The Great Wolf Lodge...

On May 11th and 12th we took the girls to the Great Wolf Lodge in Charlotte for their birthday gifts.  It was a belated birthday gift because we had to find a weekend where we were available and the rates were lower.  The Great Wolf Lodge is a hotel that has a huge, indoor waterpark and can only be used by the guests at the hotel.  We arrived around dinnertime on Friday night and spent about 2.5 hrs. in the waterpark that evening.  The lines were very short on Friday night so we wore ourselves out going up stairs and riding the slides.  We enjoyed a big buffet breakfast at the lodge and then headed back to the waterpark for a full day of fun.  We stayed until about 3:30 on Saturday and then grabbed dinner at Texas Roadhouse and headed home.  It was a great weekend and the kids thoroughly enjoyed it.  Tony and I were a little worn out afterwards but we agreed it was really fun.  

 Reece and I enjoyed the storytime on Friday night.  Regan and Riley stayed in the waterpark until it closed while Reece got on her PJ's and met Oliver Raccoon and listened to a story.

 Reece loving on a bear in the giftshop. 

 Here is one of the view's of the waterpark.  This is a huge fort the kids can play in that has slides, water squirters everywhere, and a huge bucket of water that dumps 1,000 gallons of water about every 10 minutes.

 Regan and Riley were both tall enough to ride all the rides.  We were so proud of their bravery and that they rode the most thrilling ride called the "Howling Tornado."  It was quite the waterslide with a dark tunnel, very steep drop, and a funnel that you end up swirling around in and getting splashed.  They both did it twice and we believe they would have done it more if the line was shorter.  Tony and I enjoyed it too.  Reece was not tall enough to do the "Howling Tornado" but she could do everything else, which she did. 

 Here is the activity pool and another view of the kid fort with slides.

 Riley enjoyed going across these very slippery lilypads.  Tony dared me to do it too, so I did, luckily he did not get any photos or video. :)  It was challenging especially since the height was set for kids, but I made it across without falling. 

 Reece gave it a try too with some help from Daddy.

 No need for daddy's help anymore...

 This is the lobby of the lodge.

 Here is the stage for storytime.

Here is the 1,000 gallon bucket dumping water on Tony and the girls.  They LOVED this bucket.