And I thought Silly Bandz were Ingenious

Closing in on the last days of summer, we wanted to cram in that last little bit of sunshine, I mean, fun things to do. Our family always ends the summer with a “last hurrah” and every year it’s a trip to Wet and Wild! This year we decided to do something different, we went on a LONG trip (45 min) to Concord and The Great Wolf Lodge! Ooohhh Ahhhhh! In case many don’t know me, I’m cheap and this presented a great deal. Check in at 1pm, use the water park until 9pm, then use the water park until 9pm the second day! So we booked our Kid’s Camp and packed a bathing suit and went on our way.

The Kids Cabin is a small log cabin the kids sleep in complete with their own TV and three bunk beds. We knew this place was made for kids when they had more amenities in their cabin and the lodgey feel than we did. Our side was a VERY soft bed (did not make Goldilocks happy), couch, table and a TV we couldn’t hear because the kids TV was bouncing off the walls to us.
Here’s the ingenious part, this lodge has a large indoor waterpark that remains a constant 84 degrees. As we checked in at 99 degrees and 100% humidity, someone was smart enough to create a place even adults are happy with, The Great Wolf Lodge! The kids eyes rolled back in their heads as we entered the waterpark, and I was pulled in three directions almost at once. Max and I started on the easy slides, me looking all cute in my bathing suit if I must say so myself. As we waited, I heard a constant bell dinging,

“What’s that?” I asked the lifeguard at the top.
“Oh you’ll find out,” he said with a maniacal smile on his face.

And I did as 200 gallons dumped out of a bucket at the top of the contraption I was standing in right down on me and all the kids waiting for the water slide. So much for looking like Pamela Anderson on Bayway (no snide remarks here please) Looking sufficiently like a drowned rat, they pulled me to the rest of the slides (mom, will do it now her hair’s messed up). We rode mats down through tubes, we robe a float down more tubes, we ended up on something called the tornado. Now here is a nice sidebar, Maria takes all the kids on a nice gentle log plume ride and says, “You take them on the next one, if it’s anything like mine it will be FUN!” Sure.
This is called the Howling Tornado, should have been a red flag there. We climb in the tube and both children vote and make me the one that rides backwards (NICE). The Howling Tornado dumps us down a tube, into a pitch dark tube with another leave your stomach at the top drop before dumping your down this wall into another tube that shoots you out the bottom. I was still back at the first drop when the ride ended.

So ingenious, indoor water park where you don’t have to worry about sunscreen, bugs, or rain, complete with all the favorites – fudge, pizza, coffee, sandwiches, and BEER and you have The Great Wolf Lodge. As the kids settled down listening to their recants of the waterslides brought a smile to my face until I realized, “we’re doing it again tomorrow.” Maybe if I start with the slicked back look, I won’t look so much like a drowned rat.
Is it worth the price of admission? I’ll tell you after day two. What other ingenious things have you found in your travels?