Weekend in Williamsburg

After we came home from such a fun time ziplining for Willa Kate's birthday, the wheels started turning about what kind of fun we would have with Harper.  Since our cruise, she's been telling people that she's going to Mexico for her birthday (??), but sorry, Harp.  Not happening.  I love that idea, though unfortunately, my bank account does not.  So, I started looking into some fun weekend trips-- Charlotte, Williamsburg, Great Wolf Lodge, D.C.  Well, the week after I started looking, my boss sent out an email asking if anyone wanted to volunteer to work the VOMA conference being held at Great Wolf Lodge in Williamsburg April 28-30 (the weekend before Harper's birthday).  Since I had the chance to work it last year, I felt kind of bad taking the opportunity again, but no one else volunteered, so I happily said "yes!"  Yay for being able to combine a weekend of fun for Harper with a work trip!

When I called that day to book my room under the VOMA room block (which has crazy reduced rates for conference participants), they had already sold out of the $99 and $199 rooms, so the next cheapest room was a Fireplace Loft Suite at $209.  I know that may sound like a lot, but seriously.  See how much those rooms usually run on a Friday night.  When I had checked into it, the room that we ended up getting was $509 A NIGHT.  Crazy talk!  But, that does include your water park passes everyone in your room for the day you check in through the day you check out.  When I saw that our room slept up to 8 with 6 water park passes included, we decided it would be fun to invite Sydney along, too, to have fun with us on Harper's birthday trip.  Last year, the girls had a great time, but I felt a little sorry for Sam.  I was in the conference hall displaying at the Pfizer booth from 6:45 a.m. to around 3:30 p.m., so most of the daytime water park duty was his.  So, since we had one more space in our room, I thought it may be fun and helpful to ask Rachel to come along as well!

We packed up the Yukon and got out of town shortly after the girls got out of school, so we pulled in to GWL around 7:15.  And the website said the water park closed at 8:00.  As we were nearing Great Wolf and as the volume in our car was getting louder and louder, I called customer service just to verify that.  Yep.  Bummer.  But, the way the resort is set up, there are windows on the backside of the lobby that look into the water park, so as soon as we got checked in, the girls were begging to go!  So, even though they'd only be getting 30 minutes in the park, I figured those sweet cousins could at least go down a few slides.  8:00 rolled around, and the girls just kept swimming.  And the lifeguards kept letting them.  I was waiting for someone to start trying to close the pool up, but it was 8:45 and still our girls were making their way across the lilypads.  As it closed in on 9:00, we decided we wouldn't push our luck any longer, so we dried the girls off and ordered some pizza from the Wolf's Den for a healthy 9:30 p.m. dinner.  No schedules around here!

 

 

 

That late night meant that every one was still sleeping when I came back to the room after the first conference break around 9:30.  Clearly my leaving the room at 6:30 a.m. did not wake them.  Oh, how I wish my girls would sleep that late at home.  Gracious.  But, the good news is that they didn't really get up and to the water park until around 10:30, so I didn't feel like I missed out on as much.  We decided the girls should take a nap in the late afternoon so that we could go off property for dinner and then come back for a nightcap swim, but that didn't quite work out like we had planned.  The girls laid down at 3:30, and didn't wake back up until after 7:15.  They picked more water park time over food, so packed up and went to the slides until the park closed at 9:00.  Another night, another dinner from the Wolf Den at 9:30 p.m., but this time we finished it off with some ice cream sundaes from the sweet shoppe!  But, before bed, we went to the Pajama Jam party in the lobby to dance off a little energy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There was a Walmart right next to the resort, so I snuck over there thinking I'd grab a birthday cake for us to celebrate Harper Mae's upcoming birthday.  I came across some Shopkins partyware (she is seriously ob-sessed.), so I grabbed those and a birthday candle so that we could do our own little party with her.  GWL offers a party package, but we just brought our own things in and set them out on our little table, and they didn't seem to mind a bit!  The resort has its own Dunkin Donuts, so I grabbed some of her favorites so we could have a birthday brunch in the water park for her on Saturday morning between my conference breaks. 

By the time my conference was finished at 3:30, Sam and Rachel were totally over the girls were about done with the water park.  So, then the great Saturday night debate began.  Should we stay another night in Williamsburg (but obviously at a sub-$500 a night hotel)?  Should we just pack up and hit the road with some wornout girlies?  All the adults were pretty tired, too, so, to procrastinate on the drive home, we Hotwire-d a hotel in the Art District of Colonial Williamsburg, and set off for our fifteen-minute-instead-of-four-hour drive. 

 

To demonstrate just how spoiled these girlies have become this weekend, when we walked into our very standard, very modest hotel room, the big girls took off running and asked "how to get to the upstairs."  Haha!  It's sad that they're already accustomed to rooms with lofts and an extra half bath.  After two days of nothing but snack bar fare, we were ready for a real dinner.  Since the hotel we were staying out received a good "walkability" score, I knew there were restaurants within walking distance, so we asked the hotel staff where they recommended, and we decided to walk instead of take the Yukon.  Turns out, tired kids are really slow and the mile took us about 30 minutes to walk.  But, our food was yummy, and the kids were so tired and hungry that instead of being terrorists (which that combination would usually equate to), they just zoned out and ate and then laid their heads on the table.  Willa even fell asleep on me, and that probably hasn't happened in two years. 

We debated grabbing an Uber for the ride home, but it was in surge pricing, so we decided to just hike it back.  It was downhill and we knew where we were going, so it went a little quicker.  After another long day, we all snuggled up in bed and watched Narnia on tv.  

 

  

 

We woke up the next morning and ate breakfast at the hotel.  Here, we had stayed an extra night and still didn't know what to do for the day.  We debated Busch Gardens or Historic Jamestown.  The weather was overcast and calling for rain, so we really hated the idea of spending $300 on tickets to Busch Gardens, just to have it be miserable.  Since we still weren't really sure, we decided to load up and head to King's Dominion since that would be working our way toward home and have a better sense of what the weather was going to do for the day.  Since there was a very good chance that torrential downpours could cancel any amusement park plans, we didn't tell the girls where we were going or what we were doing.  When we got off the exit, they thought we were stopping for gas, and Harper was so excited to see "coller roasters!"   

King's Dominion was running an "everyone pays as a kid" promotion, so we were able to get all 6 tickets for around $235, which was better than Busch Gardens, but still not an inexpensive day.  We checked at the gas station to see if they sold some cheap ponchos because if we paid that much, we were going to make a day of it.  They had sold out earlier in the day, but it wasn't currently raining, so we rolled the dice and bought the tickets, figuring they had ponchos inside the park if we were desperate. 

 

 

 

The girls loooooved the Charlie Brown section of the park where the kids rides are concentrated.  Underneath a tent, there was also a little petting zoo, and that may have been sweet Syd's favorite part of the park.  They got to hold baby kittens, pet baby pigs, goats, and chickens.  Because of the forecast, the park was empty.  Emmmmpppppttttyyyy.  Like ride the biggest attraction in all of King's Dominion back to back because there was no one in line behind us kind of empty.  We probably got to ride 25 rides in the six hours we were there because we only waited once or twice, and it was always less than five minutes.  We were talking about the rain as it was pouring during our drive from Williamsburg to Richmond, and Willa started singing "Rain, rain, go away."  As we were standing in line to get on a ride, Willa said, "I'm so glad Jesus heard my song.  I just love that guy."  haha!  So true, sweet girl.  He did hear it, because it literally did not rain.  We may have sat in the occasional wet seat, but it did not downpour a single time despite the forecast.  And the icing on the cake was that because of the chance of thunderstorms in the evening, the park closed at 6 p.m. instead of 8 p.m., so they offered us a raincheck to visit the park again for free.  (And since we got to do so much in the time we were there, we were about ready to go at 6 p.m. so it didn't feel too abbreviated.)

  

 

 

 

I love this concept we are trying with the girls, doing trips instead of gifts.  Even though this started with a work trip, Harper sure felt like it was in celebration of her birthday.  And I'm glad.  I know birthdays may not always be a big deal to her, but for now, they are.  And you know what?  They're a big deal to me, too.  Her birthday marks the day I became a mama, the day my heart started walking around outside my body.  So, I hope these babies of mine feel celebrated, feel important, and feel loved.  And she sure does, especially this year.  Here's how else she's celebrated her big crown birthday!