Hoooowling good time!

To end off our vacation we decided to do something really special for the kids!

We booked a 1 night stay at Great Wolf Lodge.

 

It was very expensive (it took up half of our budget), and we didn't get anything close to a deal (in fact the price went up by $60 in the time I was looking to when I actually booked.) I hate not getting a good deal, but I have heard great things about the resort, so we booked it to finish off our vacation.

What we went for mainly, was the waterpark. The waterpark is only for hotel guests, and for one night of stay you get access to 2 days of waterpark. The kids were ecstatic! They love playing in the water.

 

I packed a whole bag of waterpark stuff separately so we had everything grab-able until check-in time. We had access to the waterpark from 1pm, even though check-in was 4pm.

So out came the life jackets and bathing suits!!!

The place is big and we didn't get a chance to see alot of it. The kids found what they liked. A shallow pool with basketball net, as well as the wave pool. We dragged the kids to explore the rest of what they had, but they knew what they wanted.
We didn't bring Nick's walker in (trying to keep the bulk down) but I brought it just for the water park (more about it in tomorrow's post).
For now Nick was good in his 'water AFOs' and his crocs.

We dried off in time for dinner and to check out our suite!
We have been talking about this suite and upgraded so that Katheryn could have her BUNK BED!! But a bunk bed in a seperate area with its own tv.

Katheryn 'called' the top bunk, but that's where both of them played from the time we came into the suite. We stayed in the KidKamp suite.

The kids loved the suite! It was definitely worth the upgrade.

They played reasonably well together. They both said that they wanted to sleep on the top bunk, but Nick slept on the bottom bunk for only the time he was asleep and then it was back up top!

Great Wolf Lodge has a number of things beyond the waterpark and the bunk beds.
We weren`t there long enough to check out everything. Next time we go i want to definitely stay for 2 nights. They had a midway, spa, exercise room, mini golf and a interactive magic game for older kids. They also have characters that walk around, but with Nick`s experience with mascots, we stayed clear. There was also a choice of places to eat, and it`s own cafe. There were also 2 gift shops, including 1 in the waterpark for water needs.

Everywhere you go in the hotel there is something to do. The lobby has a number of interactive displays with some animals and a big tree, all of which talk.

There are hand prints everywhere to touch and make the characters talk. Katheryn thought it was great! (Nick got scared by them).

Each of us have wrist bands that show we are guests, get us into our room and let us charge things to the room. (Kyle and I only activated that on our bands). The kids also got a second wrist band that says what slides they are allowed to go on.

For dinner we sat so we could see the waterpark. They had a great buffet that had something for everyone.

After dinner they have story time for the kids in the main lobby. Nickolas was so exhausted, he was in going out. So he stayed in the suite with Kyle while Katheryn and I went for the show and story.

Katheryn had her pj's, Tinkerbell (her doll) and her new wolf slippers.
We picked them up because Katheryn had originally gone for story time in bare feet, but part of it was outside. Before we even got to the cash register we had people asking about those slippers (we got the last pair). She loves them - and they even howl.

This is part of the show. All of the characters have parts, tell jokes and move.
Katheryn couldn't take her eyes off the show.

The last part of the show was outside under the stars.
They read Mortimer by one of our favorite Canadian authors; Robert Munsch.

 

Clang, clang, rattle-bing-bang 

Gonna make my noise all day!

 

Both kids slept well their last night, exhaustion from too much fun!

One day left to go, we head home tomorrow after a whole day in the water!



Niagara Falls - Animal Encounters

Today was the day that we FINALLY got to go to Marine Land!

This is the day that started our whole maybe we should go on vacation idea last month.

 

Everyone was so excited for today. Every time any of the Marine Land Ads came on the TV Katheryn will jump up and down and say "This is my favorite song!" And I was saying "This is my favorite song too!" And Nickolas says "This is mommy and Katheryn's favorite song!"

 

We talked about the rides, the animals and the shows. And we were up ready for some fun first thing in the morning. I had heard that the line ups got long.

We got a special wrist band for Nick. Marine Land has a accessibility feature that lets you go in the back line of the rides which is wheelchair accessible. Our plan was for one of us to go through the front of the line with Katheryn, and the other will meet up with Nick.

But Katheryn took one look at the rides...

And said NO WAY!

 

So Nick and I went on  2 of the rides together.


I had researched (of course) all of the rides and the height requirements so that I knew exactly all the ones each kid could go on. I even got everyone's height before we left!
We were so excited to get the kids on their first amusement park rides!
Of course (as we'll learn I'm sure over the years) kids will sometimes have their own ideas of what they do and don't want to do.

But Nick was still willing to try out 2 of the rides.

I think I did get some dirty looks from people who were waiting in line and we got ahead of them. I felt like I needed a sign attached to the wheelchair that said "I do it to jump line"

Katheryn and Kyle just sat and watched us!

Katheryn was holding out for the teacup ride, but we couldn't find it.

So we gave up on the rides and went to look at some animals.
We found some beluga's and killer wales.

Nickolas couldn't take his eyes off of them underwater!

Katheryn really, really didn't want to have her picture taken. Even though she was having alot of fun

 

 

And Nick just loved doing everything!

 

 

And getting up really close

 

 

So we thought, hey this is going well. Lets wait in a couple of lines for an hour so we can actually go and touch a beluga! The kids would love that! Right?

 

 

Well, someone LOVED touching a beluga (which feels like over-cooked hard boiled egg) and feeding him/her.

Notice how impressed Katheryn is, and how far Nick is trying to get from the whale?! (hiding behind the trainer-guy)

 

 

But we did get one family picture, and I picked the one where Nick is not crying. Afterwards Nick told us that the "whale scared me"

 So we finished with the touch a beluga, and I got to feed it fish too. We go out of the area and  wash our hands (apparently this was much more fun than actually touching a whale). Katheryn starts crying, "I wanted to feed the whale". No Katheryn, we just did that, you did not want to touch the whale, or get close to it. That  was your chance to touch the whale. "NO! I want to feed the whale".
Katheryn did not get a time-out, but she also did not get to touch the whale. I guess that is what it means to be 4.


We were able to distract them by watching this ride in the middle of the park called the Sky Screamer, where everyone goes up, up, up and then down, down, down. Really fast. Defiantly not a mommy ride.

We did find my favorite ride!
And Katheryn's favorite ride too.
We found the tea-cups!

And we went around, and around, and around in them!

 

Katheryn was just tall enough for them. So Kyle and Nick sat at the sidelines and watched us (and took some pictures)

 

Because Katheryn and I went through the ride 4 times!

Katheryn would have gone on that ride all day! But the day wasn't over yet! We still had lots more things to do!

Including meeting some black bears (? I have no idea what bears have to do with marine land - but they were there. Nick thought they were great!)

And they have a deer petting zoo (again deer - marine ?? I don't know)


Kyle and I both have heard the stories (and seen the pictures) from the deer feeding when we were kids and visited Marine Land. Including a deer trying to steal my blankie, and deers swarming Kyle and his brother.
So we were all prepared for the kids to be afraid or overwhelmed and that they might not like it
Wrong again!

 

Nick thought they were great, but they were a little uneasy about his chair. And Katheryn was very gentle and would try to get them to eat out of her hand.

 

No stealing, no swarming.

Then we had to rush, rush, rush for our last part of the day!

The show.

They LOVED it!

I loved watching the look of awe on their faces as they watched the marine animals swim and jump around.
I might have been watching the kids more than I watched the show!

Then it was time to check out the gift shop (and of course get something) and we were all ready for an early night!
Everyone had fun at Marine Land!

 

Because the fun isn't over yet! We have more planned for tomorrow!

Vacation Fun

When you think vacation,  what do you think of?

I always think of those hotel rooms, and how you can do all the things we say not to do at home.

Like jumping on the bed and pillow sights.

Kyle and I agree with this mentality.

 

When I was planning this trip, I wanted to leave alot of time open to just walk around. And when we walked around, I didn't want to have to drive anywhere.
So I found a hotel that had everything I wanted (free breakfast and free parking) and was right in the middle of the action!
Which is Clifton Hill.
This is the view from our balcony.

And we even had a little glimpse of the falls!

The first thing we did was load everyone up and get ready to show the kids a really big waterfall!

They were impressed for about 60 seconds!

 

Not enough to get a family picture

So we paired off
(ha ha, never even noticed that we are wearing matching orange/blue colours)

While Kyle and I are looking at Niagara Falls, the kids were most interested in the little water fountain.
THAT is all they wanted to look at!

I'm sure they were thinking why on earth are mommy and daddy so obsessed about all that water over the fence when there is cool stuff right here!

We went out for dinner. Nick picked what he wanted, and he want spaghetti. Something he hasn't wanted for a while. But he was adamant. Spaghetti, sauce on the side.
And he dipped every single noodle into the sauce or his ketchup, and sucked it back!
It was so funny to watch!

We did more of a walk-about after dinner and found this! It's a miniature golf course (which we aren't ready to play yet - maybe next year). If the kids aren't traumatized from the scary dinosaurs.

Nickolas started crying and saying "Mommy, mommy! Behind you!"

There was lots to see.

We also went to the midway. Katheryn loved it, but Nickolas found it really loud (I've noticed that he is very sensitive to loud noises - something that is common I think with hydrocephalus)

Katheryn found her favorite ride!

And Nick tried out some skeet ball.

 

Katheryn found a rock-band game and grabbed the guitar and started rocking out!

 

She really, really wanted to play a car racing game. We told her she couldn't play if she can't reach the pedals.

 

After all of this adventure (on only our first day) we needed to get lots of sleep to get up and ready early in the morning for our adventure tomorrow!