Not Wolf Lodge

At the beginning of this year, we excitedly booked our very first trip to Great Wolf Lodge for the end of June.  We were due to meet up with the Rosenthals and spend two nights in the famed Traverse City.

I roped Sarah into helping, and when I woke up and sent her a message at 5:45, she was already awake and came over to help me set up.  It was a good thing too, I would not have gotten nearly as much done.  She fought the newest pool and the claw machine while I worked on other things.

Prize table!  The kids earned candies through games and the claw machine, and were able to trade them in for some of the 'premium candies' or other prizes.  Not pictured are the fun animal faces.  Alice was the only one who picked those, possibly because they were hung too high.

Snacks were "included" in their visit.  This was taken before I got out the chilled applesauce and drinks. 

I ended up moving the coloring station closer, but they all had a chance to customize their "Not Wolf Lodge" brand shirts.  This was my first time using the iron on vinyl and I was pleased by how well it turned out!  I'd actually bought the vinyl and markers to make "family" shirts for our trip, but these were a fun addition to the day.

The bubble gloves were pretty cool! They made lots of bubbles, but the bubble solution was a popular attraction for bugs to die.

Hands down the favorite game: a mini claw machine!  Sarah put in a variety of candies and sticky hands and the tiny stuffies, but the slick plastic was too difficult to manage.  She finally decided that the tiny stuffies alone were the way to go, after many trials.  The kids were able to trade the stuffie for 5 candies at the prize station. 

Sarah also set up all the games!  The cans were a favorite.  There were values under each can, so the kids had to do some math if they didn't knock them all down.  Sarah placed a brick in the bottom of the box to keep it from falling over when hit.  Also, if they hit the box with the bean bag, the shot did not count.  The person claiming candy was the one required to reset the game.

She also made a 'skee ball'-esque toss game.  And ball toss game.

William and Aunt Rocky made a game with the plentiful ball stash.

All set up and ready to go!

I was surprised when the kids went to the water first, but I think it was a psycology thing.  Since I had them get in their swimsuits, and sprayed them down with sunscreen, they were prepared to swim.  That water was cold though, so it didn't take long before they were over at the games.

Alice scored a prize on her first try!

I think it is safe to say that the twins enjoyed this game the most.

Aunt Rocky and William made waves and tossed balls while the girls tried to hang on to the dino!

Emily was saving up for the foam set.

I think they were enjoying some of their prize table candy.

Bubbles!

I feel like it must have been at least better than average, because Alice stayed outside for hours with us, not lamenting her lack of computer!!

Once everyone except for Emily and William had worn out and headed inside, some dark clouds started to roll in.  I began to break everything down ad put away things that would ruin in the rain first.  Billy came out and helped move things inside, so that I could sort through them.

My hope, is that one day, far in the future, that they won't remember that we cancelled our trip, but rather remember that they had a great day out in the backyard at "Not Wolf Lodge."

later days

Bonus:  Some pictures the kids took with the waterproof camera I purchased for Great Wolf Lodge.