brimming over

Winter Vacation 2010! part 2

Part 2 of our winter vacation was a short trip to the Great Wolf Lodge in Concord, NC.  The claim to fame of the GWL is their indoor water park.  Awesome! 

By a stroke of bad luck, the two best roads from Chattanooga to Charlotte are currently closed due to rock slides that happened in the fall.  That meant our trip from one city to the other either meant going all the way back to Atlanta (yuck!) or heading up to Knoxville and going over the mountains.  We chose the (slightly) more scenic route.  Despite the freezing weather, the roads were no longer (very) icy and we had a fairly easy drive and arrived just in time for the kids to get a little bit of water park action on Sunday night.

We had a cool themed room called a "Kid Cabin" that included a small room for the kids with a bunk bed and a single bed.  The cabin area had log cabin printed wallpaper complete with friendly critters, a window, and a small tv for the kids.  They really enjoyed having their own space.  We had a larger area with a queen size bed, a sitting area, a balcony, and a bigger tv.  Unfortunately, the theming was where all the money went because the beds were horribly uncomfortable and the pillows were like rocks!  Ugh. 

And those little details became a lot more important when I suddenly came down with what we now suspect was the flu.  Bummer.  I started feeling sick at bedtime Sunday night and never even left the room on Monday.  I did get to spend a little time at the water park on Tuesday before we left.

Craig and the kids spent all day Monday having a blast at the water park, though!  They went on all the slides, played in the wave pool, raced on the mat racers, and generally had a terrific time.  When I asked what their favorite thing was, both boys said the giant dumping bucket that periodically filled up with water and dumped hundreds on gallons down on everything, and Amy Grace said it was the big green slide that you raft down in a multi-person raft. 

All-in-all, we loved the GWL and would love to go back some day!  Visiting a water park while it was 32 degrees outdoors was a lot of fun and we highly recommend it!

Hanging out at the lobby fire place.

Wave pool

Boys on the mat racers.

Amy Grace and Daddy liked the mat racers, too!

The boys on the big green slide with a homeschool friend (and his dad) they met.

Wahoo!!

My little frog hopping across the pond.

Goodbye, Great Wolf Lodge!

 
  

Winter Vacation 2010! part 1

Because Craig had a very busy summer and fall at work getting a big project up and running, we struggled to find a stretch of open time for a family vacation and ended up never taking one at all.  Bummer. 

But the upside turned out to be that we took a winter vacation to make up for it!  And in doing so, we were able to do two things we've wanted to do for quite a while: 1) visit Emily and David in Chattanooga and 2) visit the Great Wolf Lodge in Corcord, NC. 

Our departure was a bit delayed due to the frigid weather (everywhere!) and snow (in northern Georgia and Chattanooga) but we arrived at the Geyer's last Friday evening about the time David got home from work.  Lucky Emily had a snow day, so no work! 

They have the loveliest home and made us feel so welcome!  It's hard to believe they are newlyweds and have only lived in this house for a year and a half.  It's just the perfect size, with plenty of space, and decorated beautifully.  Emily has always been great about taking photos and I had fun looking at all the framed pictures she has in the house.  Amazingly, they had beds for all of us and we were thrilled not to be schlepping sleeping bags and pillows on our trip! 

They also have the cutest dog-a bichon frise named Harley.  We all fell in love with him and enjoyed playing with him all weekend.  He's so fun and playful!  Harley and his little girlfriend may have puppies soon and there is a scheme afoot for one of his offspring to become ours.  :)

Unbelievably, I didn't manage to take any pictures of the house or Harley.  And very few of Emily and David.  Drat.

We had such a terrific time!  My list of Chattanooga highlights:

• eating dinner at the Geyer's favorite Mexican "joint".  They have the most divine flour tortilla chips!!  I wish I could eat them all the time.
• staying up most of the night chatting with Emily about everything under the sun.  It was so good to catch up and share like old times.
• wondering why there was no water in the upstairs sink (or tub) at 4 a.m. but not waking the men to get their opinion.  In the morning we figured out the pipes were frozen.  David and Craig worked on getting the water flowing again and Emily made us pancakes!
• visiting the aquarium (in detail) and seeing all the water creatures.  We were all fascinated, and Emily and David were very patient with us!  Not among my favorite things was dealing with grouchy Wesley and Amy Grace in the gift shops.  Boo.
• seeing Ruby Falls again-especially since David's passes made it free!  Craig, Emily, and the boys kept up a running sarcastic descriptive narrative throughout the tour in an effort to humorize the cheesiness of the cave.  Fortunately, the falls themselves are awe-inspiring and overcome the tacky-folksy tourist trap build-up that precedes them.
• playing Rock Band for the first time.  Emily and David were convinced we'd know most of the songs but there were lots that were totally foreign to us, too.  They really pick some obscure music for those games.  The boys really caught on quickly-pretty soon Parker was killing the drums and Wesley was rockin' the guitar.  Unfortunately, that left me, Craig, and Emily to screech out the lyrics.  Um, not good.  LOL!

Scenes from the aquarium...

It's hard to tell in the picture but these fish were hilarious.  It was like Craig was the Fish Whisperer and they couldn't resist his call.  As a group, they followed his every move!

It reminded me of the crazy school of fish in Finding Nemo:

 

Oddly, no pictures of Ruby Falls.  Emily blogged about our visit here and has a couple at the falls and the house. 

We had a wonderful time in Chattanooga and with the Geyers and cannot wait to visit again!  Hopefully we'll get a chance to go when it is warmer and more outdoor entertainment options are open to us.  Thank you, Emily and David!  We love you!

Part 2 of Winter Vacation 2010 to come!