nights there on a bit of a whim, when an online deal popped up just as he was feeling particularly grateful for how Juliette has rolled with the ways life has changed since Isaac entered the scene. We wouldn’t call the baby a party pooper, per se, but he definitely keeps us closer to home. Time for Sister to have an adventure!
If you haven’t been to Great Wolf, imagine Vegas for kids. An arcade and a candy shop and an indoor water park and a lobby that’s meant to pass as a winter wonderland. All the things. Juliette was in her swimsuit within minutes of us checking into our room and we all followed her lead and geared up, minus the sunscreen, to make our way down to the water park. Slides and a wave pool and a ropes course and a high-up bucket the size of a small hot tub that would fill with water that came splashing down every 15 minutes. All the things.
Shane and Juliette hit the slides while Isaac tried to make sense of the wave pool.
Shane booked this trip so that Juliette could do the big-kid things, but really, she was just as thrilled to splash around in 12 inches of water with her brother. That’s how she rolls.
We traded in our swimsuits for cozy clothes late afternoon and settled in to watch some soccer and lounge in our king-sized bed. These were actually some of my most favorite weekend moments.
We ate pizza in our room and wandered around the hotel in the evening, a little dazed by the flurry of activity around each corner. It felt good to turn in early that night.
Isaac broke the curse of horrible hotel sleep on this trip (sensory overload will do that to you!) and both kids snoozed like champs. Still though, we were up early enough to beat the 8am Starbucks rush.
Morning soccer…
And mid-morning story hour in the lobby.
Story time was a little goofy, but when soap bubble snow started to fall from the ceiling as Christmas tunes blared over the speakers, I gave in. Give me all the kitsch!
Back to the room…
But then, back to the pool!
Isaac had a little more fun in the water the second time around, though he was also content to just sit in my lap and watch all the commotion. Looks like kind of a surfer dude, doesn’t he?
Play hard, rest hard.
And wake up happy.
Juliette couldn’t resist the lure of the wand shop and bought her own wand so that she could take part in MagiQuest, a magic-themed scavenger hunt that had kids running all over the hotel, opening treasure chests and activating crystals so that they could become Master Magi. It sounds very confusing, I know, but Juliette got very into it and we all got our steps in, zipping from floor to floor as we followed her on her quests.
We ended the day with lobby lawn games and cake pops. I don’t know that I’ve ever been so tired after a day with zero time outdoors.
Monday was checkout day, and we took our time getting going. We agreed not to try to squeeze in any more waterslide runs, so we sipped coffee and read books instead. Seemed like a decent trade!
Remember what I said earlier about kitsch? Juliette’s bed was in a “tree house”!
Juliette gained her Master Magi status just as Shane finished packing the car. Well done, kiddo.
Whew, the things you do for your kids! Honestly, though, it was a sweet little getaway and filled our adventure-bucket as we headed home for a very low-key Thanksgiving. Play hard, rest hard.
