When Maddie turned 10 we went to see Wicked in Chicago. When Chloe turned 10 we went to a Cubs game in Chicago. When Katie turned 10 we went to Medieval Times in Dallas. Now it’s Millie’s turn. Tomorrow we’re headed to Great Wolf Lodge.

Millie is the caboose of our runaway train and she’s always been rather go-with-the-flow. She’s never complained about this and generally just accepts anything we ask her to because that’s what the 4th born does, right?

She’s been so excited about this trip, though. Almost uncharacteristically excited. And for the longest time I had no idea what we were going to do. My original intention was to take each girl to Chicago, get her ears pierced, check out the American Girl store, see their first Broadway play, and just hang around the city together. That plan changed when it was Chloe’s turn because there wasn’t anything playing that weekend that was appropriate to take her to. Turns out, taking her to a Cubs game fit her personality better anyway. We moved to Oklahoma City after that which took Chicago out of the equation because these trips have to be quick turn-arounds. There’s nothing quick about getting from Oklahoma City to Chicago and back, so Dallas became the default. Again, I looked up theater options and came up pretty dry when it was Katie’s turn. Medieval Times ended up being a huge highlight for her and she still talks about it now.

So in the end, what we ended up doing coincided pretty perfectly with each girls’ preference and persona anyway. That’s part of the reason I was starting to get worried about this trip with Millie…what if I didn’t find the perfect destination match for her? I racked my brain. What are her favorite things to do anyway? Watch movies and swim.

Swim.

The girl loves Great Wolf Lodge. I asked her what she would think about going there and that being the THING. She lit up like the sun. Bingo! And then I worried because that place isn’t cheap and most of the deals I found still didn’t make sense for a party of 2. My patience was rewarded, though, because eventually I landed a deal for 2 that would make it not that much more than staying in another nice hotel would have been. We’ll still get her ears pierced and check out the American Girl store, but we won’t be doing much in the city while we’re there because we’ll be tubing down slides almost the whole time.

She made a paper chain 30 days ago and was so giddy today that there was only one day left. And you know what? This trip is coming at a good time. I’m looking forward to the get-away with her as well. I’m hoping it’s as meaningful as the other trips have been. I’m also hoping it’s super fun. And I’m also hoping it’s pretty restful.

Here’s to my fourth tenth birthday trip, this one with my baby. Man, I love these girls.