Water Park Weekend

Avery, Peyton, and Lily (and their parents) invited their cousins and their families to spend Saturday night at Great Wolf Lodge near Vancouver Washington for a birthday celebration.

Kathy and Brian got to go along as well.

We all started from Issaquah Saturday morning. The 90-minute drive allowed us to check in and start the fun early. A bonus was that all of our rooms were ready. We shared a spacious suite with the birthday girls and their parents. It made for a good party location Saturday evening.

Our private bedroom "in-law suite" was great.

Once we got a little unpacked, it was off to enjoy the water slides...

Let's take a closer look. Yes, there are Karen and Jake in line six stories up for the scariest ride of all the rides in the park, the Howlin' Tornado.

And here they are emerging from the red tunnel down below...

All of the excitement, coupled with the 84-degree temperature, can make a guy sleepy, and Jace enjoys a power nap on Grandma's shoulder.

Before we know it, several hours have flown by (or is that floated by?) and we're back in Party Central for beverages, Pizza, Thai take-out, and birthday presents.

The younger girls read labels and helpfully distributed the little presents we'd brought for all of them. Jake was politely appreciative of the little musical frog that was meant for Jace, but was relieved to learn that we'd actually brought him a wooden puzzle and set to work trying to solve it.

Brian suddenly notices that our bed is being put to good use by Lily, Avery, Taegan, Peyton, and Blane, to watch Toy Story on TV.

This was Riley's second visit to Great Wolf Lodge, and she enjoyed herself with all of her cousins, even though this trip she skipped the scary rides. This is the knowing smile of someone who isn't feeling dizzy and experiencing water up the nose.

In keeping with the water slide motif, Kathy's birthday cake features a swimming pool with all eight grandchildren enjoying themselves in or around the pool. If you look closely you may spot Jace covered by a "blanket."

More water sliding ensued Sunday once we accomplished checking out and packing the cars. By mid-afternoon there was consensus we'd all had enough fun for one weekend, and we headed for home, meeting at the Tacoma Old Spaghetti Factory for a farewell dinner to cap off a fantastic weekend.