Hayward Photo Blog: Great Wolf Lodge

The Hayward clan had been overdue for a family vacation. I've had a little bit of time off recently so Lea and I discussed it and decided to surprise the girls with a trip to the Great Wolf Lodge just south of Olympia, WA in a town called Grand Mound.

We didn't tell them where we were going, only that we were going someplace fun. They had a million guesses ranging from McDonald's to their final and most definite guess...rollerskating in Hawaii. That would have been fun too, but the girls love to swim so Great Wolf it was.

First of all, let me say this. I have never felt more self confident about my physique in my life! Over the years my metabolism may have slipped a bit and my middle could be described more as a belly than a stomach so it isn't often I wander around with my shirt off in public unless I'm intentionally trying to scare people. Not the case here baby! I looked like the Governator compared to most of these guys :) For example, I saw a man with nipples over one inch long! I won't mention the woman that stopped shaving her legs when she reached the top of her knees...yowza!

The good news is that you can carry cocktails around throughout the entire hotel and pool area so we all started to look better as the day went on! :)

The truth was, we still don't know who had more fun. The girls or the grownups. Lea and I both felt like kids again! We were splashing, shouting, running, sliding, dunking and just having an all out great time from start to finish!

We paid for one nights stay which gives you unlimited access to the pools and slides from open until close the day you check in and the day you check out. Because only guests of the hotel can use the area it isn't overcrowded so you never have to wait more than 5 minutes for a popular slide and often there was no wait at all!

We can't wait to go back! Heck, I probably won't even shave my back next time.