Nelson Family Blog: Back to Spring Break 2020-Great Wolf and MOA

I'm going to travel back in time. Back to a simpler time, when we could leave the house and go wherever we wanted. Back when we could visit people and be in a room filled with other people.

Back on Wednesday, March 11th, we packed up and headed out to the Twin Cities. The kids were super excited for our trip, and everyone handled the drive really well. We drove through Mankato because we had some things to drop off for Elena at Rachel's house. So, we ate a quick lunch at Culver's in Mankato, and then kept going on our way.

We got to the Great Wolf Lodge at around 2:00pm. There were a fair amount of people in line, so the kids and I had fun exploring the lobby and getting some wolf ears while John checked in. Our room was actually ready to go once we checked in, so we went back to the car to drag all our belongings into our room. The room was pretty cool. John and I had a queen bed to share, and the kids had bunk beds to sleep in. They thought the bunk beds were amazing, and they immediately made plans that one of them got the top bunk the first night, and the other one got it the second night.

We chilled in the room for a little bit, and then we got changed and headed to the waterpark. Great Wolf Lodge is known for their huge waterpark, and it did not disappoint. It was huge!! We had so much fun in the waterpark. Emma loved all the waterslides, especially the really big, giant waterslide that we must have went down at least 10 times. She also enjoyed the wave pool, and she got to attempt some surfing. That didn't go very well, but I was really proud of her for trying. Elliott really enjoyed the smaller kid jungle gym area with slides, water sprayers, and of course the bucket that dumps water on everyone. He was brave enough to go down a couple of the slides, but he wasn't super fond of them. He did love going around and around the lazy river, but usually without a tube was his favorite. He also really enjoyed the wave pool, but I had to really keep an eye on him in there, those waves really pushed him around.

The kids also talked us into getting them a Pup Pack while we were there. That was basically a pack that grouped a bunch of the hotel activities together for one price, which saved money overall. They eat got a scoop of ice cream at Ben and Jerry's, a cup of candy they could pick out from the bulk candy store, the Magi wand and quest, and so many points at the arcade.

Both kids really enjoyed the Magi Quest game. With the Magi Quest, they had magic wands that they used to collect certain items, defeat creatures, and complete all the tasks in the correct order. They both got pretty good at that game, and we put on a lot of miles walking around that hotel. They both ate it up, and they both completed the entire mission (which takes a solid 4 hours total) so they became Magi Masters complete with a little ceremony and pin. They were tickled to death.

Every evening at 8:00pm they offered story time in the lobby. The kids really enjoyed that, and we participated in that both evenings. After story time, they would show a little movie and then one of their characters would be available for pictures. I can't even describe how much fun we all had at the hotel. They were really good at keeping us entertained. They also offered craft time, and they even had a dance party one evening.

We spent most of our time in the waterpark or doing the Magi Quest. The food was pretty expensive in the hotel. We ate pizza one evening there, but otherwise John would just run out and get us supper and bring it back to the hotel. It was way cheaper to do that.

On Friday, we checked out of the hotel and headed to Mall of America. At this time, people were starting to become more aware of Covid-19, and we questioned whether we should go to the mall or not. However, we had already bought our tickets ahead of time, and we decided to just go for it.

We got to the mall right at 10:00 am, when everything opened. So, we headed straight for Nickelodeon Universe and got our wristbands. Emma went straight for the roller coaster, which she is now big enough to ride by herself! Elliott was a little hesitant about rides this time, he just wanted to go to Lego Land. But, with a little coaxing he went on some rides, and then I couldn't get him to stop. The mall was absolutely dead because of the threat of the virus, so we really enjoyed ourselves. Elliott went on a couple rides like 7 times in a row. There were really no lines for anything, and everyone had a really good time.

We took at break at lunchtime and ate at the food court. After that we went to Crayola Universe. That place is really fun, and there is so much to do there! We could have spent the whole day there. We did spend a solid 2 hours there. Both kids really enjoyed the experience.

We went back to the rides for a while, and then around 5pm we were all ready to go. We headed to Mom and Dad's house for supper, and then put 2 very tired kids to bed. We enjoyed a nice quiet evening of visiting, and then we all enjoyed sleeping in our own rooms after 2 nights together.

On Saturday, we just bummed at mom and dad's for a while. I went to Grandma and Grandpa's house for one last time. I found a few more treasures to take back with me. I also stopped at the Dollar General for some toilet paper since everyone has bought out all the toilet paper in Sioux Falls, thanks to the corona virus. Rachel and Elena came out to visit for a while in the afternoon, and then they headed home while the rest of us went to Sleepy Eye to check out the new brewery there. It was a really fun visit. The kids kept busy with a jenga game and the rest of us enjoyed some beer and socializing. By the time we were ready to leave for home, some other friends of mom and dad's showed up, so it was perfect timing. It was a good ending to a really fun week.

We got home around 9:00pm, and we were very happy to crawl into our own bed. The kids were already asking when we could go back to Great Wolf Lodge. :)

Here are MANY pictures from our week!