New Year's Adventure - Traverse City

As we approached the Christmas holiday, I began thinking about what we would get each of the kids for their "main gift."  My excitement stems from picking out all of the little items -- the stocking stuffers and the perfect 'extras' with beautiful wrapping paper and ribbons that I pack away and then slide under and around the tree on Christmas Eve.  The "main gift" is harder to come up with, especially if I am trying to keep things relatively even from a monetary standpoint and among the girls and boys.

This year, I proposed the idea to Steve of gifting the kids more of an "experience."  I would still wrap up something for them to open but it would be a trip centered around the holiday season (not so far out on the calendar that it would be forgotten or not feel as special).  With that in mind, we chose to take the kids up to Traverse City to Great Wolf Lodge to an indoor swimming park that we had never been to before.  We had also hoped to do some snow tubing while we were there, but the weather did not cooperate with us.

We left our house on New Year's Day and headed north, stopping part-way for lunch.  The weather was unseasonably mild so between the Snow Tubing Hill being closed for both New Year's Day and the next day, it still would not have been possible to tube the following day on our way back home.  The kids were ok with that though and were anxious to check into our hotel and go straight to the water park.

Before we checked in though, we walked out to the bay in Traverse City to see the water (again, not frozen!) and take a few pictures.

It was at this point that we realized that Jack DID NOT PACK A COAT ... in January ... in Michigan.

It was a tad overcast and cloudy, but the water was relatively clear and we even saw a few fish swimming around near the surface.  

Once we checked into our room, Jimmy was quick to claim the bottom bunk in the small room that he shared with Jack.

Jack didn't mind one bit and gladly took the top bunk.

Everyone donned their swimsuits and we headed downstairs to the swimming area.  I don't think that the kids understood at first just how much fun it would be.  There were activities for ALL ages ... from little wading pools to water park slides.  Myself?  I enjoyed an adult beverage and watched from the sidelines that night.  

Afterwards, we went back upstairs and decided to quickly order a pizza for pick-up for dinner.  Easy, peasy.  And within 20 minutes of finishing dinner, Jimmy was sound asleep in his bunk!

The next morning, Steve made homemade waffles in our hotel room.  The kids loved it!

After that, we headed back down to the water park (which was less busy first thing in the morning) and let the kids enjoy the water some more before cleaning up and heading out to lunch in downtown Traverse City.

Floating down the Lazy River after shooting down an enclosed slide:

Walking across the "lily pads" to get to the other side (hopefully without falling into the water):

There were several areas where the water poured like a deluge and Steve jumped in at the last minute to 'photo bomb' with the girls:

I was grateful that we waited until now to take the kids to this water park.  All of our kids are fully-capable swimmers at this age and it was a lot easier on me not to worry about them running around on their own inside the park.  There are plenty of lifeguards on duty of course, but there are a TON of kids in there at all times.

One of the places that both Steve and I wanted to take the kids was the Mission Point Lighthouse.  We talked about the history of it while driving there, and while it was not open to do the self-guided toured inside, I feel that we definitely walked away knowing more about it than we did when we first arrived.

Grand Traverse Bay, with open water in January!

It was windy and cold, but the kids loved walking along BOTH the sand AND the snow that day.  (Jack borrowed one of Sam's fleece jackets that day).

Hunting for crab claws along the shore:

Later, we went to lunch in one of the oldest establishments in Traverse City called 'Sleder's Family Tavern' for yet another dose of history and ... lots of taxidermy.  That was followed by more swimming (we got out money's worth) and then a wonderful, authentic Mexican dinner.  I had hoped to take the kids bowling (we seem to do this often when we take them out of town) but the timing didn't work out because most of the bowling alleys were not available for OPEN BOWLING.  After the delightful chips and salsa, the kids didn't mind one bit.

After 3 days and 2 nights out of town, we headed back home because both Sam and Jack had basketball practice later that night.  And, everyone was going back to school the next day.  We weren't gone too long, just long enough to make some special family memories together and to get me thinking about what our plans might be this year for Spring Break.