Great Wolf Vacation: Day 3

If you have read either of the first two posts in the Great Wolf Vacation you probably get that we bounce between the water park and something else out here in Kansas City. Today was no different. We started the day with going to Crown Center for a little shopping and fun. Fortunately I have been there before because the directions from the hotel were simply wrong. But it only added a couple minutes at most to our morning journey.

We walked around and Mia got some more make-up, a.k.a. lip gloss, and we headed to the Hallmark Kaleidoscope. That is where the photo above of the girls on the bench was taken. However, it is something you have to signup and go in at a specific time and we did not want to wait until 3pm. So we watched some school choirs, went to the Crayola restaurant for lunch, got some candy, watched some more school choirs and decided to head back to our pretend home.

Once at the lodge, it was time to go swimming. Mia still did not want to go down any of the slides, but after a little while had more fun playing in the big structure. I believe she has been very worried about getting her hand wet even though it has stayed very dry wrapped up in a rubber glove, taped and then package wrapped.

Olivia had a blast like always and this time I took the point and shoot into the water park to grab some memories. I have not done much with any of the photos yet because processing them on a four year old laptop with only 512MB of memory is painful. I have included this one of her standing under one of the many water features.

After spending a number of hours in the water park we headed back to our pretend home to change and then back to out finish that crazy MagiQuest game. Olivia completed all of the tasks earlier and started an adventure tonight. Well the adventure was going along just fine until the end when we had to battle the dragon. The instructions were lacking so we had to ask an employee for help. Even with his telling us what to do we ended up spending about an hour trying to figure it out and finally just gave up. It was time for dinner.

Fortunately our pretend home had enough leftovers for all of us to have a decent dinner. This is one of the big benefits to having a room with a refrigerator included. It was nothing fancy, but did save us the cost of going out yet again. All we had to do was find some ketchup packets for Mia to be able to enjoy her leftover hotdog.

The end of the evening was spent relaxing and just enjoying a little down time. The girls played Webkinz while Jenn and I read.

Whew vacations are tiring!

NOTE: Post edited on 4/25 to add photos.

Great Wolf Vacation: Day 2

This morning was a great day for sleeping in, overcast an cool. Olivia did pretty well and slept until just about 8:00am. Mia and Jennifer slept until after 9:00! That is unheard of. I cannot remember the last time Mia slept so late. It is probably because she did not get a very restful night of sleep. We shared one of the queen sized beds and I have never been kicked and hit so many times in one night. I bet Mia moved more in her sleep than most kids move all day. It showed when she woke up, she was not happy and it took a couple hours for her to stop fussing.

But after a breakfast of cold cereal (who knew Mighty Bites from Trader Joe's were so yummy) and coffee (No, the girls did not drink any coffee) we slowly got ready for the water park. We did not leave the room until 10:30 and by that time the water park was hoppin. Our first fun was the giant water slides. As usual I was with Mia and Jenn with Olivia. The water slides are cool, you ride on big two man inner tubes with the biggest person in the back. Of course on our first ride down Mia and I tip at the very end and we go under. No harm done, but Mia won't have anything to do with the slides the rest of the day.

However, we did discover the hot tub and that became one of Mia's favorite places to visit. A warm relief in a rather cold water park this morning.

For lunch we get in the car and drive to the Legions, a large out door mall with tons of places to eat. We choose the T-Rex Cafe just because dinosaurs are cool. After we did a little walking around and then ice cream at a Cold Stone Creamery.

When we got back to the lodge the girls wanted to play in the arcade, but it was having some repairs done. Instead we did the touristy thing and bought some magic wands so the girls could go on a MagiQuest. Basically it is a magical scavenger hunt where your wand helps you open or find magical elements. There are magic chests, pictures, crystals, and such all networked so your finds are tracked for you. A little cheesy, but Olivia loves accomplishing a multi-step task and having a computer screen tell her what a great job she did. Almost a real life D&D, so right up my alley.

Then back to the water park for more fun and wet adventures. This afternoon was great. It was a little warmer and empty. I would say at 10% capacity. There were no lines at all and everything was empty. Unfortunately, Mia still did not want to go down a slide, but she did enjoy the hot tub.

By now, the girls are exhausted, but Mia still does not want to go back to the room, or our "pretend home" as she calls it.

We decide to get Pizza Hut (available at the lodge) and while it is being made we do a couple more quests MagiQuest. Then back to the room to eat it and watch a little TV. At this point Mia is so tired, she is completely unable to control herself. I pick her up and in about 45 seconds, she is out like a light.

So, I put her to bed and head to the computer to write about our second day at our pretend home.

NOTE: Post edited on 4/25 to add more photos.

Great Wolf Vacation: Day 1

The story really started on Saturday night right before dinner when Mia slammed her finger in a door. OUCH! Mia and I were off to the ER. Long story and a longer stay at the ER (almost 4 hours) to find out that Mia broke the tip of her finger and also ripped the nail out of its bed. SUPER OUCH! But Mia was great and we were told to keep it dry. Easy enough to do unless you are leaving in the morning to go to an indoor water park for vacation.

Sunday morning and we have to get some supplies and a prescription for Mia. I have a plan. We cover Mia's hand with a water proof glove, tape the wrist with water proof tape and cover the tape with that plastic wrap used to hold ice bags in place by athletic trainers.

We finally get organized, packed, eat and on the road at 12:45pm. A little later than planned, but check in time is 4pm, so it is ok. The ride is uneventful for the most part. Mia tried to sleep most of the way but said, "I want a comfortable bed to put my head on." a number of times. As we get to KC, Mia decides it is time to puke. This is becoming typical so we were prepared. A plastic tub with a lid, a roll of paper towels and two scented garbage bags (gotta double up) and all is good.

We pull up to the lodge right at 4:30pm and the girls are amazed. Mia right away decides she is all better and this is where she wants to live. We drop the bags in the room and take a quick walk around the lodge to scope things out. The girls are so happy they are even being nice to each other, walking down the hall holding hands and being perfect.

Once we change into our swimming suits and cover up Mia's hand, we head to the main attraction. It is full of kids, parents, grandparents and every type of person you can imagine, but it does not seem crowded. The first thing we want to try are the slides. We are not sure if Mia is tall enough, but we grab two double tubes and climb up the stairs. Olivia is excited and nervous at the same time. She did some smaller slides a number of weeks ago in Chicago, but these are higher and longer. Mia does not know what to think. The closer we get to the top, the less Mia wants to try. But we know Mia is a thrill seeker and really encourage her to go with me just once. It was a fairly fast ride and we were up and down the sides of the tube, but Mia LOVED it. We do it again with switching who goes with who. Olivia and I try the other slide which is a little faster. We were flying and at one time felt like we were going to flip right out of our tube. What fun!

Olivia and Jennifer head off to do things and Mia takes me to the kiddie section. She was loving the jets that shoot water out of the ground and the little slides. We also did a couple laps in the lazy river before we take two more trips down the giant slides. Wow! What an exciting 75 minutes. The best part, Mia's glove worked perfectly.

But everything must end, so we wrap up, dry off and head back to the room to change for dinner. The girls are very eager to go the arcade, so we eat at the lodge and head down for games.

I left the camera in the car, so there are no photos from today. I did shoot a little video that I hope to edit when we get home, but otherwise you will just have to use your imagination.

It is 10:45pm and I am wiped. Time for bed. It looks like I am sharing with the Moo. I hope she does not kick too much.

NOTE: Post was edited on 4/25 to add photos.

Olivia's DSA Book

As you may very well know, I work at the Down Syndrome Association of Greater St. Louis. Quite the long name so we abbreviate it DSAGSL when talking formally or just DSA when with friends. But I digress.

One of the things I do at the DSA is send out a (almost) weekly email newsletter. I started it almost two years ago to let our members know what went on in the office during the week. It was nothing special, just me rambling on in my own goofy style and then doing a mail merge through Outlook to send it to a couple hundred email addresses. It has slowly transmogrified into much more of a newsletter with actual information about the DSAGSL, Down syndrome and other relevant disability news and happenings. Plus it has grown so well that I now have an intern helping me with it and is just about to tip the 800 email address mark. But again, I digress.

One of the things that I often do is at the very bottom I thank people for "reading my ramblings" and add a little personal commentary. Sometimes it is relevant to what the DSA does, but more often than not it is about my life, especially my girls. This past Friday I wrote about Olivia's DSA Book. Specifically I wrote:

"A couple of weeks ago I met with Olivia's (my 1st grader) teacher for conferences. We went over all of the things that Olivia is doing and my wife and I were shown a book that Olivia made. Olivia loves to draw and to read and to write, so we were not too surprised that she had made a book. However, when I read it I was extremely proud. Her book is titled The DSA. It is all about the Down Syndrome Association where her daddy works. She had pages about the Buddy Walk and the Walk In The Park, but my favorite is her page about her experience coming to work with me. I have taken that page and put in up on the web for all to see. Click here or on the image to the right to read my favorite page from her book. I hope you don't mind me bragging a little."

Within minutes of my sending out the message I got a reply, it was from a dad I know who has a son with Down syndrome, he wrote, "Jeff- thank you so much for including Olivia's page about the DSA! That made me cry! (not good, because I'm at a Microsoft class and I'm not supposed to be reading my email right now...)"

Then another mom with a son with Down syndrome sent me, "Hi Jeff, that sketch that Olivia did, and you posted about on the blast brought tears to my eyes! It was very sweet and what good lessons you are teaching her as she grows up. That girl will have a great impact on the world :)"

Yet another mom emailed, "I just wanted to send a note to let you know that I am also proud of your daughter Olivia. The page from her book brought tears to my eyes. She is SO right...they are the same on the inside. Pat yourself on the back dad...you're doing a great job!"

Plus a DSAGSL board member who does not happen to have a family member with Down syndrome sent me, "Absolutely terrific Olivia attachment! I printed off 2 copies.........one to hang in my office at St. Louis Children's Hospital and one to share with my family at home."

So, I guess when I am frustrated with my girls and their sassy attitudes I need to remember this and think that I while I don't know how to keep them from being sassy, I just might might have taught them something good.

Hunting for Easter Eggs

The video picks up after Mia has decided to put on her Halloween costume. There is nothing quite like a chick searching for eggs on Easter morning.

If you don't see a video above, or just to see a slightly higher resolution video, go to my SmugMug site.