During Fall break this year, we decided to make a trip for the smaller kids. Terra researched and found a place in Phoenix called the Great Wolf Lodge. This is a chain type place that is located in multiple cities around the country. They have guest rooms (hotel) and an indoor water park with activities geared for kids. We looked at schedules and planned a time when we could all make it. As it turned out, and we got closer to going, Kyle couldn't go due to working and Rachel couldn't go due to Homecoming Week at school. So Terra and I decided that since we took the older kids on a Colorado River rafting trip earlier this year, this would be a little kid trip.

It started with me taking Thursday off from work and when I arrived home on Wednesday evening, we loaded up the car and headed to Phoenix. Our plan was to drive up and play around for a few hours prior to going to bed. As luck would have it, the interstate was closed around Coolidge due to a wreck and we had to drive up through Tucson and then Florence. We didn't end up getting to the place until around 9:00 at night.

The next day we started off hitting the water park hard as soon as it opened. This was the first time either of us had been there. They had a splash pad type thing with things to play on and around with controllable water and a few small water slides, an indoor pool that would be a wave pool 5 minutes out of every 15, a lazy river you could float around, 4 indoor water slides (two requiring you to carry your own tubes to the start) (and 2 larger slides that seated up to 5 people that had automatic tube transportation), a small obstacle course, an outdoor pool and hot tub. The weather was really pleasant, but admit-ably we were indoors the vast majority of the time. Serra took a while to warm up the water slides. It wasn't until later in the afternoon did she feel comfortable enough to go down some of the smaller slides by her self.

Landen and I played on the tubes most of the day. We were fans of the ones that you had to self transport to the head of the slide. There were two choices, we could each take our own tube and head down or we could take a double tube and go down together. We did both, but ended up liking the double tube the best. All 5 of us went down the larger slides many times. Serra would enjoy it, even if she kept her eyes closed for the majority of the ride.

Serra really loved being in the water. She also really enjoyed her goggles. I am not sure if it is a youth thing, or if it is our youth things, but our littler kids have all really enjoyed being in and around water. As they get older it wears off, but when they are little it is hard to keep them out of the water. They would all go out and jump in the mud puddles in our yard after rains - I suppose this is normal little kid behavior. The outdoor pools were also tailored to small children. They varies from 0 inches deep and tapered to 4 feet deep at the deepest parts.

We stayed there for 2 nights and played for 1 day. If we went back and did it again, we would do the stay a little different, but everyone had a fun time. I enjoyed it much more than I was anticipating. Terra seemed to also have a fun time. The kids loved it. The best part was the house was still standing when we retunred home. I think they only ate ceral while we were gone, but that is another story.

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