Great Wolf Get-a-way

We were supposed to go on vacation this week with Grandma Lucy to celebrate her birthday and have a little family time. Tragically, Grandma Lucy's brother died unexpectedly on Monday and Grandma Lucy has a very bad case of pneumonia. We had no choice but to cancel our trip to Niagara Falls including a stay at the Great Wolf Lodge near the falls. Poor Ethan had been looking forward to this trip for weeks. He had it on his calendar, yes, our three year old has his own calendar. He also wants his own clock now because he doesn't believe me in the morning when I tell him it is not time to get up. That's another story... You can imagine his disappointment when I told him that Grandma wasn't coming, we couldn't celebrate her birthday, we wouldn't see the falls, we wouldn't go on the boat ride, and we wouldn't go to the water park. It was too much for the little guy. I found out the next day that he had told his teachers at school the entire story with full descriptions and explanations of what had happened and now what would not be happening. What was amazing was that without us discussing it he related Grandma's brother dying to heaven and even told his teacher that Uncle John was now in heaven with Jack (Grandma's dog). Quite impressive to tie all that together for a three year old. The down side was he started asking questions about death and being sick and about his brother. A little "Mommy lie" cleared that up. For now I told him only old people die. He is a worrier and I don't want him worried about that.

After a quick discussion Patrick and I decided it best to take a mini vacation to the Great Wolf Lodge in the Poconos. This would certainly make up for the other disappointments of the week. Although Ethan had been sick this week with an odd virus, fever for 8 days, rash, two trips to the doctor, fluid in both ears but no infection, headache, etc., he was feeling much better by Thursday so Friday after lunch we were on our way. Let the comedy begin.

We arrive in record time with both kids napping the entire way. Bonus. We check in with no line. Bonus. We get into the room to have a quick snack and Ethan refuses to eat. Should have been clue #1 but discount it due to excitement. Pack up to head to the pool. Grab the brand new 5 day old point and shoot camera only to discover it is not working. System check fails. Patrick system check fails- like there would have been a different result but hey, why not try. I had just taken it off the charger at home so we know it wasn't the battery. Great. Just great, no photos of kids. Mom now feels anxious about not having photos but takes a deep breath and focuses on the fun that will be had. Off to the pool, with no camera.

The Pool Experience: The kids were both glowing! What a difference a few months makes! Last time we were there Alex really didn't want to be in the water and spent more time walking the perimeter. This time he was all about the baby water slides! Charging through chest deep water, climbing out of the pool, dashing up the stairs to where Daddy was stationed monitoring the launch zone. He was beaming ear to ear with his big teethy smile as he flew down the slide. As I would catch him at the bottom on every turn he made the sign for "more" and screamed "MORE!" while shaking with excitement. It is truly amazing how happy you can be just from watching the excitement and joy your children are experiencing.

Ethan was in his glory! His little legs and mouth were moving a mile a minute. Patrick and I had to quickly workout an intricate system of hand signals, eye winks and motions to create a zone defense of monitoring the children. It worked out very well though. Our goal this visit was to convince Ethan to ride the BIG slide. It is very tall (several flights up), you can't see Mom or Dad until the end and you have to ride alone. It is an age appropriate and slow slide though so we knew once he tried it he would love it. Day 1 was a bust. Day 2 Dad tried bribery telling Ethan he would buy him a big stuffed animal (like we need more plush). Ethan refused. I decided to take action. I have to admit I'm not a big fan of water slides (childhood trauma) but I'll do anything for my little guys. Besides, if this slide was age appropriate for a three year old what the hell was I worried about?

I coaxed Ethan up the "water playground" that slowly leads up to the stairs to the slide. Then I hijacked him. I grabbed him and carried him up the stairs. He was saying no the entire time. Bad Mom I know but hey, I know my kid! Once we got to the top I convinced him to just watch the other kids and how slow the water was. When I thought he was ready we went for it. With two slides at the top I placed him on the launch zone sat down on the other slide, told him "Let's race" and took off! I prayed like hell the whole way down he would meet me at the bottom. Sure enough 2 seconds after I was down a giggling, beaming, very happy little boy made a tiny splash at the bottom and squealed with excitement. Just like Green Eggs and Ham, you have to try it once! (That's our little saying) He did however hold Daddy to him promise and convinced Daddy to buy him a purple wolf to take home, and Patrick calls me the sucker.

So back to Day 1 of the total experience. After the water park we went to dinner where food allergy issues came into play. The chef made Ethan a special meal which he at 3 bites of (I did start to clue in at this point). Alex however had 2 pieces of pizza, green beans, 2 chicken nuggets, 1/4 of Ethan's grilled cheese sandwich, a mini corn dog and ice cream. Ethan also decided he was hungry enough for ice cream so we let him have a small bowl with the excuse that we were on vacation and not to stress about the food (ha ha ha). At dinner Ethan informed us he wanted to go to the play area after dinner (arcade). His exact words, "Can we go to the play area after dinner, there are chicks down there." WHAT! We about died. We exchanged the look of "did he just say what I think he just said?" and then burst into tears laughing at the table.

After dinner we were off to the arcade. After about 10 minutes Ethan announced to the entire arcade that he had to poop. I gave Patrick the video camera and sprinted 4 floors to our room carrying Ethan. We made it.

Back to the arcade where Ethan won a pink snake, yeah more plush. Back to the room for popcorn and a movie. After settling in for bed, both boys in jammies sitting peacefully eating snacks, watching a movie. Picture perfect memory until, "I'm Gonna PUKE!" and out it came. I lunged to pull him off the white comforter. Ethan puked all over the bed, the floor, the computer, his new snake, the hall, and the bathroom. Ah yes, weekend get-a-way! In the meantime Patrick realizes he has "lost" the video camera and even though puke is everywhere takes Alex to go search the arcade for the camera. Coincidence, I think not. I cleaned Ethan up and called housekeeping. What a mess! While cleaning the mess, I found the video camera. Lost my ___ but credit for creativity in avoiding puke clean up. All is now well, the kids are in bed, Patrick and I crack the beer cans- yeah us for remembering there was a fridge in the room. We settle into bed at 10:30 for a good night sleep.

HA! 10:50 the fun begins! First Ethan, who wakes up Alex, then Alex who wakes Ethan back up, etc. This went on until 2:30AM! We do have a funny video of the morning wake up though :)

We were blessed to have two napping children the entire way home and no wait on the GWB! What a fun get-a-way despite the comedy we call life!