Our 2014 Summer Vacation

We try to take a family vacation every year. Sometimes it’s hard to plan due to James’ schedule, but I can usually put together a fun weekend trip. We really wanted to take a Disney cruise this year. James and I used to travel frequently and really enjoy cruises and the Caribbean. I wanted to do something that the kids would enjoy and the Disney cruise seemed to be the perfect compromise. Unfortunately, I only knew James’ schedule as of the summer and the summer rates were just too costly for our family right now. So, instead of skipping vacation altogether, I planned a long weekend and packed as much fun into it as possible.

I knew I wanted to go to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, VA. James and I both went there frequently as children and we have great memories of the amusement park. During the Spring, I began seeing commercials for Great Wolf Lodge. It is a rustic, cabin style resort with a large indoor water park and many other amenities such as restaurants, a spa, an arcade, bowling, mini golf and more. Basically, it is a kids paradise. I began doing some research and decided that it would be great for our family. I booked a long weekend a couple of weeks before the start of school.

We headed out early in the morning and drove straight to Busch Gardens. It is about a 4 hour drive with kids. The kids had a blast. Brady had never seen anything so awesome. He went on every single ride that he was tall enough for. He was upset that he was too short for the big roller coasters, but he got to go on one in Sesame Street’s Forest of Fun. Cecilia loved the Forest but Brady concluded that it was for babies and that he would rather explore the rest of the park. If you’ve never been to Busch Gardens it is divided into different “countries.” There is Italy, England, France, Ireland and Germany. Each country has different themed rides, shops and restaurants. My personal favorite is Germany, but they are all fun. We ate lunch in Italy and I don’t think I’ve ever seen my kids devour food the way they did! It was a hot day but there are plenty of places to cool off in the shade. Cecilia and I didn’t go on many rides so we were thankful for those shady spots!

After spending the day at Busch Gardens, we headed to the hotel. We weren’t even out of the parking lot before the kids were asleep. Great Wolf was only a couple of miles away so I sat in the car while the kids napped and James checked in. Upon check in, you receive cute wolf ears and bracelets. The bracelets unlock the door to your room and also serve as your pass to the water park. We got a pizza and by the time we toured the lodge, it was almost Cecilia’s bedtime. So James took Brady to the water park until closing time, and I set out to get Cecilia to sleep. On a side note, she got out of her crib last week. I took the Pack ‘n Play hoping she would sleep in it, but she was too excited. I put her in the big bed with me and turned the lights off but she ended up staying up until 10:00.

The next morning the kids were up, as Brady called it “at the crap of dawn.” This was 6:00 am. The water park didn’t open until 9:00 so we watched TV and got Dunkin’ Donuts while we waited. We were the first ones at the water park and I was able to grab a table right in front of the toddler pool. James and Brady went off to do surfing and the major water slides. Cecilia had a blast splashing and playing in the water fountains. Once he started getting tired, Brady came over to play with her. He showed her how to go down the small slides and she was right behind him. She was the littlest one on the slides, because she has to do everything big brother does. We went back to the room for lunch and a little quiet time.

After our break, Brady wanted to play mini golf. He has always loved golfing and loves a chance to check out a new course. We (tried) to golf, but Cecilia thought it was her job to retrieve the balls after each person’s turn, so there wasn’t much point in keeping score. Although, I kept track in my head and I did beat James J After golf, Mama wanted some outside pool time. I got a lounge chair, a giant frozen drink and slathered on some sunscreen. James played in the pool with the kids and helped Cecilia with the outdoor water slide. As they were playing, a kid about Brady’s age reached for a Cheeto and fell through the slat in his lounge chair. I immediately started laughing (hey, he didn’t get hurt and he was laughing!) but the kids mom didn’t think it was so funny, so I decided it might be time to pack up and head in.

I had been researching restaurants and decided I wanted to eat at Food For Thought. It got great Google reviews and the menu sounded good. Seafood is my favorite and I had narrowed it down to a couple of dishes. So we showered and headed to dinner. If you are considering going to The Great Wolf Lodge, I would highly recommend taking a hair dryer. The website states that they come standard in the rooms and in an effort to prove James wrong about my supposed over-packing tendencies, I was determined to pack all my stuff in ONE backpack. The hairdryer wouldn’t fit, so I thought I would use the one in the room. Wrong. There was a hole in the wall where it had been removed. After requesting one 4 times, and never receiving it, I had to go to dinner with wet hair in a ponytail. Yuck. With what we paid for the room, someone should have come in the room and personally styled my hair! Anyway, that was the only disappointment of the trip.

On the way to dinner, the kids fell asleep. We once again sat in the car to let them nap. By the time we went in to the restaurant, there was a long wait so we waited outside and chatted with other families. There were a group of ladies that drove 45 minutes every week to eat there. They even gave us a discount card and offered opinions on what to order. Once our name was called, we browsed the menu and placed our orders. James got shrimp and grits, I got a crab cake served on a spinach and cheese stuffed portobello and the kids got mac and cheese and a cheeseburger. While we waited, they served sweet potato corn bread. Yes, you read that right! Talk about melt-in-your-mouth. The restaurant was so good and I highly recommend it to anyone.

After dinner, we went to the arcade. Brady loves some arcade games and I have to admit, so do I. Cecilia loved all the lights and sounds. Brady ended up trading in his tickets for an airplane, a bracelet for himself and a glitter bracelet for Cecilia. We headed up to bed and this time we all slept like babies.

The next morning we had to check out at 11:00, but you can use the water park all day. We headed to the park hoping to get some sillies out before driving home. Brady talked me into going on a crazy slide with him and Cecilia went on the little slides about 50 times. By 10:30 or so, they were ready to go. So, we had an early lunch and packed up the car. Cecilia had picked out an Abby Cadabby t-shirt at Busch Gardens and Brady still had to pick out his souvenir. He browsed the gift shop carefully before choosing a snow globe. He’s funny like that-he doesn’t want toys or t-shirts. He told me he wanted a special keepsake. So we got the snow globe, checked out, and headed back to the great state of North Carolina.

We had a fantastic time and would love to return some day! Busch Gardens and Great Wolf Lodge are great destinations for families who like excitement and adventure.