Did I go overboard this summer? Yes, I definitely did.
But let me explain my thinking: E needed to do something this summer. The other two are in daycare, but we needed to find a care option for E, and that meant paying money for camps. So my first plan was to find a way to pay for less weeks of camps. This was also around the time that my employer was calling us back into the office at regular intervals, which is not something I enjoy.
So I figured if there was a way to not go into the office, not pay for camp, and also go on vacations I’ve always dreamed of going on with my children, it would be win-win-win! Part of this is the pandemics fault, because we’ve been trapped at home for so long that we’ve been dreaming up quite a list of places we wanted to go.
So that’s how we ended up going on vacations every 28 days this summer haha. We started off with a week in Vermont, followed by Santa’s Village, and our final trip was only supposed to be a Sunday at a baseball game, but when I realized it was an in office week, I obviously added on a big trip.
We did start at a baseball game - the Pawtucket Red Sox moved to Worcester recently, and I’d heard good things about the stadium. It’s extremely kid friendly, with family restrooms, a play area, and lots of activities. There’s at least 3 mascots that I saw wandering around, and F loved waving at them all (but did not want to go close to them). There was also activities between innings - races and contests on the field.
We sat on Rocky’s bridge, which was nice because it was only one row of seats with lots of standing (running) room behind it. There was a table/shelf in front of us too, so the kids were able to sit and eat ice cream easily. And there was no one in front of us, so the view was perfect for short little kids. We didn’t make it to the end, but managed 6 innings, which I was impressed with. We did a lap of the stadium, ate some treats and tried to cheer but the WooSox were not doing great…
The only thing I didn’t like about the seats was that the foul ball net didn’t go high enough and at least 2-3 balls came close enough to us that I started panicking and throwing my body in front of kids. Maybe we’ll check out the outfield wall next time.
After that, we headed a bit north for something new for us - Great Wolf Lodge!
And wow, we were overwhelmed. Our family did not have the stamina for a place like this (okay definitely not ready for Disney yet haha). Most people know this place as an indoor waterpark, but surprise, surprise, my kids refused to step foot in the water. I thought they might like the splash pad, but nope. “Too wet!”
But in addition to the water park, there was mini golf (the kids played at least 2-3 times), bowling, an arcade (plus small rides that moved - think mini carousels) and an electronic scavenger hunt that goes all through the hotel, which is activated by magic wands. Each kid got a wand, and if you pointed it at certain things, they would light up, sing, or move. Even F got really into it, although none of them actually finished the actual scavenger hunt. I’ve heard that kids complete it over different visits and bigger kids really like it, so maybe we’ll go back some day. We also didn’t explore the ropes course or rock climbing, and I even saw a VR escape room at one point.
The best part, though, was all the activities planned. It was like being at a family summer camp. There were arts and crafts, story times, character meet and greats, balloon animals, and G’s favorite part of the entire trip - a nightly dance party. I’d heard about it beforehand, and was told to bring bubble wands (since the hotel sells them for a lot of money), so before we went I got the kids some $7 unicorn bubble wands, which were the most used thing we packed (certainly more than our bathing suits!). They loved running around the lobby and dancing to music while blowing bubbles absolutely everywhere.
The only thing I didn’t like was how late the activities were shifted. Most things didn’t open until 9am, and some not until 10, and the dance party went past my bedtime. We let the older two stay up the first night, but put F to bed. The next day we made sure F got a nice nap which went a little later than usual, so we let her stay up as well. She did well until maybe 8pm, and then became dead weight in my arms.
Speaking of F, it was so cool to watch her get some independence there. The lobby was set up so we could sit and watch them run around a large room, and she’d go up to random children and make friends. One night she had a 9 or 10 year old girl just following her around all night.
The older two also had a milestone - first bunk beds! The room had a cool cave area just for kids with bunk beds and their own TV. It made them feel very cool, even though I was sure someone was going to end up in my bed in the middle of the night. The first night I did get a few visits from excited kids, but they always went back to the bunks. Thankfully everyone slept better the second night.
The whole experience was super fun, but very overwhelming. There were lots of tantrums and yelling and bouts of not listening. The most amazing thing happened every time, though - no one cared! Everyone there was so kid friendly and often had small children of their own or remembered that time. We got sympathetic smiles, people telling us it wasn’t a big deal when our kid was on the floor blocking their path, and lots of laughs and help from others. It was amazing to feel like what life could be like in a society that isn’t anti kids! Everyone understood that they were little, prone to outbursts, walking in front of people, and just being kids.
So even though we may have threatened to cut the trip short a few times, we survived and I think mostly had fun!
Now let’s get ready for back to school season…
