After a tiny family birthday celebration at home, Millie and I headed south. We checked into Great Wolf Lodge and have been having a super great time. She wanted to get the ear piercing out of the way, so we took a swimming break and went to the mall for a bit. Then back to the lodge for more swimming. Then dinner. Then more swimming.
The meaningful and the fun are both happening. The rest? Not so much. But that’s okay. She’s having a blast and that’s what matters.
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.
We finally made it! It took all summer to get here and we’ve been looking forward to it all summer, but we’re here: Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine, Texas. This is our second time and we have high hopes for a fantastic couple of days. I have slides calling to me now, or kids calling to me from the slides, rather, so peace out for now.
We’ve had our pool up and going for two weeks now and it’s proven to be just as much fun this year as it was last year, so WHEW on that. Yay for a pool in the backyard, even if it is one like this. Still keeps kids cool even if it isn’t a $30K fancy schmancy saltwater pool complete with gurgling fountain and tanned cabana boy, but I digress.
In other news, I told the girls that if they did 30 minutes of exercise a minimum of 4 times a week every single week this summer I would take them to Great Wolf Lodge right before school starts back up in August. They. Are. Motivated. Granted, we’re on day 2. But I’m in the market for a discount stay at Great Wolf Lodge in either Grapevine, TX or Kansas City, so if the Grouponers and Living Socialites among you happen to see a deal be sure to let me know. I got burned out on the deal emails and unsubscribed to a bunch of them a while ago…
I’m committed to doing the same regimen with the girls, though. Tonight I was prepping to do Zumba Fitness Core for the Wii and just as the dumb thing was about to start, one of my kids accidentally hit me in the head HARD with a broom handle. So. I had to leave the room for a little while and I will say that I sort of cried a little too and then I didn’t want to do Zumba Fitness Core for the Wii anymore. Instead I decided to run outside by myself. In the dark. At 9:30. So I started and I made it .44 of a mile before the lightning and the barking dogs and the thoughts of aliens in the dark got the better of me and I came back in the house and ate a cookie.
The end.
Half-Pint House 