Christmas in July

A week ago today we left the heat of Missouri - crossing over the State Line into the heat of Kansas and the refreshing coolness of the water park at Great Wolf Lodge Resort.  Merry Christmas everyone!

I couldn't help speculate how things have changed for us over the years as we sped across the state in our Honda CRV - our nice and roomy, less than a year old CRV.  There was a time when we barely limped to town and back home each day, all five us cramped in our little Dodge Omni.  More often than not we had lumber or some other building material strapped to the roof top. 

In the car with us was two of the grandkids, Dakota and  Austin.  Nostalgia took over when we about reached Independence.   It took me back to a trip we took to the Ozarks.  The kids had driven us close to insanity with their bickering as we topped a particularly scenic overlook.  Jim finally blew his top and told them the only thing he wanted to hear out of them was "Oooh, Ahhhh, Look!".    As Dakota and Austin jabbered away, I looked at Jim and asked, "Are we at the Oooh, Ahhh, Look! stage yet?"

Wow, as I am writing this, the skies have darkened and the thunder is rolling in.  I hope this is not another case of mother nature once again teasing us.  We will take any amount of rain she'll send our way.  Jim took his 4-wheeler down the road to have it worked on.  He is either going to be there a while, or he is going to get wet!  (I hope...)

Back to our trip.

It was a wonderful weekend.  Great Wolf Lodge (there are many around the nation) has a ginormeous water park and archade.  This one happens to be within walking distance (we drove) of Cabelas, Legends Shopping, great restaurants, and Nebraska Furniture.  There was something for everyone to do. 

After playing for hours in the park the first night, we ate Pizza in the hotel room.  Speaking of the hotel rooms, they were pretty cool, with two beds  and a bath down and a third bed and bath in a loft.  The eighteen of us fit in three rooms.     

(It's raining~!!!!  Yea!!!!)

The next morning was breakfast at I-Hop (kids ate free).  I'm not a big I-Hop fan.  It seems a bit pricey and the food is so-so.  But they did it right for us, putting us in a room by ourselves.  Was this for our privacy or did they sense a rowdy bunch and secreted us away to protect the other patrons?  Maybe a bit of both....

Breakfast at I-Hop.  Smile everyone!

Everyone split up after breakfast. 

Nebraska Furniture was my downfall.  This place is a vacation in itself... if you like shopping, which I usually don't.  In a few weeks they will be delivering a new couch, kitchen range, and a gorgeous braided rug  to us.  In our defense, we left without buying the 48 in. flat screen TV.  How's that for showing some constraint?

As luck would have it, the AC went out in the room where Greg and Alicia and their kids, and Jim and I were staying.  The repairman was in and out trying to fix it until 3 am.  Everyone else went to sleep while Greg kept watch.  The resort gave us 10% off of one night's cost of the room.... not near enough for the inconvenience, but better than nothing.

The best part of the weekend was that we were together and yet on our own.  Nobody's schedule depended on anyone elses.  The very fact that we were at a water park, though, guaranteed we would be spending time together as a family. 

As we were packing to go home, we remembered we hadn't taken a family photo.  Since I forgot my tri-pod, the camera is perched on a ledge.  The TV is a perfect back-drop for the picture, don't you think?  I know.... but it was the best we could do.

In two years we hope to plan another family vacation Christmas Present.  So far we have done a Branson Vacation, a Float Trip Vacation, and this one.  We used to go camping at Alley Springs every year, but my camping days are over.  Maybe our next vacation can be a rodeo, or concert, or..... who knows... but we'll come up with something!

I'll leave you with a video, for those who want to watch it!