Sometimes I wonder how (or why) we do all that we do. I’m playing catch up on all things blog posts and I’m exhausted just looking back to remember all the things. And yet between playing catch up, I’m coming up with things to add to our we should do this! list. It’s for the memories, right?! It’s definitely for the memories why we go to Great Wolf Lodge. Brian calls it parental purgatory. I’m not a big fan. I enjoy seeing the kids have a blast and it’s always nice to get away for a night, to take me out of my never-ending to do list. But I’d much rather make memories and get away elsewhere. Kids, it’s for the kids. They LOVE the place.
We were supposed to go to GWL last January and cancelled it because our friend whom we were going with had something come up. Or maybe it was weather? I really can’t remember why we cancelled. Whatever the reason, we had a credit that was set to expire in January if we didn’t book something. I’m old school and keep a calendar on my computer that isn’t linked with anything. During summer, I updated my calendar with all the things, including the middle school calendar since Laine decided she wanted to try it out. They have random Fridays off for teacher work days, and I added them all to my calendar.
When it was time to book GWL, I picked a Thursday-Friday, with the Friday being one of the no school days. I coordinated with another friend who also wanted to take her kids to GWL. That’s when she told me I had the wrong no school Friday down. She had just trusted me and booked, because I am rarely ever wrong when it comes to schedules. It’s kind of my thing. I’m even surprised I messed that up. Eh, it happens. Apparently. I still would have taken my kids and just pulled them; I couldn’t care less about them missing school for experiences. But my friend’s kiddo had a conflict and we moved it to the following week, with the no school Friday. Which didn’t matter anyway, we went Wednesday-Thursday. Our friends were staying Wednesday-Friday, utilizing the no school Friday but avoiding the weekend.
Long story short, we pulled the kids from their respective schools at noon on Wednesday. But not before going to Blaise’s robotics event. Not many parents were there. Maybe I’ve been in the homeschool bubble for too long where parents are around. After collecting all the kids, we went home to eat lunch and pack up, and we took our sweet time. It was a random Wednesday—no concern about traffic. We were wrong. We left about 2:30pm. Check in at GWL is 4pm. It’s only about 1.5 hours away. Sometimes quicker without traffic.
There was traffic. We didn’t get there until close to 5:30pm. And the water park closed at 8pm; I thought it was 9pm. It used to be 9pm. They’re doing renovations. I didn’t do my research because we’ve been going to GWL for years and we have it down. Rather, had it down.
Robotics!
Whatever. We checked in and the kids quickly suited up. This gave us just over two hours in the water park. This was sufficient. Even when we have ample time, it’s around the two-hour mark when the kids need a water park break. The all dispersed in the water park while I found a table and settled in. I wasn’t into the water park this time. I was in charge of watching our stuff and ordering pizza come dinnertime. They do have a bar in the water park. Smart. But I didn’t partake. I should have. If there’s anywhere to drink, it’s GWL.
Parental purgatory.
At the table, I people watched. Mostly all positive thoughts. Parents having fun with their kids. Teenagers living it up in groups. Babies in their adorable suits. Grandparents enjoying their time with smiling grandchildren. Everyone was [mostly] happy. Laughing and smiling all over the place. But I’m always amazed at how many people there are, and how few people I see going to the bathrooms. I don’t even want to think about this. The wave pool was shut down for about a half-hour while we were there, thanks to a kids who didn’t have control of their bowels. This is why I don’t water in the water park. And reading Reddit (probably too much) about all the complaints from people hooking up and medical professionals, about how dirty bodies are. I try not to go down this train of thought but I can’t help it at GWL. Thankfully there is chlorine galore. I haven’t read up on how much it kills but I’m hopeful that stuff is deadly to all germs.
It was close to 7pm when I ordered pizzas. The kids were all about the water park and had no interest in eating. Their friends were there and they wanted to get in as much as they could before 8pm. I figured I should have pizza for when they come around. For an overpriced everything resort, the pizza is surprisingly cheap. The kids all managed to make it to the table for a slice or two, and then around 8pm they all came to the table to dry off and get ready to head back to our room. Even with the water park closing, they were done.
There was a dance party at 8pm in the lobby. The kids changed into their jams and we went down for the party. It was packed. I don’t know why?! I always think of Nan, when we’d be out during the work day and it was busy, she’d say, “Don’t people work?” Haha. I laugh at this because I think the same thing often, and yet we’re there. Saige and Maive danced their hearts out! I even caught Blaise dancing a bit with Maive.
Dance party!
It was nearing 9pm and Maive was exhausted. Baby also. I decided to put them down and Brian took Blaise, Laine, and Saige to the arcade with their buddies. The younger gals were out quick. I had some much needed quiet alone time. The bonus of GWL is they have ample rooms large enough for our family—without having to sneak a kid or two inside. The room we get has a couch with a pull-out bed, two queen beds and a bathroom, and then a separate bedroom with a king bed and its own bathroom. Brian and I really like hotel rooms (and cabins) with a separate bedroom for us. We love the kids and all, but we need that hour or two to decompress before bed without kids around. Especially at GWL.
Brian and the big kids came back close to 10pm and it was bedtime. It had been a full day. Brian and I decompressed and chatted a while before bed. It always amazes me that after nearly 29 years, we still find things to talk about. We had a talking session in bed at the cabin earlier this week also. Nothing in particular but we can chat it up, haha. We also had a separate room there.
The plan Thursday was to visit the State Capitol. This is what I was excited about more than GWL. Not because I love government or anything but it was something different. Baby had been wanting to go. She’s taking a US states class, and each week they talk about a different state and all the things, including each state’s capitol.
We grabbed McDonald’s for breakfast. Why is it so expensive now?! Not that we’re big McDonald’s eaters but on road trips, it tends to be an easy way to feed everyone. For breakfast at a fast food joint, it was like $68 for the seven of us. And even worse, they didn’t even have anyone to take our order. We had to use the touch screen. Yay, capitalism. I’ve walked out of McDonald’s before when that’s the case. But we had hungry kids. Brian manned the touchscreen.
We took up two tables and managed to get everyone fed without much complaint. Sometimes I wonder if I have a please talk to me sign above my head. The worker cleaning tables decided we should have a conversation. Never mind I’m sitting with kids, eating breakfast. He was nice and all, but I was in no mood for friendly chitchat. But I sucked it up because he seemed off. Loudly, he was telling me how nice it was to see kids not on devices. There was another mom with one kid, both sitting at a table staring at their phones. Haha, the worker. I don’t actually think he was trying to be passive aggressive. Again, he was off. He went on to say how kids these days never play outside anymore. How his sister’s kids spend their entire day watching YouTube and playing video games. He doesn’t like this. He misses the ’80s when tech wasn’t readily available. I managed to get through this conversation as the kids were finishing up. We left for Starbucks across the street. Brian needed good coffee.
There was some discussion in the car while Brian got his coffee, perhaps pressure, with Baby in the car about skipping the Capitol. She was a hard nope. We were going. I had looked online the week before, and they have public tours on the hour. It was 10:40am. We were hoping to make the 11am tour. In my head, it was make the tour or miss out and wait for the next hour tour. Thankfully we made it just in time for the 11am tour.
Capitol kiddos!
The tours are led by docents. Docents tend to be retired folks. The sweet older woman leading the 11am tour was so incredibly quiet and slow. Good for her for being a docent but it wasn’t working for me. As we stood there not hearing what she was saying—it wasn’t my old ears, even the kids couldn’t hear—we noticed pamphlets. One said Self-Guided Tour. Sold. We grabbed a pamphlet and set out on our own tour. Thinking back, duh, of course we could do self-guided tours. It’s a public building. I should have realized this; we used to go to the State Capitol in Sacramento. In fact, Baby has been but probably doesn’t remember. Perhaps we’ll go when we’re down this summer… if she’s still in her states phase.
Okay, the self-guided tour was THE way to go. We scored. Using the map in the self-guided tour pamphlet, we started to check out the different offices. Nothing really exciting other than admiring the building’s architecture. Until we made it into the State Treasurer’s office. It was empty, there were no other visitors. Only two women who were working were at their desks. We nosed around the office lobby and then I left with four of the kiddos to the interior hallways. Brian and Baby were lagging behind, and I went back in to see what the hang up was. Baby was interested in an old calculator and Brian started telling her about how taxes work, and how the state uses the money. He asked one of the women for a treasurer’s report. The nice woman got one, and Brian and Baby were looking though the report.
Our district represented in the Treasurer’s office. And an old calculator that caught Baby’s attention.
By now, the rest of us were back in the office and that’s when the nice woman asked us if we wanted to see the vault. Yep! She took all seven of us to their break room which led to the vault, that is no longer used as a vault. She told us the history of the vault, and how it’s the size of a school bus. When they installed the vault, it was after the Capitol was built, and they had to tear down walls to get the sucker installed. Then she let each kid spin the handle to open the massive door. And then we got to go inside. It’s pretty much a storage room. They did have really old—early 1900s—treasurer reports that she showed us. The font was SO small, haha. She showed us this apparatus inside that the vault makers included. It’s a outlet for smoke (or CO2 maybe) should there ever be a fire inside the vault. Basically a personal tour. It was really cool! And she was super nice.
The vault!
Then she asked if we wanted to go into the State Treasurer’s office. He was out of the office this day. Sure! She took us across the hall from the vault to his office, and we got to nose around. Giving us tidbits of information in the office. We admired the old flag that had 42 stars to signify Washington being added as state. And there was the emblem stamping machine that was super old (and still used I think?). Each kid left with a postcard-sized card with the official state emblem and the state treasurer’s signature. I really couldn’t care less about the state treasurer but this was a really cool, personalized experience. I don’t think this was part of the public tour. Especially since the public tour we ditched had about 20 people.
State treasurer’s office.
We nosed about the Capitol some more before making our way upstairs to the viewing areas of the legislature and congress. The legislature wasn’t in session but it was still cool to see the chambers. Congress was in session, and we sat in for a few minutes amongst the reporters. Congress was talking gun control. Before entering both chambers, there is a metal detector. They didn’t make us go through one for the empty legislature chambers but we had to for congress. Makes sense I suppose.
Legislature and congress chambers.
Back downstairs, we admired the statues and state seal in the center of the building. We hit the gift shop next, down in the basement. We let each of the kids pick out something to take home, as long as it was Capitol-related—nothing you can buy on Amazon. This was hard for Maive because they had stuffies galore.
State seal and regal kiddos!
State seal and the ceiling above.
George Washington and serious faces.
Our parking was only for two hours and we needed to get back to the car. I know parking patrol is on it around state buildings. Walking to the car, one of the security men told us it was Dairy Day at the Capitol, and they were giving away free ice cream. He then apologized for telling us but he figured the kids should know, haha. Blaise and I went to the car in case the parking patrol came while Brian took the four girls to Dairy Day. They all came back with milk, string cheese, and ice cream. Lobbying in action!
Dairy day!
We hit the road around 1pm and drove straight home. No traffic. We were back in time for Laine to head to gymnastics and Saige to dance. I tend to plan getaways around the kiddos’ activities over school. Is that bad?! Haha, nah. They learned way more in those two hours at the State Capitol than they would have sitting at school all day. Of course Baby wants to go back. I’m sure we will soon enough.
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