Monday, January 6, 2014

2nd Birthday Bliss at the Great Wolf Lodge

Over the weekend, my little family of 4 (.5) had an absolute BLAST ringing in Raleigh's second birthday at the Great Wolf Lodge. We decided a few months ago to keep this year's birthday celebration much more intimate while making sure our birthday girl felt special and loved. Enter the Great Wolf Lodge. 


The Great Wolf Lodge in Concord, North Carolina, houses 80,000 square feet of indoor water park adventure. There are multiple pools, from zero depth entry pools for the littlest guests to wave pools and twisting slides for the older patrons. There is also the sweetest of spas for precious little girls to visit for manicure and pedicure treatments as well as indoor bowling, miniature golf, and an arcade for additional fun. Needless to say, it serves as the perfect backdrop for an action-packed birthday bonanza! 

 The indoor water park, Part 1...
 ...Part 2...
 ...Part 3...
...and Part 4.

You can imagine how excited I was when I saw a huge deal for an overnight stay, complete with free water park passes and a room upgrade, at the Great Wolf Lodge featured on zulily.com last month. I quickly hit purchase and made plans for our little family to stay in a special "Kid Kamp" suite, reserving our room to begin on Raleigh's birthday. Let me just say...the 24 hours o' fun did not disappoint!


The view of our room upon walking in the door...

...and the super cool bunk area where Banks and Raleigh got to "camp out" and sleep! 

First though, before leaving for our little getaway, we needed to begin Raleigh's birthday with a bang when we woke up at home that morning. Raleigh awoke to balloons cascading down her door (which she was so excited about!) and was treated to her favorite breakfast before opening gifts. 



 A new arts and crafts table and some fun art activities for our budding artist...

...as well as a teacup, the first of 18 pieces I'll give her on each birthday so that she'll have a full, eclectic serving set before she leaves for college. With love from Momma. :) 

Because we didn't want to travel with her cake, we opted for a pre-lunch snack of birthday cake, which both she and Banks had no objections to. :) 

I have been dying to make this rosette cake I saw on Pinterest some time ago and love how it turned out!




Soon after, we headed approximately 45 minutes away to the Great Wolf Lodge to let the real celebration begin. I'll let the pictures, and a few captions, do the rest of the talkin'. 

Day 1:
A view of the big, festive lobby...

Checking out the sights after we arrived


Before heading to the pool, the boys hit up the arcade while Rals and I visited "Scoops" spa for her first ever manicure...



...complete with the tiniest of robes and a new crown for her to wear during her pampering :) 

 Next up, before checking into our room, icecream for the kiddos...

 ...and balloon animals, too, of course!

 Ready to hit the pool for an afternoon of swimming, swimming, and more swimming! 

 Swimming with Daddy

 Big smiles with Momma

 Taking a breather and watching Banks and Daddy hit the pool

My babies and me

 Closing out Day 1 with a yummy dinner...


 ...which we opted to enjoy in our pajamas!

What a great end to an awesome day celebrating our little lady!

Day 2:
 How else to begin Day 2 but with a donut breakfast!

 At the pool by 9:00 am and ready to dive in!

 Braving the wave pool with Daddy



 Blurry photos = lots of fun!

 And that's a wrap!


Needless to say, we were all worn out by the end of our stay!


Thank you for an AWESOME celebration of our sweet little lady, Great Wolf Lodge. It was a birthday I don't think any of us will soon forget! 


4 comments:

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  2. y'all win the award for cutest family EVER! and those curls?! she's precious!!
    happy happy bday raleigh! 2014 is going to be a big year for you! :)

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    1. You are too sweet, Amy. Thank you! And we have no idea where the curls come from! Banks used to have them too, and both Clay and I had stick-straight hair as children. Who knows! :) Thank you for your kind words. And yes, we are ready for big 2014! :)

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