Mimi, being the sneaky lady that she is, booked our family a weekend treat at the Great Wolf Lodge to celebrate our favorite Doc turning 60!!! His birthday actually isn't until September, but this was the only time we could all get together due to the craziness of the fall season. To be truthful, I didn't tell the kids about it either so they wouldn't let any secrets out of the bag...so it ended up being a surprise trip for them too!
Shaye and I met up at a restaurant with the kids and signs waiting to yell surprise when Doc arrived...
Then we headed over for a little wolf howling fun filled weekend :). The Clayton Crew hasn't experienced the Great Wolf Lodge yet and let's just say it didn't disappoint...we absolutely LOVED the place! We arrived on a Thursday afternoon, so after we dressed up the little wolf pups...
and unloaded, these wiggly cousins could hardly contain their excitement to hit up the water park right away!
The littles loved being measured everyday for a colored band to let them know which rides they could or could not ride.
On Thursday evening after dinner, we showered off the kids, put on their pj's, and let them go to the story hour...
All the different characters eventually came out to help a Great Wolf Lodge Guide read the kids a book which of course they loved. Kason was especially tickled that there was a kid's cabin in Mimi & Doc's room where the big kids slept...
He sure thought it was the coolest thing ever to have his own cabin with his own TV to watch cartoons in bed...haha! No worries though, that wasn't holding any of the kids back from hitting the water park first thing the next morning!
I loved how there were so many options for a variety of ages at the water park. One of the BIG hits for all the cousins was the wave pool...
Kason, Zoe, and Sadie were hilarious to watch as they jumped over, dove into, or was washed away by the crashing waves.
This was about the only area Max would get in the water and splash around a bit...
To be honest, the whole water park experience was a bit too much stimulation for him. He handled it wonderfully though and didn't really complain, he just ended up spending most of the time in his wheelchair. One of my favorite spots in the water park was a big water fort...
that was a multi-story tree house with water splashing and dumping everywhere...
and then at the very top, all the kids could ride down a twisting, turning water slide!
This little lady even surprised me with her timid self and zipped down those slides in style...
whether it was laying down on her stomach or sitting up! ...And let's not kid ourselves, us adults were every bit as excited to ride all these slides right alongside our kids! So much so, that the big boys couldn't ride enough of the big tube slides in the back of the park with their favorite little man...
I will say that we were spoiled once again by having a cabana all day for the group on Friday...
Since we pretty much opened and closed the water park that day (oh yes friends, nearly 12 hours of water splashing fun!), it was nice to have a gathering spot as well as a place to bring food & drink items for a picnic lunch and to snack on. I also especially LOVE that the hotel set up a pack-n-play for Max to have some quiet time where he actually ended up taking a nap.
The other areas of the water park we spent some time at was in the outside pool, but since I only took pictures for about an hour one morning before I put it away for the day I didn't get any out there. The kids really enjoyed it outside, especially Zoe because most of the pool was shallow enough that she could touch and swim around. Inside, there was a toddler version of a water park, that was a blast also...
Loads of splashing, water gun shooting, dumping water, and riding slides over & over & over took place here!
We couldn't let the weekend come to an end before singing to Doc...
All the little wolf pups crowded around their favorite wolf and helped Doc blow out his Happy Birthday candles!!!
Once we got the littlest rascals in bed for the night, we let the oldest stay up to open presents with Doc and watch a firework display out of the bedroom window. This was probably the funniest gift "from" the grandkids...
Doc was such a good sport and wore it with pride :)!
Thank you Mimi for not just surprising Doc, but the whole family with an incredible weekend away filled with precious memories! The entire Clayton Crew had an absolute blast. So much so that our little howling wolves are already asking when we can go back to the Great Wolf Lodge again! We love you and hope our favorite Doc has the happiest of birthdays!!!
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