Water Park! AKA Avalanche Bay

Hi All,
Tax season is finally over! As a little celebration for all of us for surviving yet another one, we headed up to Avalanche Bay, which is the indoor water park attached to Boyne Mountain. The kids had a blast. Apparently, you can't go wrong with a water park at this age. On our last day, Bree was yelling "water park, water park!" as we left the park area for home, in an all out attempt to summon us back.
Now that I've been to two indoor water parks in the past few months, surely I'm an expert! Maybe not, but I do have some critiques and comparisons of Great Wolf in Traverse City and Avalanche Bay at Boyne.

First, since we have two year olds, we spent almost all our time in the kiddie area. Avalanche had a "splash area" which opened up to a wading type pool with a few basketball hoops. The kiddie area seemed smaller to me at Avalanche that Great Wolf. There was only one slide for kids this age (vs. I think three or four at GW). The wading pool was nice, but we didn't spend much time there, as there were too many four to six"ish" year olds pelting basketballs all over the place. This brings me to another issue, which was purely circumstantial. We went to AB on a Saturday, and it was insanely busy. On a less busy day, we may have been more comfortable exploring the wading pool. Since we didn't, I felt a little confined to the splash area. It didn't help matters that Drew and Bree did not take a liking to the one slide that was available there. Nonetheless, Drew and Bree loved it.

The kiddie area, where we spent 99% of our time

Waterworks at the kiddie pool

One happy girl

Next issue at AB, associated with the "crazy busy" issue, all the crazy, impolite kids seemed to be out and looking to steal balls from toddlers. I know kids will be kids, and it's awhile before they really know any better. But where are the parents? It was unbelievable how many times Jim and I had to step in to make sure D and B didn't get their balls stolen.

A little game of catch

A few more issues with AB, which again may be associated with the level of activity. One, where were the lifeguards? At GW, they were everywhere. There were always a few in view from any vantage point. At AB, you had to search a bit to pick one out. Maybe not a big deal if you have bigger kids, but the lifeguard coverage at GW was more comforting for me.
And lastly, the lazy river at AB was more of a crazy river on Saturday. There was so much bumping of tubes and other action that it truly scared D and B.
With all that said, I did like some aspects of AB. They had a surf simulator and a climbing wall, all cool things for older kids. Aside from the water park, Boyne also had an indoor resort pool that opened up to an outside pool which was heated year round, kind of a cool concept.

Furthermore, we liked the nightlife at Boyne.

Bree and Daddy admiring the fish on our way to dinner

They had pre-packaged smores kits fireside in the lobby. What's not to like?!? We grabbed a few (or more than a few) packages to snack on before dinner. Not sure if it's legal to eat raw smores, but we did it!

Unpackaging the smores

Enjoying the smores "raw"

We grabbed dinner at the onsite pizzeria - pizza of course! It didn't exactly cater to children, but we made it work.

That's a cheesy grin if I ever saw one!

And I think Bree is literally in the middle of saying "cheese" here

As we left, the waitress told us there was another set of twins about the same age on the other side of the restaurant. When we made our way back to the lobby to cook smores and enjoy storytime, we ran into them. Interestingly, we already knew them from my multiples group back home!

We got pack n plays for the kids brought to our room by the hotel. However, Drew had no intentions of sleeping in his. Instead, he crawled in bed with me and spent most the evening wiggling around and sleeping sideways. Jim relegated himself to the couch, rather than be subjected to that. This is how Jim found us in the morning.

Drew, all snug as a bug

And Bree slept like a champ in the pack n play.

The view from above

We awoke to this in the morning - snow falling and a good deal of snow on the ground. Not all that exciting when it's the middle of April! There were still people skiing the slopes. The resort offered some sort of golf AND ski package deal for the weekend. Umm, I think we'll stick to the indoor water park, thank you very much!

Great Wolf!

Hi All,
We had such a great time at Great Wolf Lodge up in Traverse City. We could not have been more impressed with the place! We checked in and were able to have two pack n plays delivered to our room. (We typically have to take our own when traveling overnight.) We stayed just one evening which allowed us access to the water park for two days. The water park had lots of fun slides and other water stations. Of course, Drew and Bree could not do all of them, but there was plenty for kids their size. They enjoyed the mini slides and the water works pipes. They also liked the water spouts shooting up from the floor and the "lazy river" where we were able to float along on inner tubes. We had a nice meal at the on site restaurant, and the kids received free wolf ears. Then, we capped off the evening with story time in the main lobby. We heard a fun story and got to meet Wiley the wolf mascot, and it even "snowed" inside!
Other entertainment for older kids included an arcade and a kids salon/spa. It's really a great spot for kids of all ages.
As far as sleeping in the hotel, we did just okay. Drew did not have any problem sleeping in the pack n play. However, Bree was not happy with the arrangement. She started crying 45 minutes in, and I retrieved her. We had two double beds, so she and I took one for the rest of the evening. I've decided sleeping with Bree is not all that pleasant. She wanted to sleep sideways and kick me. All.night.long! Of course, as I type this, she is curled up on my lap and sleeping like an angel.
On day two, we made a breakfast of leftover pizza and headed back to the water park. We enjoyed it for a few more hours before heading out for lunch and the trip home.
We got our new DVD screens out for the trip (the kind that attach to the headrests). We figured out too late that one screen did not work. So, we went with the working one, which was better than nothing. It definitely kept the kids occupied for the long ride. No regrets with that purchase!
All in all, four thumbs up for Great Wolf Lodge!!!

Suiting up

Splish, splash on deck!

Drew manning the waterworks station and Bree catching the spray

Loving the water spouts!

All of us in the midst of it all

Come Sail Away

Hi All,
Jim and I picked up a Lake Michigan sunset cruise at a silent auction and thought it would be the perfect treat for our friend Kris's milestone birthday (even though we celebrated several months late!) And, as luck would have it, we also had the perfect weather last night for the trip. We arrived on the boat, and our captain Jared greeted us with refreshments and snacks galore. It was great! It's safe to say we all enjoyed the beautiful, relaxing evening on the water.

Beautiful Lake Michigan

Enjoying good food, drink, and company

Our buds Brad and Kris

At the Lake

Hi All,

We made our annual trip to my grandma's lake. For anyone that especially enjoys our pictures, this is the post for you! Our friends the Fergusons joined us again this year, and as always, we enjoyed their company. It was interesting to compare last year's trip to this one. Some things were easier, like the fact that the kids eat what we do for the most part and no more breastfeeding. But keeping them out of forbidden zones was difficult. They are very curious, and there are few limits to their mobility any more! But, we worked it out and were able to leave the quilt cottage pretty much the way we found it. Drew and Bree especially enjoyed roaming the basement this year. It is a big wide open space, and that is where the toys are stored. And, of course, we all enjoyed the lake and catching up with family and friends.

Have wagon, will travel

Our little ballerina

Jim nets a big one!

Publish Post

Can Santa swim?

Master angler Ben 

Lakeside on the pontoon

Water break!

Drying off on the patio!

Pure floating pleasure!

Bree and Dad get the paddle out

And more avid kayakers

Mr. Bucket

Gram enjoying the view from the patio

Enjoying Great Gram's lap

And another lap warmer

And one last wagon ride!

Slip, Sliding Away

Hi All,
We're having a great summer - lots of heat, sun, and fun! These are always good days to hang by the pool at Oma and Opa's house. There was a lot of slipping and sliding going on in there. But it didn't slow these two down! Jim's mom and I attended the pool party, but for the most part, stayed poolside! :)

"Come on in Mom!"

"Mmm, tasty!"

Bree at play and Drew slip, sliding away

Drew making a splash

All dried off for some indoor fun!

Celebrating 4th of July (One Day Early)

Hi All,
We hosted Jim's family over the weekend for an early 4th of July celebration. Summer days are made for the lake, and that is where we spent most of our day. We made just a few quick stops inside for food and Opa cookies!

Cooper and Drew - say cheese!

Bree's turn

Even the jack o lantern makes an appearance on 4th of July in our household!

Carter ready for some lake fun!

"I got the best seat in the house!"

Splash Pad!

Hi All,
We received a splash pad from our dear friend Tracy and tried it out today. It's nice for me to set up in the yard and use when I don't have an extra hand to put the kids in the lake. After some investigation and adjustments, it seems to be a hit! I used the baby gate, a.k.a. baby jail, in conjunction with it to keep curious ones at bay. And, of course, this part of the deal is less popular.

"Keep looking. There's gotta be a way out!"

"Let's test this out."

A few adjustments by the inspection crew

And a few more adjustments

"Perfect!"

"Jump in - you first!"