Day 1,210 - "This is the best day of my whole life!"

What's the best day of your life?

Everyone has a different answer to that question. Some would say the day they got married. Others would point to the birth of their children. There's even some in the world who would point to their favorite sports team winning a championship (not me!). If you're asking Ellie, what she would refer to as the best day of her life happened just ten days ago at Great Wolf Lodge right here in Kansas City.

As part of the kids' Christmas gift from my parents, they decided to pay for a night's stay at Great Wolf Lodge. Now, I realize a hotel stay may not seem like the most exciting thing in the world. However, when that hotel stay is coupled with an indoor water park, it certainly becomes a lot more exciting for a five-year-old and a two-year-old. For the dates of our stay, we chose to take advantage of the long weekend provided by Martin Luther King Day and spent the night on Sunday night, leaving on Monday.

Basically as soon at Ethan woke up from his nap on Sunday around 1:00, the four of us loaded up in the car and drove the 30 minutes over to Great Wolf Lodge. Even though our official check-in time wasn't until 4:00 pm, we could still arrive early and enjoy the water park until our room was ready. Conveniently enough, our room was already ready so we could do a full check-in. Once we were all changed into our swimsuits, it was time to head to the water park.

The first thing that drew Ellie's attention upon entering the water park was the giant "Treehouse" taking up residence in the middle of the water park. It didn't take long for Ellie to start weaving her way through the falling water and various cargo nets in an attempt to reach the twin water slides at the top of the structure. From there, she laid down on the slide and off she went! As the afternoon went on, she probably rode those slides more than ten times.

Of course, the "Treehouse" wasn't the only attraction in the Water Park. For Ethan, he was undeniably drawn to the Lazy River first and foremost. With his life jacket safely buckled, he happily bobbed through the Lazy River, making lap after lap after lap. While the Lazy River is definitely relaxing and an enjoyable way to spend the day, it didn't take me long to start looking up at the three giant slides four stories above my head.

Once my parents, who were spending the night at Great Wolf Lodge with us, arrived, I finally convinced Bethany to ride one of the big slides with me. We took our places upon an inner tube at the top of the structure and launched ourselves off only to quickly fall into three series of funnels where we spun around and got repeatedly pelted by gallons of water. Our tube actually turned completely backward and we had to complete the slide looking at where we had come from rather than where we were going.

While I definitely wasn't going to find anyone willing to ride that particular slide with me again, there were two more giant slides to be ridden. For the record, those two giant slides didn't just appeal to me; they also appealed to Ellie and Ethan as well. From the first time they hopped on a raft to head down "the blue slide", they were completely enamored with their trip. In fact, they were so enamored that on some occasions, we were making trips back up the four flights of stairs as soon as we landed.

Ellie somehow convinced my mom to ride the blue slide with her!

While Ellie loved "the blue slide" due to its open air concept and fast speeds, Ethan preferred "the yellow one". That slide had the fast speeds that are a hallmark of all water slides. However, the majority of the slide took place in pitch black conditions. While Ellie was understandably terrified by those very conditions, Ethan loved every second of it. His screams of delight definitely confirmed that.

Of course, the water park wasn't the only exciting thing about our stay at Great Wolf Lodge. The kids also got the opportunity to sleep in their own special "log cabin" complete with bunk beds inside our room. Actually, "sleep" is a bit of a misnomer as they were awake until after 10 due to a Chiefs game but that's ok. They also got the opportunity to meet the Great Wolf Lodge mascots and participate in both an Arts and Crafts time and a Story Time! All of us even got furry wolf ears to take home with us to boot!

Pajama party at the clock tower!!!

When you take all of the fun that we had over two days into account, it's no wonder that Ellie referred to her time at Great Wolf Lodge as being the greatest day of her life! She even has already asked on multiple occasions when we can go back again. I suppose that's pretty good marketing for Great Wolf Lodge so if they want to offer us a free night's stay for mentioning them, I'd be ok with it. I'm not holding my breath though! #DaddyWrite

I'm a wolf.

Day 1,199 - The One With All the Goodbyes

Hey there, it's been a bit since we last corresponded. I'm sure you'll forgive me though as it's been a pretty busy season for us. Between three different family Christmas celebrations, three or four trips to look at Christmas lights, finally getting to see Spider-Man: No Way Home, and fighting off a possible case of Covid, it's actually been a really busy month. No worries though as it's all in the rearview mirror now. 

Actually, on second thought, there were a couple more moments in December and January that were definitely firsts for our kids. Unfortunately they were not good firsts. Instead, they were pretty sad firsts for Bethany and I to witness. For the first (and second) time that I can remember, Ellie and Ethan had to say goodbye to friends for the final time as they moved away.

For myself, I personally still remember when my best friend moved away. It was actually really heartwrenching for me. I bought him a Chiefs hat as a going away present and everything. Even though we were only 30 minutes apart from each other, it didn't take long for us to drift apart. We reconnected briefly in college but it really didn't last. Therefore, I definitely identified with what Ellie especially has gone through with saying goodbye to friends over the past month.

It started in December as we bid farewell to our friends, the Blackwells. After knowing them for at least four years and being in their bible study for three, it was definitely hard to say goodbye. Fortunately, Bethany and I had mentally prepared ourselves for such a thing for a while. Therefore, even though we were undoubtedly sad, we had definitely shielded ourselves from some of the hurt. The second one really stung though as we had to say goodbye to our friends, the Lindholts.

Now, Bethany and I have actually known the Lindholts for the better part of a decade. We both arrived at Northland around the same time and became fast friends. During that time, we've both had multiple kids that happened to be around the same age so it was only fitting that they would become close friends. Ellie and Lydia have been especially close during the last several years. In fact, they've arguably been each other's best friend during that time. The same rings true for Ethan and Miles as they've grown up playing together in the nursery at church.

Not sure why Ellie is half-asleep in this photo.

The formal goodbye party for the Lindholts on Sunday actually was where the real pain came from. Bethany and I watched on as Ellie and Lydia spent the entire evening playing together until the time finally came for us to leave. When we told Ellie it was time to say goodbye, she and Lydia grabbed each other in a tight embrace and didn't let go for quite some time. Just to add to the cuteness/hurt factor, Ethan and Miles did the exact same thing. When the time finally came to leave, Lydia gave Ellie a glow stick to remember her by. Even if it will undoubtedly stop glowing within the week, the gesture was incredibly sweet.

While Bethany and I were definitely saddened to say goodbye to our friends, seeing the way it affected our kids made it even harder. Lucky for us, there's things like Facetime and Marco Polo to allow our kids to stay in touch with their friends for as long as they would like to. In fact, to tell the truth, the kids will likely be better at staying in touch that the adults. After all, it seems like that's the way things go except in rare situations.

#DaddyWrite